Using Our Gifts

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"There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord.  There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people."  1 Corinthians 12:4-6 NIrV

“I’ll take your plate,” Maria said in a loud clear voice as she reached her hand out to take the breakfast plate from a leader at Eastern and Western Great Lakes Regions Leader Weekend.  As she scraped the plate of sticky syrup off into the trash and stacked it for the pits crew (dishwashers) as she smiled behind her mask she said, “Have a great day at camp.”  


Hospitality

Acts of Service

Words of Encouragement


These are just some of the gifts Maria has been given by God to use for the Kingdom. 


We believe the Holy Spirit gives EVERYONE gifts. In 1 Corinthians 12, the words EACH ONE and ALL are repeated over again. We are all given different gifts to use for the Kingdom of God, this includes our friends with disabilities. We believe our friends are gifted by God and called to use their gifts to honor God. Our friends are God’s workmanship created to do the good work God has planned for them to do as is stated in Ephesians 2:10.


For Maria, serving on a leader weekend Work Crew at Timber Wolf Lake is an opportunity to practice and use her God-given gifts.  As she is given opportunities to use her gifts, she grows more confident in her giftedness to serve God and others. Through Young Life Capernaum our friends with disabilities are seen as gifted and needed for the body of Christ to be whole.  We each bring our gifts into the body of Christ along with our weaknesses.  Together we carry each other in our weaknesses and lift each other with our strengths.  This is the body of Christ working and moving with wholeness and fullness.  


Dr. Swinton in his book Becoming a Friend of Time challenges our imaginations about the giftedness of our friends with disabilities.  He writes, “What would the church (or Young Life) look like if people with profound and complex intellectual disabilities were conceived of as disciples with a distinct vocation - a calling given to them by Jesus?”  Serving on Work Crew alongside my friends with disabilities has given me a clear picture of how beautiful the kingdom is when we are all given space to use our gifts.  What might it look like?  I think it might look like the Great Banquet feast from Luke 14 in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Maybe what Dr. Swinton is getting at is a picture of what it means to live “on earth as it is in heaven.” 


Working alongside Maria and Rylie and so many of my friends with disabilities as they use their gifts to show others Jesus has given me a taste of the wholeness of the body of Christ.  It is a holy and beautiful picture of the Kingdom of God. 


- Sara Webb, Capernaum Initiatives Coordinator for Discipleship and Learning

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