This past weekend I traveled to Young Life's Lake Champion in New York for a YL Capernaum weekend. Capernaum is a ministry devoted to kids with disabilities. It is YL for those kids. Most people who know me know that I have a huge passion for kids with more moderate to severe disabilities and that it is and has been on my heart to share my love of Jesus with them. This weekend I got to learn more about the ministry and how to go about starting and maintaining it. I went with three other people from my YL Region. Pat, a staff intern, KP a cool old guy who is on regional committee and is very wise, and Ellie whom shares a similar passion with me and is hoping to see a Capernaum club in Hudson Ohio.
The 9 hour trip for me went by fairly quick as I was getting to know my companions. I also realized that another friend of mine, one who I really looked up to especially as a frosh in college, J. Hauge, would be at the camp doing program for a WYld Life weekend. So it was sweet getting to see him at the meals and talking a little bit. There were about 50 people there for the Capernaum weekend and I found that I had strange connections to about half of them. YL makes the world a lot smaller, everyone sees to know everyone. So that was really neat.
The key note speaker was Nick Palermo who is the founder of YL Capernaum. He shared with us why and how Capernaum got started and it is a great story. The guy is a great man of God and pretty dang funny as well. I could see his passion for these kids and his wish to see the ministry grow and move into new parts of the country. It was truly an honor to get to talk and listen to him. God certainly spoke through him this weekend. I also got to talk to several other great people who offered support and a lot of suggestions and advice for how to go about starting Capernaum in Toledo.
The main things that I wanted to share through this post however are some quotes from the weekend. "Be comfortable being uncomfortable" It will be uncomfortable at times working with these kids but we got to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.
"It's a ministry with, not a ministry to." We are not preaching to these kids and are certainly no better or more loved by God than these kids. They will probably show us who Christ is way more than we can show them. In Mark 2 Jesus is speaking in a crowded house when suddenly a hole is dug in the roof and a paralyzed man on a mat is lowered down by his friends. The man's sins are forgiven and he walks away. His non disabled friends loved him and took him to the house and lowered him through the roof and he was forgiven of sins, yes, but him being humble enough to allow his friends to take him and him having the courage to do that before Jesus and a large crowd certainly had an impact on his friends as well. We live this life together and are equals.
I could go on and on and on but simply put I am very excited for what is in store for my life and the mission God has put on my heart.
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