The End Dream

A guest post by Nick Palermo....

In May of 1987 we finished our first Capernaum club school year. One of our Capernaum friends was graduating from high school. Her mother asked us ‘So, what happens to her now? Are you kicking her out?’ As you can imagine, this was quite disarming. We hadn’t even thought of this need or the reality of this step.  In a moment of time, Beyond Capernaum was born. Being the longest tenured (first ever) Young Life Capernaum ministry, this would not be the first time this question would come up. Beyond Capernaum, as it was called then, grew. Big. It wasn’t that we were trying to become their church, but in the 80s, disability ministry was brand-new everywhere. Young Life was on the cutting edge of outreach to people who had disabilities. Few churches were even beginning to consider children with disabilities for Sunday school, let alone our young adult friends. We searched for churches, and many times the response was ‘of course you are welcomed here’ but sometimes their buildings weren’t even accessible, let alone their hearts or programming.

               

So, we faithfully continued. Beyond Capernaum got so big it became apparent we had to split our club into older friends and younger friends. ‘Vintage’ was the name we chose…. our friends, aging like the finest of wines, in Jesus’ hands. We saw our friends grow deeper and richer, in ways that the Church needed and didn’t yet know or see. One of the dearest of our club members, Jesse, died a couple of years back. She had started coming to club when she was 16 and was with us into her 30s. Jesse loved Capernaum, as did her mother, and they were a treasured part of our Capernaum Community. The loss was deep and shocking. As a gesture of our love for Jesse and her mom Gayla we renamed the club ‘Jesse’s Club.’ We wanted to honor Jesse. And we wanted to keep going after the 16 year-olds like Jesse whose life had been changed by her experience with Capernaum!

In a society that continues to become more inclusive and aware of people with disabilities, the possibilities for our friends in the Church have slowly expanded. In 2014, Bill Hybels charged pastors with the need to minister to people with disabilities at their local churches in his global leadership teleconference that went out all over the world! As the mission of Young Life was slowly transformed by the presence of the Capernaum ministry, we’re beginning to see seeds of transformation by our friends with disabilities in the Church. In 2014, we released ‘Jesse’s club’ to some volunteers and since then, God has brought a new couple with great vision. They now hold club at their church and have involved the pastor, youth group and other members of the church to embrace ‘Jesse’s Club.’ There are still a handful of friends that I met in our very first year in 1986 in that club! As disability rights, culture, and inclusion have shaped our society, our friends have changed our mission of Young Life and finally the Church!  This means that our friends finally have a place to dwell! Hallelujah! Guess what the church’s name is… Its called ‘Dwell!’

The end-dream as we pursue high school friends with disabilities through Capernaum is this…. A church that not only welcomes our friends or makes it physically accessible, but puts hands and feet to that, invests in relationships with them, and offers fellowship in growing intimacy and a place where they can serve and use the talents they’ve been given! As our friends transition out of Capernaum, God, please don’t let the body of Christ miss out on all the ‘Jesses” who need a forever church home! We’re celebrating that our friends from ‘Jesse’s Club’, and so many others around the country, have been welcomed into a church home! 

Welcome home, friends!