YL Capernaum Everywhere

Thank you Emma, for this wonderful reflection on assignment and your time as a Summer Staff Coordinator! Hi! My name is Emma. I live in Northern California and have been involved with Young Life since I was given the opportunity to volunteer at a Capernaum Club when I was 15. I’m now on staff with Young Life College and had the privilege of serving as Summer Staff Coordinator at Woodleaf. If I had to sum up all that I learned from my four weeks with the most wonderful Summer Staff crew, it would be this:  When we intentionally include a diverse group of people in our community, everybody wins. Back in February, I got a text asking if my session had any summer staffers that could be a coach for another summer staffer, named Ryan, who has Autism. I nearly jumped out of my seat with excitement knowing that the Lord was giving our team the gift of wholeness. We prayed, found a coach for Ryan, and the rest is history. I valued everything about having Ryan on our ...

Connor and Matt served together at Carolina Point on the Ropes Team. Together, they drove the zip truck, cared for campers, got them everything that they needed in order to go down the zip line and so much more. Summer Staff also has the privilege of setting up all camp events like the carnival, field games and square dance. Connor loved being getting to be a part of all of these experiences alongside of his friend Matt. Together, they will go home having grown in their relationship with Jesus and with one another!

Every summer, many of our friends with disabilities serve at our Young Life camps on work crew or summer staff. This summer is no different as we have over 50 friends serving around the country. Our friends are growing in their leadership gifts, learning about service, growing in their relationship with Jesus and experiencing community in stunning ways! Meet Colby and Davon . Together they have been at Crooked Creek Ranch in Colorado on Summer Staff.

Thank you David from YL Capernaum Phoenix for this story! Christina has been coming to our Capernaum club for two years! She’s 18 years old and has Down syndrome. Christina had not yet been to camp with us, since it hadn’t been the best fit for her or her family. After talking both as a team and with her mother, we decided that Christina would be ready for summer camp at Lost Canyon, with some intentional effort and factors throughout the year. The first thing that we wanted to consider was who Christina’s leader would be, knowing that we would want them to build a relationship all throughout the year. We knew that this would deeply impact Christina, but also her mom. It would continue to build a trust with her, allowing mom to see that we loved and cared for her deeply. Paige, one of our volunteers, jumped at the chance to get to know Christina and her mom! The more that Paige spent time with Christina, the more that we saw Christina’s behavior change for the best. With ...

Here’s a great blog post from Amber Waldron! Check out this great campaigner/small group lesson based on John 13:34. Amber Waldron and her team paraphrased this verse into “I love you- love others the same way!”. Along with the lesson, they created two pages to help engage your friends in the content of the conversation! We love getting to learn about loving others well! Thanks for creating this great small group conversation! Have some from your small group?! We’d love to see and share them! Send them our way!

We love this article that was posted on Young Life Access : Recently, my pastor began the Sunday morning message with this statement: “I am best discipled through my eyes.” It was a powerful statement that led me to wonder: How am I best discipled? How is each person in my family best discipled? How are the ministry volunteers I lead best discipled? What about the kids in my high school and middle school — how are they best discipled? As ministers of the gospel — whether in a staff position or as a volunteer leader — it’s very important that we consider the many varied ways that individuals and groups are best discipled. As in all things, Jesus is our model for this. When we look carefully at His life, we see that He had deep wisdom and discernment on how to disciple each person He encountered. The bleeding woman was discipled best through touch ✋ (Matthew 9:20-22). Peter was discipled best in the simple, routine context of his everyday vocational l...

Together, Young Life and the Catholic Church have tremendous opportunity to reach every kid, everywhere with the gospel. Through a shared passion for Christ, kids and mission, this rising tide of cooperation is making significant contributions to the new evangelization described by Pope Francis. Overall, Young Life is committed to working with the Catholic Church by: • Training our staff and volunteers to minister to Catholic teens in ways that respect and reanimate their Catholic faith in Jesus. • Encouraging Catholics to serve as Young Life staff, volunteer leaders and committee members. • Working with Catholic dioceses, parishes and schools to invigorate the faith of young Catholics. This is all absolutely relevant and true for our Capernaum Clubs and friends too. A significant way Capernaum can come alongside our Catholic families and local parishes is to connect them with existing resources that provide specialized catechism curriculums and plans, inclusion resources, a...