YL Capernaum Everywhere

A guest post from Pam Harmon As we start a new year many of us ask again:  How will I choose to invest my time this year? my money? I want to be a good steward.  What will be the return on the time and money I invest? With which friends will I intentionally grow closer this year? Who can I pour into without expecting anything in return, and with whom can I build genuine, mutual community? All of these are important questions to bring before the Lord.  In my quest to do all things right, sometimes the Lord has to remind me of Who He is and of what is most important to Him. As I have spoken to God about this year, the Scriptures and readings that God brought to mind are: 1. Luke 12:22-31 “Jesus said to His disciples, ‘For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. For life is more than food, and the body than clothing. Consider the ravens,...

Check out this great video, highlighting one of the many ways that you can host an event in your area that not only raises money but allows the community to see how gifted and incredible your friends in Capernaum are!

A guest post from Mary Kendall Barker... As I think about what it means to equip leaders well, one major thing comes to mind: confidence. Leaders need to believe that they have A) been equipped by the Lord and B) have been given tangible tools to lead their high school friends well. There are a few ways that come to mind as I think of how to accomplish these 2 things. 1.      It is important that our Capernaum leaders have been trained to do good Young Life. What do I mean by this? It is tempting as a Capernaum staff person to just train our Capernaum leaders on disabilities and Capernaum Club, but we need to make sure they have a good understanding of how all Young Life leaders do contact work, club, campaigners, camp, etc. Our leaders in Knoxville are required to go through typical training with an added emphasis on Capernaum after they have been placed in hopes that they will feel a part of the entire leadership of Knoxville and catch the vision for ou...

When I was getting started with Capernaum in Baltimore, Sarah was the first friend that I met.  She, along with her parents, taught me so much about what it meant to do ministry alongside of my new friends with disabilities.  She has since graduated from YL Capernaum and is heavily involved in her local church.   This is a two-part post, as I have asked her if she would be willing to type out some of her thoughts about Capernaum and what it's like to now be involved in her church.  Her answers are stunning.  I hope you enjoy! What did you love about being involved in Capernaum? My name is Sarah Brintnall and I am 26 years old.   I am writing this by two head switches because I can’t use my hands to type.     The first thing that I loved and still love about being involved in Capernaum is /was that I was able to make friends from night one.   You see, I am in a wheelchair because I have cerebral palsy.   Due to the kind of cereb...

Enjoy Sarah's thoughts on being involved in her local church! Now that you are older, you have gotten very involved in church.   Can you tell me  about the things that you do with your church? I have to say that my church which is now Grace Fellowship Church is completely and utterly awesome! ! !   My family and I have been attending Grace regularly for about the past 5 years or so now.   There is so much I could talk about that I can’t decide where to start. First thing is first.   When you just step inside the doors at Grace Fellowship Church, you automatically feel accepted and loved just by the awesome greeters who stand at the door every Sunday rain or shine.   What I also I fell in love with at Grace was that the physical building itself was already totally wheelchair accessible.   The building didn’t look “churchy “ which I personally liked and still like.   I think I was around age 22 or 23 when my Mom and I started what is called W...

My friend Molly came back to town for Christmas this year and my heart exploded when we ran to each other in front of my favorite coffee shop and embraced.   A long, tight, I’ve missed you so very much hug that Molly manages to do perfectly, each time that I see her.   We caught up over tea and I got to hear about her new home and the new church that she has visited there.   She told me that she didn’t like the church too much because they don’t have a lot of worship.   She said they don’t sing loud and they don’t have a lot of fun during worship.   She hopes that she can find a new church that does.   I wondered if she meant that when she’s in that church, it’s like standing next to a bunch of people like me, people who have become far to self-conscious about their voice to let themselves worship.  I use to sing really loud, despite the fact that I don’t have a great voice.   I remember some friends here and there commenting on my fre...