Be comfortable with being uncomfortable

Happy 30th Birthday Capernaum! On March 10, 1986, Nick Palermo invited the first group of students with disabilities to a Young Life Capernaum Club with games and a message that were designed with them in mind!

Nick has written: I’ve had the privilege of spending the last 30 years seeing God through and with teenagers who don’t always speak clearly, who sometimes drool, and whose minds and bodies don’t always match in ability. I’ve walked beside, pushed, and even carried my friends. I’ve experienced God in slurred speech, twisted hands and halting walks.

 

In 1980 Nick was told that the school where he was volunteering with YL was being closed, so hewas sent to a new school. At the new school, as he walked down the hallway, he saw 25 kids in wheelchairs going to the cafeteria. Nick was shocked; he had never seen that many kids in wheelchairs in one place. More curious than convicted, he followed them and tried to meet a kid. His potential new friend turned in his chair and held out his gnarled hand ... and Nick drew back. Nick couldn’t understand what he was saying. Nick was embarrassed and didn’t know what to do. He had no training in being with people affected by disability, no relative with a disability, - and this kind of ministry wasn’t even something he thought he wanted to do.

However, soon after Nick met these students, he read Luke 14:16-24 and was captured by the discussion of the poor, the crippled, and the blind. He’d always heard that phrase spiritualized in sermons to mean those who are spiritually poor. But that day as he read the passage, he realized that God really does intend for us to minister to the poor, the crippled, and the blind. As he prayed about this, a phrase popped into his mind: Be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

We in YL Capernaum have held onto that phrase and lean into being comfortable with being uncomfortable. We cling to Luke 14 where Jesus asked that we compel those who are poor, crippled or blind to fill his banquet table.

In place of isolation, loneliness and boredom, which can be common feelings experienced by teenagers who have been given labels such as autism, Down Syndrome, IDD, or cerebral palsy, at Young Life these same young people are Invited, Celebrated and Needed.


So Happy 30th Birthday Capernaum! We celebrate that since 1986 Capernaum has grown: from 1 leader to 1,979 leaders, from impacting 36 kids to impacting 21,139 kids, and from 1 ministry to 273 ministries in the U.S., plus YL ministries in 38+ countries globally that are including kids with disabilities. We are grateful that Young Life invites us, celebrates us, and needs us within this amazing mission!