When we first began Handprints Ministry in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, we did not start with expertise, funding strategies, or a long-term plan. We started with a conviction: that every person is precious in God’s eyes, and that love must be made visible. Handprints Toy Library and Resource Centre was the very first expression of this […]

When we first began Handprints Ministry in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, we did not start with expertise, funding strategies, or a long-term plan. We started with a conviction: that every person is precious in God’s eyes, and that love must be made visible.

Handprints Toy Library and Resource Centre was the very first expression of this ministry. It grew out of a simple response to a significant need: the isolation experienced by families raising children with special needs. In Sabah, and particularly among older generations, disability can still carry stigma. Many parents feel unsure about bringing their children into public spaces, and many children miss out on opportunities to learn, play, and belong.

The Handprints Toy Library began in 2011, serving children under the age of 12. Today, it holds more than 1,000 toys, games, puzzles, and books in both English and Chinese. These resources are carefully selected and categorised according to skills, such as motor development, coordination, sensory engagement, and social interaction, so that parents are supported not only with play materials, but with guidance.

From the beginning, we were clear that the Toy Library is not a childcare service. Instead, it is a space where parents are invited to play with their children. Many parents come to us feeling overwhelmed, uncertain, or isolated. Through play, they discover new ways to connect, communicate, and enjoy their child, not just to manage their needs.

Play becomes ministry.

Alongside the Toy Library, we host regular Playdays, which are now held every two months due to limited manpower and resources. These Playdays are open not only to children with special needs, but also to typically developing children. This is intentional.

We want children to grow up learning that difference is normal, that friendship crosses boundaries, and that everyone belongs. Through shared games, laughter, and simple activities, stigma begins to loosen its grip. Parents, too, find connection, sometimes for the first time, with others who understand their journey.

We also partner with intervention centres and special needs kindergartens, working collaboratively rather than competitively. Our role has shifted over time from hosting large awareness talks to building deep relationships and offering spaces where learning and encouragement happen naturally.

As the years passed, we noticed something important. Children who had grown up in the Toy Library eventually reached adolescence. Toys no longer held their interest, yet families still needed a place of belonging.

This led to the creation of Project I’m Able, a baking and life‑skills program for teenagers and young adults with special needs. What began as baking cookies quickly became a place of dignity, achievement, and joy. Skills are learned slowly, patiently, step by step. Success is measured not by efficiency, but by confidence.

Given time, patience, and encouragement, confidence begins to grow. One young adolescent has shared two hopes with us: first, that by selling more cookies he will one day be able to buy a big house for his parents; and second, that he will build a large shopping mall, and make sure there is a space for Handprints Café within it.

More recently, we have taken another step of faith with the opening of Handprints Café. This café provides supported employment for young adults with special needs. These are young people who otherwise had nowhere to work and little hope of independence.

Training can take months. Learning to wipe a table or serve a customer requires patience and repetition. But we have seen transformations beyond anything we imagined. One grandmother told us her grandson, once labelled “hopeless,” now helps at home and no longer cries out in distress at night. He was baptised earlier this year and now prays the Lord’s Prayer each evening.

Handprints is funded by our local congregation, through faithful giving and trust in God’s provision. We do not measure success by numbers or outcomes alone. We believe this is God’s ministry, moving at God’s pace.

We still have much to learn. We are still growing in courage, wisdom, and perseverance. But we are convinced of this: even if one life is affirmed, one family strengthened, one young adult given dignity, then this work is worth it.

Handprints is where love becomes practical.
Where fear gives way to friendship.
Where God’s grace takes form, one small handprint at a time.

Many of our partner churches are working in new territory for the kingdom of God; therefore, spiritual attack is their everyday reality. As a member of a congregation, school, or family, or a couple or individual, you are invited to commit to praying for our partners in mission. For regular prayer point updates, go to www.lca.org.au/international-mission/act-now/pray

Read more stories about our partner churches in Malaysia (Sabah) at https://www.lcamission.org.au/category/stories/international-partners/malaysia-sabah/