YL Capernaum Everywhere

Trevor has been part of Capernaum for the past year, but it's been a tumultuous year with his parents’ divorce, selling of their home and really starting over financially and relationally.   Trevor loves to sing, loves friendships and loves life! Inclusion camp at Lost Canyon was an opportunity to build friendships with his typically developing peers from his high school who sang, laughed and cared for him well. Trevor’s personality is magnetic, and his peers were drawn to him, initiating relationship and even inviting him to try new things like the swing zip line and ropes course. Every new activity brought fear but also celebration as he overcame fears. Trevor slowly made his way through the ropes course with leaders on either side of him reminding him of all he’d been able to conquer during week , and he did it again!   As Trevor finished and was belayed down, cheers surrounded him and the entire cabin of his typically developing peers met him with hugs, high fiv...

As we continue to go deeper with our friends in Capernaum, we’re seeing such incredible creativity in staff and leaders around the mission! We’re in awe of what you all are doing to consider the greatest and most effective gospel proclamation both verbally and experientially with your friends. Check out this great bible study that Amber in Little Rock, AR put together for her friends! It’s creative, consistent, simple yet profound and we love it! We’d love to see what you’re doing with your friends! Send us your great ideas for club talks and campaigners!

As our Capernaum friends meet Jesus and begin to grow in their faith, our desire is that they would learn about their gifts and begin to experience how they can use those to be a blessing. For many of our friends whose whole lives have been spent receiving services, support, instruction, and help, precius little has been asked of them.    An invitation to service is thrilling and challenging. This year, Tuscon leaders invited two of their Capernaum friends who have met Jesus already to be buddies at an outreach week for high school Capernaum friends. These friends spent weeks before to camp praying for their friends and completing buddy training.  In one of our training times, we asked our buddies to write down what they hoped God would do for their friends at camp. Dominic shared " I pray that God will be able to provide a safe and exciting week as these campers go up to Lost Canyon to learn more about Jesus and how he's changed our lives." It was powerful to s...

Throughout the year, we want to highlight some attributes that we see as being part of our YL Capernaum culture.  This month, we highlight, creativity and tenacity. I (Christen Morrow Ara) recently was invited to celebrate the 50 th anniversary of Young Life in Peru. What a gift to be with leaders, staff, committee, and students that ranged an era of 50 years of ministry in my second home of Lima, Peru. I was greeted at the entrance of the celebration banquet by high school students serving, much like a Young Life banquet in your hometown. At the door, I met high school students with disabilities there with their mothers. Of course, this was where I wanted to be and there was so much joy in meeting them and hearing their stories. Mothers, through tears expressed to me what it meant that we had sewn the seed of Capernaum into Peruvian soil 14 years ago when their children were infants with brand new diagnoses, and no one had vision for their kids’ social inclusion let along ...

Thank you Lauren P from Arlington, TX for this great blog! The little things in life, that’s what it is all about. Over and over we are told we should be aware of and thankful for the little joys that happen daily, but if you are anything like me that is easier said than done. I am quick to celebrate big accomplishments, special dates, exciting news; yet, I tend to struggle with negativity towards the everyday. I know that there is joy to be found in every aspect of our lives, but I often need a reminder, that is where Capernaum comes into play. My friends never cease to amaze me when it comes to the incredible joy that they experience in life. This is not to say that Capernaum doesn’t come with behaviors, grumpy attitudes, and the general emotions of every human being, but overall, I have learned more about joy from Capernaum friends, leaders, and staff than I have from any other group of people. I could list story after story of times that my friends have demonstrated joy in...

Enjoy this story of one of our Capernaum friends serving on work crew with her coach. Elise and Avery hail from Knoxville, TN and have been excited to serve together for quite some time! Together, they spent a month in the dining hall at Young Life’s Carolina Point! We love that Elise’s favorite part of work crew was serving tables, bussing tables and resetting tables! What a beautiful servant’s heart she has! We love the friendship that these girls share!

Mixer Find the Turkey: Create or print out a picture of a turkey. Send a kid out of the room. Have the rest help you hide it somewhere. Bring the person back in the room. As they walk in the direction the turkey is hidden the audience claps, but if they start to walk away slow the clapping down. (Hot and cold type of game) Game Turkey bowling.   Make sure you have a tarp! Set up pins…if you don’t have actual bowling pins, an easy solution is using soda cans and lets kids have a shot! Pie in the Face trivia: Have 5 kids sitting in chair up front. They pass a whip cream pie like hot potato until the music stops. Whoever is stuck with the pie answers a Thanksgiving themed question. If they get it wrong, they can pie themselves and stay in or their buddy/leader behind them and be out. Song Firework – Katy Perry Enough for me

Welcome to the Capernaum Club Talk Planner! The Gospel is the most important part of our ministry in Young Life. How we approach the presentation of the greatest news is of utmost importance. Let’s always deliver the club talk in ways that are relevant and meaningful. Because of the variety of intellectual and sensory differences in the room, we need a simple approach that is also multi-sensory. We need to engage our friends; body, mind, and soul. The Capernaum Club Talk Planner is intended to enable leaders to consider all the necessary factors in planning a message. People learn in more ways than just hearing a speaker verbally proclaim the good news. They enjoy visual images, tactile experiences, and more in order to be immersed in the message. How to Use This Planner: · In the Beginning Use the planner at the start to help you map out what is necessary. · At the End Use the planner to help you review what you’ve prepared. Did you think it through? Anything you missed...