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Whatever It Takes

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A common phrase in Young Life is that we will stop at nothing when it comes to being with teenagers and sharing the gospel with them.   Every time that I meet a leader who is doing Capernaum, I am amazed by their stories and their commitment to do whatever it takes.   As I am continuing to get to know our staff and volunteers around the globe, I am in complete awe!   Capernaum is in over thirty countries, outside of the United States.   We have staff and volunteers in places like Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Mongolia, Kazakhstan (pictured), Ukraine, Ireland, Uganda, Peru, Ethiopia, the Dominican Republic, and on and on.   Here are just a few snapshots of how leaders are doing whatever it takes…. In India, we have staff and volunteers who are doing Capernaum in the slums.   They are having a hard time gathering kids to bring them to club, so they go to each of them individually to spend time with them, laugh, build a friendship, and share the gospel.   One by one, every week!   Whatever it
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Transformative Belonging Thru Inclusion

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“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
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From Nice to Needed

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This year we are excited to celebrate the larger community of Capernaum on our socials and blog! Our global community Our local community Our volunteer community Our student community Our family community   Our staff community It is all ONE community.    We are interconnected through a shared mission of introducing adolescents with disabilities to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith.    And a shared vision of creating spaces of belonging in all these spaces around the world.    Join us this year as we share photos, videos, and stories of our  #OneCommunity ! This month we hear from Andy Davenport, Capernaum Initiatives Coordinator, as he shares his thoughts on belonging and community. .............................. W hy is it that when many people see someone with a disability serving or working, they believe it’s a nice thing? (pictured - Capernaum serving at a YL camp) Nice they have something to do. Nice of the person who let them be a part of it. Nice gesture of inclu
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What Works For Us, Works For You

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This year we are excited to celebrate the larger community of Capernaum on our socials and blog! Our global community Our local community Our volunteer community Our student community Our family community   Our staff community It is all ONE community.   We are interconnected through a shared mission of introducing adolescents with disabilities to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith.   And a shared vision of creating spaces of belonging in all these spaces around the world.   Join us this year as we share photos, videos, and stories of our #OneCommunity ! This month we hear from Christen Morrow Ara, Southwest Capernaum Coordinator, as she shares her thoughts on belonging and community. .............. In March, many Young Life staff gathered across the USA to participate in Assigned Team Training - a gathering time for the people who will help run our camps this summer. One of my favorite parts of this annual gathering is that we get to see people from across our divisions
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Belonging - Different and Unified

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  This year we are excited to celebrate the larger community of Capernaum on our socials and blog! Our global community Our local community Our volunteer community Our student community Our family community   Our staff community It is all ONE community.   We are interconnected through a shared mission of introducing adolescents with disabilities to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith.   And a shared vision of creating spaces of belonging in all these spaces around the world.   Join us this year as we share photos, videos, and stories of our #OneCommunity ! For February, we hear from Tasha Taylor, Midwest Capernaum Coordinator, as she shares her thoughts on belonging and community. ………………… I have been thinking about marginalization a lot in recent years and in one of my classes at Western Theological Seminary called Ministry and the Margins with Dr. Ben Conner, we learned about five ways people are marginalized through power dynamics: According to Robert Schreiter we,   Ho
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Created For Good Works

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Each one should use whatever gift they have received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.  1 Peter 4:10  We are God’s creation.  He created us to belong to Christ Jesus.  Now we can do good works.  Long ago God prepared these worlds for us to do.  Ephesians 2:10 NIrV     The first weekend of June the Midwest Division hosted a Capernaum Discipleship Trip in Holland, MI.  We had 40 Capernaum friends from Chicagoland and West Michigan join us in a day of learning and serving (and some fun too).  Our theme this year was God-Given Gifts.  Our plan for the day was to offer teaching time to identify our God-given gifts and then time to serve others with our gifts.  We spent time at Benjamin’s Hope and Renew Therapeutic Riding Center, both organizations that also serve and serve with people with disabilities.  We served these communities through writing notes to residents at Ben’s Hope, cleaning the fences by the Alpacas, painting, mucking stalls for the
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