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Spotlight New Jersey: Beyond The Boogie Dance Company in Montclair

Spotlight New Jersey: Town Clock Community Development Corp.

Spotlight New Jersey: Middlesex Regional Black Nurses Association

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News 12 Staff

217spotlightnj2_2024-02-17-12-23-48

EO Apostolic Ministries International in Bergenfield is the subject of spotlight New Jersey today, Pastor Delia mcclean heads it up. She's here in our studio as you can see, looking beautiful in that paint. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Bella. You're welcome. Tell me all about your church members. Oh, I have a dedicate dedicated group of members who work with me. Would they support the vision with their time? Their talent and their finances, they consider me to be their destiny helper, but um they are my destiny helper because they're helping me to grow as a past and be a better leader. And I'm just honored to be the past of Beta Lasalle International and have this wonderful group of people leading and who support the vision. How many members would you say you have? That's we don't need a number. We have, we have, we have a good crowd that we're working with now, but we, we believe that in this program, there are many members that are coming at this time and after watching this um this broadcast, they will want to come because they will share the people in the community who don't know about us yet. They're getting to know about us and they will share the vision and want to come and be a part of what we, you run a diaper bank. Yes, we do. Yes, we run a diaper bank. Um, we distribute diapers to needy families in and around um Bergen Field once per month, the first statue of every month we distribute these, these diapers um to needy families and there's a need for this because um some families have um up to two Children who need diapers. And so when, when each person comes, they get at least um a two week supply of diapers. And so that offset the cost of them purchasing diapers and the supplemental help will help them to um save money on some, to purchase something else to do something else. So this is something that is vital and something that um we have been doing for a while and it's serving the community and people are being blessed by it. So you're helping to avoid a diaper desert. Where do the donations come from or the do we have about about 5000 diapers now that came from the members of the church, but we are what we're looking for. Now. We are looking for corporate sponsors and individual sponsors. People will donate the diapers so we can do the distribution and the pressure will be taken off the members of the church because they have been doing a lot, everything that we're doing now is the members of the church that have been contributing financially. And so it would be good to take the pressure off them. And if we could find a corporate sponsor and if we could find individuals who would want to donate a box of diapers um every month, so we can distribute that and continue to serve the community. And I gather the community takes full advantage of this Diaper bank. They do, they do. They do. Yes. And again, remind them how often you hold it. We, we have, we hold this diaper bank um once per month. On the first Saturday of every month, the first Saturday of every month from two pm to three pm, we distribute the diapers. But if someone calls me and they have a need, we also I I make myself available to give some diapers to them. If they're not available on the day when we're distributing, we want them to come on the day. Um When we're distributing, I'm not suggesting that they should wait and come another day. They should come on the day that we're distributing, but just in case something comes up and they're not able to do that, then they can call me and say pastor, can I come and I'll make arrangements to meet them there and, and, and give them some diapers maybe about a two week supply tomorrow. Pastor mclean talks about her new book is specially special. It's designed to help families with Children of autism and special needs.

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218spotlightnj3_2024-02-18-11-38-41

This is a new book that is written by Pastor Delia mcclean. She heads up Bethel Apostolic Ministries International in Bergenfield. Tell us what this book is all about. So the book is um as, as a book that puts us a spiritual face on autism spectrum disorder. There are many, many therapeutic modalities that are being used to treat autism, for example, the A B and the Greenspan method. But in my 19 years of working with special needs kids, I realized that um there is a spiritual component to it. Um I believe that the the aberrant behavior that the kids display are motivated by unclean spirits. And so this book outlines that to explain to people that um in addition to using other therapeutic modalities, then prayer needs to be an integral part of whatever they are doing with these Children because they don't just want to have them on therapy for the rest of their lives. We want them healed. And so the prayer and the consistency in praying over them and declaring what the Lord says about them and, and their destiny, then they are, we're gonna find better outcomes than just using the secular method of, of, of therapy. What do parents of Children with special needs and autism have to say about your methods. Well, they, they, they, they, they think that I'm the baby whisperer the baby because when I go in, when I go into the homes, I, uh, it's just a gift that God has given me. I know what needs to be done as soon as I see a child. I just know what needs to be done. And in therapy, I don't just, I don't, I read what is on the paper, but I ignore that and speak to the God that I know is on the inside of the child and there's God on the inside of you, there's God on the inside of me and I speak that part. I, I see them as being capable. I see them as being Children who can, who can sit and focus and I um the expectation that I communicate to them and the parents has been producing very good results along with your spiritual training and methods. What are the secular educational credentials that you have? So I have a master's degree in, in um psychology and special education and autism studies from fairly Dickinson University. Yeah, because I, I stumbled on the field when I was in college and there was, I didn't know about it. Then I stumbled on it. I was looking for um some place to live and I saw this lady said that she had an autistic child that I could work with and then live in her basement. I didn't live with her, but I took the job and then it just opened up a whole new world for me. Like I belong in this field. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life. And it's challenging. I'm not going to tell you that it's not challenging, but it's the best job that anybody could ever have. It's so rewarding and the families are being transformed by the therapy. Early intervention is also a beautiful thing. So you feel like you were directed to get, I was directed to get, I was directed to get into this. I like how you put that. I was directed. I think God just brought me into the sea. Um Use that avenue of looking for some place to live, to get me into this field. I am so happy to be serving these families. I'm so blessed. I'm so honored to go into their homes every day to work with their Children and to encourage them and the kids are, the kids are doing well. Straight ahead. Pastor mclean talks more about the joy that she gets from working with kids with special needs.

