YL Capernaum Everywhere

Caroline and Taylor live in Memphis, TN! They are friends at home and chose to serve together this summer at Carolina Point. Together they were a part of the GoKart team! Enjoy a few minutes of their  story  and their time together at Carolina Point!

by Kaitlyn Goehringer Also, check out this video of Kate talking about Capernaum Friends Serving On Summer Staff and Work Crew A tie-dye cat t-shirt, a bright pink backpack – straps pulled tight - resting uncomfortably high on her back, a contagious smile that makes you wonder what she’s thinking– Although she is surrounded by a sea of her peers, I can spot her almost immediately as she exits the school building. At first glance you might use a lot of words to describe Liz – joyful daughter, unintentional comedian, intellectual disability, but if you’re anything like me when I first met Liz, the word “disciple” probably isn’t one of them. I am ashamed to admit that for almost two years my self-righteous heart had kept me from seeing the disciple in Liz and so many others with disabilities like her. My prayer is that as you continue reading you will hear both the honest confessions of a self-righteous heart and the invitation of our gracious Father into the very depths of ...

Just last week we had an incredible fundraiser. When I say incredible, I’m not measuring it by the amount made but rather by the empowerment that came from it and the lack of preparation it took before hand. Next week I will be accompanying my friend Caitlin to Carolina Point to serve as a child care worker for YoungLives Camp. Caitlin is a graduated Capernaum friend with a calling to love on babies. In order to raise money for camp, we helped Caitlin put on a fundraiser. We wanted to do something that showcased her abilities and strengths as a babysitter and also provided those donating with a service, we landed on “Mommy’s Day Out”. The brilliant idea was pitched to have the day at “BounceU” (an inflatable play place) with 10 or so bounce houses and obstacle courses. BounceU offers an “open jump” in the summer from 9:30-11:30a that allows anyone to pay around $7 for unlimited jumping for the two hours, but they must have a supervisor stay. Caitlin (along with 3 volunteer leade...

Looking for a fun summer contact work idea? These leaders spent an afternoon cruising around town trying to find all of the different wall murals in their city! They made a scavenger hunt out of it, took a bunch of goofy pictures and had fun exploring their city together!   Have murals in your city? Go find them with your friends and send us your photos! We’d love to see them!

by Brad Mowry “I urge you, Timothy, as we live in the sight of God and of Christ Jesus (whose coming in power will judge the living and the dead), to preach the Word of God. Never lose your sense of urgency, in season or out of season…” 2 Timothy 4:2 (PHILLIPS) Sometimes I wonder why I am doing this: for over 20 years I have given my life to reaching teenagers. I have spent countless hours at schools, watching football games, playing video games, going to camp, and so on. It gets hard sometimes, but by God’s grace he gives me clear reminders that what we are doing matters and how urgent the need is for kids to hear about Jesus. The latest glimpse of the urgency of our mission came while I was at Rockbridge – a Young Life camp. I was at Rockbridge for our Capernaum camps; two weeks of camp with 373 campers with disabilities, 152 buddies, and 205 leaders would roll through camp in those 2 weeks. With about 200 kids with disabilities in camp, a camper from my area was having issues with...

This article by Joni Eareckson Tada is featured in the Beyond Suffering Bible . "A Biblical View on the Sanctity of Life", is thought provoking and a resource for you.  Permission has been granted by Joni and Friends to share.

By Robin Shelburne, Capernaum Leader When Capernaum Gloucester County was born 5 years ago, the vision was for it to be a “village of comfort” for adolescents with disabilities, a place they could come and find belonging, friendship, and most of all, to find the Savior. And we have seen that happen in so many ways. But here’s something I didn’t see coming. I never anticipated how this ministry for adolescents with disabilities would have such a huge impact on our traditional YL kids as well. With the growth we’ve experienced in Capernaum club, we have wanted to find so many more buddies (club helpers) to come alongside our friends in club to help make those nights flow. So our solution has been to reach out to Campaigners kids in our Washington Township and Clearview YL clubs and ask them to come be part of the support team at Capernaum club. And what a GREAT thing this has turned out to be! Capernaum has taken our traditional YL kids out of their comfort zones and given t...

Great ways for campaigners to be leaders on club day! 1. Pray! 2. Invite their friends to club. 3. Post pictures from club on all of their favorite social media sites. 4. Let their leaders know when events are happening at school, Special Olympics and other cool things that they are involved in so that leaders can go and they can share during Friends News 5. Wear YL gear! 6. Wait for the new friends that they invited at the door. 7. Introduce yourself to new people at club. 8. Let other people at your table get served their food first. 9. Help clean up after the meal/snack. 10. Be an “oh boy” leader and let your excitement catch on! 11. Cheer for kids who are participating in games. 12. Pray with the leader giving the talk. 13. Listen during the talk and help others do the same. 14. Tell your new friends at club how glad you are that they came. 15. Journal with words or pictures about what you learned about at club.