YL Capernaum Everywhere

Did you know that in March we are celebrating Capernaum’s 30th BIRTHDAY!!!!!! Thirty years of the beautiful blessings of inviting new friends into our lives through Young Life!!!!! We are celebrating, and we would like you to join us! Make cupcakes with your friends!!  Play a few party games at your club or leaders' meeting! Simply dance where you are!  Whatever you do, please include us in your celebration and we will include you in  ours! Send us a picture or post in social media using #YLCap30. Share the Birthday love!

Guest blog by Lyn TenBrink Last week I spent three days at the “Worship Symposium” ( http://worship.calvin.edu/symposium/ ) at Calvin College (http://www.calvin.edu/). One of the themes of the time was “Universal Design” of worship. Barbara Newman with CLC was the speaker on this topic. I watched the chapel at Calvin College fill up twice. I sat quietly and conversationally reached out to the people sitting around me on both occasions. Barbara shared thoughtful, theological and practical ideas around thinking about “Universal Design” in the context of worship. A few times she asked us to share our reactions to a variety of things she shared. EVERYTIME the people around me had tearful eyes and the words, “I have never thought about these people in our congregation before.” EVERYTIME!! I think it is time! Watch. Listen. Think. Share. Ask Questions. Live new! You can watch the video here For more excellent resources for worship check out Calvin Institute

Guest blog by Brad Mowry A few years back I had the great benefit of having a TDS Chair who was in the fundraising field. (Taking Donors Seriously is Young Life’s fundraising strategy). My TDS Chair taught me the best question to ask a donor: “Who else should I be talking to?” This question helps link you to new donors and keep the momentum going. I have learned that when starting a Capernaum club, the same question is equally as important. I have found that we often have no idea who is impacted by disability in a church or community until we ask. When we ask this question of a pastor or members of the community, we are surprised to find the list of names that follows. I recently shared this at a Leader Committee Weekend. I got an email the following week from an Area Director that said: "I had a meeting with a pastor on Monday and shared about the vision for the area and where we are going. I shared about the need for Capernaum in the area, and asked him ‘who needs to hear ab

Many of us have the You Version Bible App on our phones. You Version Bible  has many versions and is offered at least 90 -100 languages! But have you noticed the audio availability on everything? There are many possibilities of utilizing this for some of our Capernaum friends. To get us started: Set up “Verse of the Day” on your friend's device. Each day a verse will pop up for them and simply hit the audio button and they can hear the Bible read to them or read it for themselves. Under “Me” on the app the Bible stories read at camp can be book marked so camper can read or listen to stories when they get home. We can invite our friends to share the scripture reading for talk or campaigners simply by inviting them up front with passage cued on device and they can hit “play”. (device could be connected to wireless speaker for sound quality purposes.) Under “Plans” then “Discover” there are topical studies like “Lent and Easter” that can be listen to independent

Our guest blog comes from Kathy Dubbledam who is the Young Life Capernaum Director in Canada. She shared with us a story that impacted her as she was doing contact work at her local school. I ended up sitting beside a boy named Trevor. He started by telling me that he was inventing a machine that could make any food to have zero calories (I told him he’s going to be a billionaire!). But as we got into it, he told me how 4 years ago he had to start counting all his food, weighing it carefully and having his blood sugar constantly tested. He got really serious when I asked him why 4 years ago. It’s because, he said, 4 years ago is when the shunt in his brain loosened. "Do you know what a shunt is?" he asked. My heart broke for this 15 year old boy who was well informed of shunts. Well, the doctors thought it was the tumor in his brain causing the struggle (he pointed to the area of the tumor) but no, it was the shunt (he pointed to the area of the shunt). And si

Have you ever thought about just what it is that makes you feel like you really belong somewhere? About the things that help you feel like you are truly part of a particular community?  In my own field of special education, the outcomes we have pursued for young people with labels like Down syndrome, autism, and intellectual disability have evolved over the last few decades. Where we once pursued integration, we now talk about promoting inclusion. But my sense is that both terms fall short of what really matters most. People want to be more than merely integrated or included. They want to experience true belonging. But belonging is a hard concept to define. We quickly feel its absence. But describing its presence can be much more challenging. What might be some markers of belonging within a community of faith? We recently interviewed almost 50 adolescents with intellectual disability or autism and their parents about their faith and the things that help them flourish. Some of o

Consider joining us for the Summer Institute of Theology and Disability on May 23-26 in Holland, Michigan. This event is hosted by Western Theological Seminary , which is an academic partner for Young Life and has most recently made available the Certificate of Disability Studies - the only one of its kind! The Summer Institute on Theology and Disability brings together academics, theologians, practitioners and others—people with and without labeled disabilities—to explore the inclusive intersections of theology and disabilities. The Summer Institute is led by Bill Gaventa and core faculty including Hans Reinders, John Swinton, Tom Reynolds, Amos Yong, Erik Carter, Darla Schumm and Julia Watts Belser. Founded in 2010, the Summer Institute creates a significant space for thought-and-practice leadership in the rapidly growing arena of theology and disability. We are thankful for many learning opportunities and for all the institutions and organizations we get to be part of! H

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship hosts a variety of showcases which feature resources on topics that impact faith communities. One of those showcases is “ Disability Within Faith Communities ” Check out the books, curriculum, audio opportunities etc. on this resource! Will be updating again in February so please pass along here resources for us to review. But in the meantime: Use Barbara Newman’s book “ Accessible Gospel,Inclusive Worship ” to organize your talk sequence with visuals for club next year.  Order a few copies of Erik Carter’s book “ Including People with Disabilities in Faith Communities ” and ask a few people on your church council to read Chapter 5 and meet you for coffee and talk about a few ways you can better care for families in your congregation.  Read Henri Nouwen’s book “Adam ” with your book club. As you process this material, think through how can you be a bridge to your community?