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218spotlightnj4_2024-02-18-11-46-38

Pastor Delia mclean is here in our studios right now. She heads up Bethel Apostolic Ministries International in Bergenfield. And one of the areas that you get so much joy from is working with kids with special needs. Tell me about that. I've been doing that for 19 years. Um And um it's such a tremendous blessing to serve these families and I see the transformation with the kids. Early intervention is a beautiful thing. Um, recently II I, I've had this child for, since she was nine months old. We get them very early nine months. Yes. And so she's doing very well. I think she should age out of early intervention. But, you know, it's not up to me. She should be aged out, but it's really not up to me. But um the other day I went to the house and I, you know, the stack of pegs that I have and I um took that out for her to play with. She said, no, Miss Delia. No, I don't want that. That's for babies. Yes. No, Miss Daly, I don't miss that. I don't want that. That's for babies. I said we have to do this. And then you get to do what you want. So, um because we have this thing called a pre ma principle. When they don't want to do something, we give them a AAA non activity, they complete that they get a preferred activity. And so I said, OK, I'm putting this here. I know you want this, but uh you need to wait and, and complete this task and then I'm gonna give that to you. She made a face and like she was old and, and, and did what I asked her to do and then when I gave her the tour that she wanted, finally, Miss Delia, finally, I'm telling you. So who would not want to be in this field that I look forward to going to them? I mean, they have different personalities and especially the girls. Oh my goodness. They, they, they don't take anything lying down. They, especially the girls. So, um I just, I'm just honored to be, I have two jobs that I'm very, very honored to be doing the past doing Beth E la Paz Staling International and serving the families with special needs. It's such a tremendous blessing for me. What kind of a reaction do you get from the parents when they see the progress there? They, they, uh if, if, if a family has a child, this family that I just spoke to you about this is the third child in the family that I'm working with. I remember, um, there were, there was a family years ago that transferred the case from, from the agency that it was at because I wasn't there. They transfer the case to my agency so I could work with the Children. So they really love the work that I'm doing. One of them told me the other day that I'm her son's angel. I said, oh, he's my angel. And they're so cute who would not want this job, Miss Della. The kids are so cute and they, they, you know, they, and they're intelligent because I, sometimes I, I have a toy, one toy and I'm playing with it one or two ways and I put it out in front of them and I see them playing with it another way appropriately. So they're also teaching me. Can you imagine autistic kids teaching me? So I don't go in there thinking that they can't do what um they're expected to do. I communicate expectations to them. I communicate, expect expectations of the parents and I get good results and coming up at nine, Pastor mclean talks about upcoming projects that her ministry is working on.

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218spotlightnj5_2024-02-18-11-49-26

