USA: Student Says His Autism Is a Gift from God

Source: International Mission Board, September 17, 2019

Six months after his parents moved from California to Uruguay with the International Mission Board in 1990, Steven Kunkel stopped speaking. His parents first thought their one-year-old son had culture shock but knew something else was wrong when Kunkel did not speak for nearly three years.

When Kunkel was 4, his father took him to Sacramento, California, for a formal diagnosis. The doctors informed him his son was severely autistic, saying he would never be able to live on his own, learn to speak, or make any friends. The doctors recommended they leave the mission field and put Steven in a specialty school for autistic children, but they knew God had other plans for their family [and returned to Uruguay, with their son, who started speaking at the age of five].

Though doctors told his parents Kunkel would have trouble speaking, he showed a knack for languages early in his life. By the age of 15, Kunkel spoke three languages: English, Spanish, and Portuguese. At that point, Kunkel sensed a call from the Lord to be a missionary to Japan.

After working with the Japanese church [in Paraguay] for seven years, Kunkel answered God’s call by moving to Japan when he was 22. Kunkel stayed in Japan for two years and enrolled in Boyce College as a Global Studies major in spring 2015. Kunkel has continued to learn other languages and currently speaks seven fluently: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Arabic, French, and Turkish.

As Kunkel prepares for missionary service, he hopes to encourage others to trust that God can use them no matter what is standing in the way. Through living with autism, Kunkel has learned to rely completely on God’s power so much so he now thanks God for his disability.

“My autism is one of the greatest gifts the Lord has given me. The Lord healed me, but not 100 percent because he wants me to rely on him,” Kunkel said. “If it was not for my autism, I would not be determined to learn languages, meet friends, share the gospel with people, and to encourage others.”

» Read full story. Note the IMB article is a reprint from a related source published in 2015. A 2018 article which included more of Steven’s story, especially his experience with autism, reported his graduation from Boyce and plans to return to Japan later that year (Stims of Joy).

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