In the Old Testament law, provision was made for folk who were unable to afford a lamb to offer to the Lord……
“And if she is not able to bring a lamb then she may bring two turtledoves….” Lev 12:8
From God’s perspective there was no difference between a lamb offering or two turtledoves – both offerings were equally pleasing in His sight. He had merely made provision for those that had much and those that had less by worldly standards.
So Turtledoves as a name could represent any people made in His Image that are exceedingly precious to God though seem to be lesser in Man’s eyes. Indeed when Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the temple to present Him to the Lord, their offering was a pair of Turtledoves (Luke 2:22-24).
Right from the very beginning of His time on earth, Jesus was first identified with the lowly – the Turtledoves. Only later was He revealed as the Lamb of God, worthy of all honour, glory and praise. God can communicate who he is to all men, women and children including those whose minds are severely or even profoundly disabled.
“All your children shall be taught by the Lord and great shall be the peace of your children. ” Isaiah 54:13
The Author: Jenny
After finishing high school, Jenny trained as a Psychiatric Nurse and for seven years, worked extensively with people who had a mental illness as well as children, youth and adults with intellectual and/or physical disabilities.
In the mid 1980’s, Jenny attended Bible College at IICM (the forerunner of Hillsong Bible College), where she studied Theology, Dance and Drama. Since then she has been involved in Children’s Ministry in Churches, State Primary Schools and various other settings. She has produced many and varied Children’s Resources including Teaching Materials for the NSW Assemblies of God Board of Education (now known as Kids R Us) and School Lessons for Christian Education Publications (The Anglican Publishing arm in NSW).
When her son, Jonathan, was diagnosed with servere autism she saw the need for a more specialised approach to cater for his spiritual needs, hence the Turtledoves Program was born.
The Program was 15 years in the making and brings together many of the ideas and techniques that Jenny has used successfully in various teaching environments as well as her great passion for music, theatre and creativity in general.