The Dance Party that is YL Capernaum

What up y'all?  This past week I attended a Young Life Capernaum camp trip at North Bay with a group from Columbus, Ohio.  I wanted to share this trip with all of my awesome readers.  Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I have a passion to work with kids with disabilities and I have a passion to share Christ with them.  I have been trying to get involved with Capernaum for well over 3 years now and my prayer and networking has finally paid off.  I got hooked up with the group from Columbus through a few friends of mine.  And boy oh boy am I glad I did.
    I went as a leader but was paired up with a young man we will call J.  He is a very energetic 23 year old, but one that has not been away from his family for more than a day or two at a time.  That made camp a little bit of a struggle for him.  At the beginning of the week J did not want to do any of the activities, he always had an excuse ready and available.  The only thing he wanted to do was talk to the Summer Staff girls and some of the High school girls who went as buddies.  From day 1  I knew I had my hands full but was constantly praying the God could give me the patience I would need to survive the week.  
    As the week went on I learned that J could be talked into about anything if I bribed him.  Also, he really liked the attention of the two guys doing program for the week so he would do things when they were around which greatly helped.  He had a go to move however, if he didn't get his way he would call his mom and say he was sick.  She would then ask that we take him to the camp EMT.  I only complied with this request once, the other times I was able, with a lot of patience to avoid this.  My tough love and the help of the program guys allowed J to really open up and by the end he was doing everything and even dancing!!  The dude also is a beast at basketball, beat me legitimately twice.
   Now I mentioned the dancing.  Capernaum can pretty much be defined as a dance party or DP if you will.  These kids would dance anytime a hint of music came on and I loved it!!  It got my heart racing to see the joy the kids found in dancing.  The simple things made them so happy.  At a normal YL camp you would not see a majority of the campers thoroughly enjoying dance parties like 2 times every day of camp.  Also, the pool was packed the entire time.  Again, I have been to YL camps now 5 times, 2 as a camper and 3 as a leader and never have I seen a pool be so consistently packed.  The simple things gave the campers so much joy.  Jesus tells us in Mark 10:15 that we must have faith like a child to get into heaven.  And watching these campers, I saw what that meant.
    The camp speaker did an amazing job presenting the Gospel and Jesus to these campers.  And no matter their developmental level or disability, I knew that God was speaking in the lives of these kids.  I teared up so many times when I was simply watching these campers be themselves.  They had a safe environment where they were not being stared at or being told what to do.  They could be themselves, who they were created to be, without the judgemental eyes of society upon them.  It was a sight to behold and one that will be even grander in Heaven.
    Now, I could go on and on about this experience.  This trip again confirmed what God has put on my heart, that I want to and need to be doing ministry and living my life with individuals with disabilities.  I encourage everyone to not be freaked out by these individuals but to take the time to get to know them.  Jesus never cared what was "wrong" with anyone, he just loved and I believe we need to do the same.  Be comfortable being uncomfortable.  And simply, dance in joy with these kids.
   Capernaum is named after the story in Luke 5:17-26.  This past week I was a friend carrying the mat, and just like the guys in the story, Jesus showed up and rewarded my faith and tough me a lot.
Lots of love y'all
Opher