I watched the Gospel

A guest post by Erin Hibbs

A moment to brag on Young Life Capernaum. Tonight I was shaking in my chukka desert boots as I walked up to the brick house with a sparkly banner hung up by Razorback duct tape. I have never had an extended amount of time to work with students with special needs so I came in with zero idea of how I needed to act or what I needed to do. I don’t actually know if I was even supposed to be there seeing that I am only about 6 weeks into leadership training, but I was by the true grace of God. When I say “grace of God” I don’t mean it in the way our society has altered it but literally the true grace and mercy from God that blessed me with the opportunity to experience love in a new way. 

I watched as the leaders waved the cars down from where they became visible at the start of the street up until the tires stopped in front of the heaven on earth that was the brick house. I watched them get genuinely excited as they opened up the door for their friends that had arrived. I watched them talk to their friend’s parents to assure them that their children would be loved, safe, and entertained of for an hour and a half. I watched them hug, dance, chalk the sidewalk, sing, and be silly with their friends who they had become close with through the time they spent in classroom with their friends at school each week since school has started. I watched my new friends run under the tunnel of arms into the brick house as their name and a personal fact about them was announced. I watched my new friends smile and laugh as they sang and danced along to the songs the leaders were singing. I watched my new friends exchange secret hand shakes with the leaders and the leaders get genuinely excited as one of my new friends told us the weather forecast for the next week. 

At Capernaum I watched love. At Capernaum I watched Jesus display himself. At Capernaum I watched the Gospel in action. My favorite part about the night was that I not only watched Capernaum happen but I was able to be apart of it. It required no real training to be a buddy to one of my new friends it only required love. 

Erin Hibbs is a freshman at the University of Arkansas from Arlington Texas. She has been involved with YoungLife for 4 years and hopes to be involved with it for the rest of her life. She has never worked with YoungLife Capernaum until this month but is hooked. This is a brief summary of her first Capernaum club.