There Is a Place for You: Disability, Faith & Finding Purpose in the Body of Christ with Nadia Ibrahim Mossburg!There Is a Place for You: Disability, Faith & Finding Purpose in the Body of Christ with Nadia Ibrahim Mossburg!
Anchored by the Sword
Nadia Ibrahim Mossburg shares her journey with cerebral palsy, depression and faith, and how she grew into advocacy and authorship. She and host Gina Fox talk about ableism in churches, the need for genuine inclusion and the hope she finds in Scripture like John 9.
36:24•16 Sept 2026
There Is a Place for You: Nadia Ibrahim Mossburg on Disability, Faith and Belonging
Episode Overview
- Disability can trigger deep grief and suicidal thoughts, yet supportive relationships and faith can open a sense of purpose.
- Many barriers disabled people face are systemic, especially around employment and access to care, not a lack of motivation or ability.
- Churches have often lagged behind on disability, sending unspoken messages that access and inclusion are less important than other priorities.
- Practical inclusion usually starts with conversation, time and simple help—like transport, invitations and asking how someone wants to serve.
- Messages that disability would disappear with "more faith" can be spiritually abusive; passages like John 9 offer a healthier, biblical lens.
“At some point, we are just tired. Tired of having to explain ourselves. Tired of having to justify why we deserve a rightful place next to our peers.”
What drives someone to seek a life that fully counts, even when their body and church community don’t quite know what to do with disability? This conversation with author and policy advisor Nadia Ibrahim Mossburg offers a candid look at faith, disability, and the ache to belong. Born with cerebral palsy, Nadia shares how, as a teen, the realisation that her disability was lifelong sent her into depression and suicidal thoughts.
A joyful camp counsellor named Carol and a high school aide who read Scripture with her became catalysts for her faith, helping her see, as Nadia puts it, that “the Lord just really began to speak to my heart and say, I have a purpose for you.” You’ll hear how that sense of purpose carried her all the way to Washington, D.C., where she worked for multiple U.S.
federal departments and fought systemic barriers around employment and care for people with disabilities. She connects those policy battles with what she sees in church life: lots of casseroles for short‑term crises, but far less understanding of long-term disability, mental health and chronic conditions.
Nadia and host Gina Fox talk frankly about ableism in faith communities, from churches opposing early drafts of the Americans with Disabilities Act to subtle messages that disabled people are mainly there to be “served” rather than to serve. Nadia challenges churches to start simply: look around, notice who isn’t in the room, offer lifts, share time, ask about real needs, and make space for gifts as well as needs.
Her devotional, *Divinely Disabled*, grew out of years of such experiences, including painful moments of “spiritual abuse” where people told her she’d be healed if she just had more faith. Anchored in John 9, she now says she is thankful for her disability and how God has used it in her life. If you’ve ever felt like there isn’t a place for you in church, this conversation might nudge you to ask again: what if there actually is?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.