Transformative Belonging Thru Inclusion

-
“Belonging is rooted in relationships,” says Dr. Erik Carter. “Having people in our lives who know us, like us, accept us, need us, miss us, and love us is at the heart of our well-being.”* Belonging like this can create a healing experience, especially for those on the margins. As Carter also shares through the 10 Dimensions of Belonging - This feeling of true belonging is more than being included or invited. Someone’s presence is not only allowed but wanted. They are not only invited but needed. This healing sense of belonging happens when the world welcomes someone in and fully accepts and loves them for who they really are. This need for belonging is not a special need, but rather a universal need. 

Even though the need for belonging is universal, students with intellectual and developmental disabilities can have an especially hard time finding spaces of true belonging. For instance, isolation and separation often keep our Capernaum friends at arm's length from their peers and communities. As a result, Young Life has the opportunity and privilege to help close this distance, separation, and isolation by creating spaces where all kids know they belong together. 

One of those ways this is happening within Young Life is through intentionally inclusive traditional Young Life clubs.  In these clubs, there are trained Capernaum leaders serving on the team alongside the existing leaders in order to create a safe and inclusive culture.  

In these clubs, transformative belonging can look like:
  • High school students with and without disabilities experiencing authentic friendships with one another.
  • Leaders and high school buddies throwing a Capernaum friend a surprise birthday party, the first party their parents haven’t had to plan.
  • A Capernaum friend fully participating in traditional Young Life club and being celebrated for helping the team win the game. 
  • A Capernaum friend processing and listening to the traditional club talk in a way that is comfortable for them.

This true and transformative belonging reflects the Body of Christ in a way that the world is too
often missing. It is in creating these spaces of belonging that friends no longer have to ask “Is this for me?” or “Which club can I go to?” As YL creates these spaces of belonging, both physical spaces and space within ourselves, it will faithfully reflect the Body of Christ to the world of kids and invite them into the beauty of togetherness.  

Here are some glimpses of this belonging happening in traditional YL clubs:

“We had our first real inclusion club last night and it was awesome! We had four Capernaum friends show up and it was such a seamless integration. I was heading to sit with one of the kids that requires a little more attention during the club talk, but before I could get over there, one of our senior guys had already left his front and center seat with his friends to sit with Johnathan to be with him for the talk. Afterward, David (who is pretty quiet and limited verbally) told his mom that the best part was the new friends he made. It was so cool.” - Area Director

“Cool story from Inclusion YL Club tonight: 
1. We had a great turnout of Capernaum friends which was so fun, but 2. We have a new friend named Jay that has autism and during the club talk, he was getting really antsy. He started groaning and making a few different noises/mumbling to himself and kids were turning around to see what was going on so William motioned to me to see if he needed to take him outside. Instead, I went over and asked him if he wanted to go for a walk and we just paced back and forth at the back of the club room together for the rest of the talk because I wanted him to stay in the room. He was still mumbling and making noises, but once kids turned around again and saw that he just needed to process in a different way, they didn’t turn around again for the rest of the talk. They got to see that their peer with a disability isn’t a distraction and he belongs in Club as much as they do. You could see the shift in our traditional Young Life kids- it was so cool!” - Area Director 

“Had to send this to you from Inclusion Club last night - coolest moment ever! This is what I’ve prayed our Club would look like for years and I’ve watched this video probably 10 times just this morning.” - Area Director.  See the video over on our social media!


*Place of Belonging: Including Individuals With Significant Disabilities in Faith Communities by Dr. Erik Carter, p. 10.

Kelsey Hamilton, Capernaum Regional Coordinator in Northeast Texas

Comments

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