Joshua, Jericho and a Few Fish

-
How can you grow your Capernaum ministry either initially or into a phase of discipleship? Adopt this biblical model, adapted from the works of Parker Palmer.

  • Build a Joshua committee- like Joshua, gather a group of people who will pray and begin relationships with kids; bringing kids with disabilities from their personal wilderness into their own land of promise. It may not happen quickly; it is an ongoing process of learning from reaching out and then figuring out what is needed next. We have the opportunity to journey with our friends in unhurried relationships, full of patience and promise.
  • Develop a Jericho strategy- gather a community together and engage in persistent celebration; an image based on the Biblical story of the walls coming after the Israelites prayed and paraded, in great celebration, around them over and over. Positive vision, hope, joy… draws people in and breaks down walls. Let’s believe and act on the reality that we are better together. 
  • Use a fish and loaves approach to community planning. There were 5,000 people to be fed. The disciples’ first response was, “Send them somewhere, refer them. We don't have enough."  Their second response, "give us some money and we will buy food." But Jesus didn't wait for
    them to find a grant or more public funding, Jesus asked them what they had, took what they offered him and multiplied it.  Jesus gathered the crowd in smaller groups, a small boy offered his gifts of loaves and fishes, and they were transformed.  One of the miracles in the story is believing that there is an abundance of spirit in sharing in community, rather than focusing on scarcity.  Let's believe in abundance for our friends with disabilities both from the community and in their relationships with Jesus.  
  • Finally, believe in the call- give voice to the values, spirituality, and vision that compels and motivates others. Give people time and place to reflect on that call and their sense of vocation, on what they are learning, and who they want to be. One reason “professionals” and “volunteers” burnout is that there is not time or place for this. Let’s care well for our teams, helping them renew their call with rest, great training and time for celebration. 





Comments

  1. BloggerSeptember 26, 2017 at 7:45 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Christmas/Winter Club Game Ideas

-
Image
  Mixer Q-tip war: Split room in half with tape down the middle. Pass out straws and Q-tips (make sure you test that the Q-tips fit before hand). You will shoot the Q-tips across the line via placing the Q-tip in the straw and blowing. Keep this going for a while and then stop the music and pick a winning side (one with the least amount of Q-tips). 12 days of Christmas: divide the room up into 12 groups (numbers in group vary based on size of club) Each group is a day of the 12 days. Give them some time to think of a motion/dance move that represents their day. Then perform the whole song! Dice Doubles: Have prepared a gift (candy from dollar store goes over great!). Wrap it in MANY layers, including tape! Sit the group in a circle. If you have more than 20, it’s best for multiples circles to play the game. Place the wrapped gift, gloves, a Santa hat and dice in the center (from playing this game with Capernaum many times, I’ve actually learned that one dice with each side
Read more

Great Visual for Club Talk on Sin

-
Image
During club recently, Katey and her friends were talking about sin and the cross during their club talk. They created this great visual that ended up being so helpful for their friends to understand how sin effects us and how the cross offers us such a beautiful way to live instead! They had 5 boxes- one large box named “SIN”, one large box named “GOD”, one medium box named “ME”, one tiny box named “SIN” and one tiny box named “GOD”. They explained how God created us to live in perfect relationship with Him where we live in Him (put the “ME” box in the large “GOD” box) and where He lives in us (put the tiny “GOD” box in the medium “ME” box). Then, take everything out. They then explained how because of sin (with explanation of sin) it looks like this: put the tiny “SIN” box in the “ME” box and then put the “ME” box in the large “SIN” box. They explained how there is nothing that we can do on our own to get sin out of us and there is nothing we can do on our own to get ourselves out
Read more

Valentine's Day Club

-
Image
Mixer Couple Match-up: You will need stacks of two different colored sticky notes (let’s say one green stack and one pink). You will write couple pairs that your friends know on these. For example, on a green write Minnie Mouse and on pink Mickey Mouse. Place the pink on the backs of your friends and greens on the back of leaders/buddies…no cheating! Don’t let them see who is on their back. Once everyone is ready inform them that they are to find their “couple pair.” They will do this by walking around the room and having friends describe their character WITHOUT saying the name! Once you know who you are you can find your pair. The reason it’s important to have the buddies and leaders be the matches is so they can help their friends out! Once you find your match sit down! Game Heart Target: Place heart shaped paper on the floor, walls, or wherever you want. The person playing the game will be handed a balloon, not tied off! They will release the balloon trying to get it to land on one
Read more