To focus on Bethel Apostolic Ministries International in Bergenfield, Pastor Delia mclean is here in our studios right now. Let's talk about some of your upcoming activities and projects that you have on tap. So I'm in the process of recruiting um a volunteer to teach English as a second language. Um There are many Hispanics and others in Bergenfield who don't speak um English and we, our minister would like to provide them with the language competences um so that they can go back to college or get a better job or just be able to communicate better. Yeah. And why do you see that being so important in your community? It's important because of the Hispanic that because a large Hispanic population is in Bergen Field and um sometimes they want to communicate and they want to come to our church. But if they don't know the language, if there's a language barrier, then they might not be able to, to come. And not all of them are, are Catholics. Um Some of them are Apostolic but they don't have the language competency to be able to be integrated in our services. I'm learning Spanish. Um I'm singing in Spanish sometimes. I'd love to hear that. I'm singing in Spanish sometimes and stuff like that. And, um, so I'm, I'm, I'm preparing myself to meet the need as well. And, um, so I'm looking for a volunteer to teach the English as a second library class. And then I'm gonna be, um, a sub. I remember we had the, the class before and then, um, the, the, the clients um, were coming, the students were coming rather, they got jobs and left. But um when the tea with the teacher that we had before he left, he went to China to teach and then I took over the class, they were coming to my house. We're having coffee and just um talking and what are you looking for in these candidates uh that you want to teach that they should, um they don't necessarily need to have um the, the necessarily need to have the um training as, as an ESL teacher, but they need to know the language. They need to be competent in both English and LA and, and Spanish so that they know the nuances of both language and they'll be able to communicate that to the students. So it's not just um someone who just um knows Spanish and, and, and English, but someone with uh some, they have to be a foundation of training, some kind of um uh professional training. Not necessarily a degree, that's what I wanna say. Not necessarily a degree. But somebody with, um, some kind of professional training, somebody who is competent in both languages so that they can communicate the nuances of both languages to the students. You also want to start a respite care facility for special needs. Yes. Back to my baby. Um, one of the things that I want to do, I noticed that when I go into the homes, the families are really frazzled there. When you have a special needs child, it's a labor intensive job. And so, um, I think that we need to have a respite care facility where the families can drop off their kids for at least two hours while they go wash their hair, um, clean the house or take a nap. I think this is really, really needed. And coming up at noon, the pastor talks about a rescue room for boys. They're working on also a big fun concert. They just held.

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218spotlightnj6_2024-02-18-12-42-51

With Pastor Delia mclean who heads a Bethel APA star like Ministries International in Bergenfield. You want to start a rescue room for boys? Uh Yes, Miss Della, this is one of another thing that the Lord has laid on my heart. When I see young people, I see potential. I see promise. I see possibility. But I if you notice um if you watch the news every day, you see that they're going in the wrong direction. So having a a rescue home for boys would be a good thing. Just recently. There was a 15 year old in uh in Times Square that shot somebody and that bothered me just tragic that they are going in the right direction. They are joining young. So if they, if we have this rescue home for boys, then we can speak into their lives, affirm them, let them know that they were created by God to be a blessing and to be a blessing to society and to bring something good to the table and not join gangs and destroy people's families. So you want to get them on the right and get them on the right path and you know, sometimes when I'm in the supermarket and I see them check, um, their cashiers, I talk to them. I asked them, what are you doing and stuff like that? Just to, just to get somebody just to know that them know that they are visible and then somebody is thinking about them and some of them are in college and I encourage them. What are you studying and stuff like that? Just to be there for them and to invest in their lives in that way. You also want battered women to see that they're visible too and you want to visit them. We want to help um battered women. Um, a few years ago, I had a situation where one of my clients was in a domestic violence situation and um she called me from the hotel where she was staying. Our minister paid for her to stay an extra night and I looked high and low in New Jersey for, for some place for her to stay and there were no shelters here. So she uprooted her son and moved to upstate New York and um approached the child out of therapy. And so this is something that, that is a, that is desperately needed in New Jersey to help these women to rebuild their lives after being abused, to let them know that they have value. They have worked and they can recover from, from what happened to them. You recently held your first ever concert? Oh, Yes. Yeah. Oh, it went. We Miss Bella, we pulled off something that most of the people would not have pulled off. We were competing with the Super Bowl, but we had a wonderful concert. We brought up um brother Paul Marlon Anderson from Jamaica, wonderful young man anointed and we had a good time in the colon hall in Bergenfield. And uh it was so good to see people just dancing and enjoying God and enjoying the, the time. It was, it was a beautiful atmosphere and, and um after COVID, you know, you just want, it's so such a blessing to see people just enjoying themselves and just um you know, dancing their kids away. It was good. We had a great at the concert on the 11th and I gather you'd like to hold more. Yeah, we're gonna be, yes, we're gonna be having another one. But this time outside in the park, yeah, we're gonna be having, I'm gonna be trying to get the use of the park in Bergen Field so we can have a concert, an outdoor concert as a support is a part of our, our vision to be integrated in the community and to serve the community in any way that we possibly can. Bethel Apostolic Ministries is located at 18 North Washington Avenue in Bergen Field.

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News 12’s Della Crews spoke to Pastor Dahlia McLean about how she started the ministry and their practices.

Spotlight New Jersey: Bethel Apostolic Ministries international

News 12’s Della Crews spoke to Pastor Dahlia McLean about how she started the ministry and their practices.

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