YL Capernaum Everywhere

Northern Kentucky YL Capernaum collaborated with a local church,  Crossroads, to host an outreach event for the community.  Take three minutes to enjoy this incredible video of a fantastic night. Here is a link to the photos that were taken as well: http://leahbarryphotography.pixieset.com/theroyalprom2014crossroads/ * This was not for a specialized age nor was called YL Capernaum.  It was a specific event designed to rally the community around reaching out to friends with disabilities. What a great idea!  Thanks for your leadership  Eric !

A guest post by Sean Mann As our older friends aged out of being able to go to traditional Young Life camps about 5 years ago, our area started our own Texas Capernaum camp.   So far we have done 2 trips to San Antonio, 2 trips in the DFW area, and 1 trip to Austin.   These trips have been an excellent supplement to our Capernaum weeks of camp, as they are less costly and closer to home for parents that are nervous about putting their kid on an airplane.   Our trips have typically been a long weekend from Friday at lunch until Monday evening.   We stay at a hotel, which our Capernaum friends get really excited about, and have a ratio of 1 leader to every 3 campers in the room.   I would highly recommend Staybridge Suites, or something similar, if there is one in your area because they have rooms with two beds and a pull out couch, as well as the option for rollaway beds.   We cater our meals, and if you are staying within your own area this is a great opportunity to invite chu

One of the many, great aspects of a Capernaum team is that God draws in people to be leaders that are different ages, come from different backgrounds, know YL and don't know YL at all! Be encouraged by this picture of leaders from Phoenix, AZ. They call themselves the Senior Leader/Buddy Team.  They recently went to camp with their high school friends, bringing a total of 16 leaders.  9 folks over 55 of whom 7 are over 60 and 1 is 70+ (also 5 under 40)! Isn't that incredible!  Pray that God would bring diversity to your team in all ways! Thanks Phoenix!  

A guest post by Brad Mowry I am an Area Director in a traditional Young Life area. We have two Capernaum Clubs and training new leaders is a big part of what I do. Most of our leaders are college students and while we recruit we are looking for Young Life, WyldLife, and Capernaum leaders. While recognizing the unique nature of Capernaum, I want all my leaders to know and participate in the following. 1.      We Are Young Life 2.      Understand the Other Parts of the Body WE ARE YOUNG LIFE My prevailing thought on training for different expressions of our mission is that, principally, Young Life is the same regardless of whether you are a Young Life, WyldLife, Capernaum, Young Lives, or Young Life College leader. Right? We all should be approaching the ministry with going where kids are, proclaiming the Gospel in an accommodating setting, following up with kids who want to grow and have made decisions to follow Jesus, and taking kids away from it all to help the go

Don't miss this incredible post from the Young Life Leader Blog about earning a parent's trust as a YL leader!  Thanks Drew Hill, for such great reminders of what is necessary in our Capernaum ministries! The Young Life Leader version of "Meet the Parents"

Who doesn't love a good cheeseburger?! Whether it's In-n-Out, Five Guys or the local burger joint, we all have our favorites.   Knoxville Capernaum leaders have come up with a great way to help their friends in Capernaum learn how to pray.  While looking at Matthew 6 together, they are going to associate the aspects of prayer to a cheeseburger! Four Parts of Prayer 1.  Bun- Worship and Praise        -What does that mean?  2. Lettuce- Saying I’m Sorry         - How do we do this?  3. Cheese- Saying Thank You        -What do we say thank you for?  4. Meat- Asking        -Prayer request, God wants us to let him know what we desire.  They are even bringing real cheeseburgers to Campaigners to help their friends learn it to the fullest!

It was Friday night and like any Young Life leader around the world, I was out watching my high school friends.  It wasn't a football game, the cheerleading squad or even a school play.  It was the Tennessee State Fair Ms. Sparkle Pageant!   As I cheered on my friends who were participating in the pageant, I was struck by something... myself, my son and the friend that I was with appeared to be the only people in the room who weren't family members to one of the participants.   I know that this is true in the world of our friends with disabilities, that's why we often use the words "lonely" or "isolated" when speaking of their every day life.  But last night, it hit me in the face all over again.  A room full of beautiful girls, dressed to the nine's, hair done, make-up on, hours of practice and even a submission of information about themselves being read and the only people there to cheer them on where family members.  And a Young Life leader.

A guest post by Andy Davenport Training your Capernaum friends to lead in their ministry is crucial.  We should view them as the leaders who will one day replace us.  Here are a few thoughts and ideas on why and how you can begin to make this an essential part of your ministry. Nuggets to help your friends succeed up front: The Dancing Janitors! Start by treating club planning like you would a typical club Focus on your friends natural talents  Help them discover their gifts by helping them get outside their box Let them have a hand in picking the songs, character names, dance moves Costuming is key Teach them to celebrate everyone Make their disability a strength Come prepared - Many can’t improvise well Walk through EVERY step with them Teach them how to get the crowd involved Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. Explain the WHY Ways to bring your friends up front at club: Leading singing Assist with club talk Giving club talk Running games/mixers

A guest post by Eric Northrup “Capernaum Summer Camp is not for everyone.”  These were the words that I heard from a well-respected elder within Capernaum.  At the time I was blown away; it seemed to be contrary to everything I knew Young Life to be. Thoughts of “What do you mean? We try to make everything accessible for our friends with disabilities!  No one is turned away.”  My gut told me that there was just no way this could be right. Then I started to think about some of my friends back home.  I thought of one student in particular who has never been away from home, only hangs out with the opposite sex, and currently the parent is not willing to address some of these issues.  In my heart, I knew summer camp just wasn’t for this person—and they weren’t alone.  There were a handful of my friends I could think of right away that, if I was honest, summer camp would be a really hard fit for them.  For some it was physical, others behavioral or medical and a few just ha

In 2011, we hired a part-time staff person to serve as our Capernaum Coordinator.   Zach Grant and his wife, Kaley, moved back to St. Augustine, FL to take the position.   From the very beginning, I wanted Zach to understand his role and my role in Young Life.   Zach would be the primary point person for contact work, club, camp, recruiting leaders and adults, raising campership money and co-owning the vision and direction of our Capernaum ministry.   I made it clear that we were in this together and that I was going to help Zach accomplish all of this…but, I also wanted him to know that I wasn’t going to do it for him.   My role was to equip Zach with the skill-sets that he needed so that he could accomplish the vision and goals for ministry that we set together. Fast forward to 2014.   Zach has done a phenomenal job with our Capernaum ministry.   Here’s a few of the things that Zach has done over the last three years: Grown our number of volunteer leaders and adults Reachin