prayers and processions - we gather together

Kayla Redick, 4, looks curiously across the gym floor at Angela West.

The song Electric Slide spills out of nearby speakers and West breaks into a dance, smiling as she spins to the beat. Redick takes her cue and begins rocking in her chair, and a smile wraps her face, too.

It’s around 7p.m. Church services held by the Faith Inclusion Network have just ended at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church Gym. The network aims to connect people with disabilities, and to help them share faiths of all backgrounds. The church, located in Virginia Beach, serves host this night to dozens of people with disabilities and their familes.

“I love to teach all kids that anything is possible, that they can do anything,” says West, of Chesapeake. “I want people to know that God loves them just the way they are.”

She adds, “My faith is everything that I live for.”

West, who is a Christian, often works with disabled young people. Tonight she is connecting with someone who shares her disability, cerebral palsy.

“I want her to know you can do anything,” West says of her dancing partner. “God will make a way for her to do it.”