Stepping Into Different Roles

I have a lot of favorite parts of my job. I guess that’s part of why I can always say that I love my job. Of course, there are things that I could do without, but when my days look like they do, it makes it pretty easy to push through those things. Something that I have been particularly excited about lately is getting to help some of our Capernaum friends around the division step into different roles.

For some, it’s getting to do work crew or summer staff this summer. I’m thrilled about them getting to spend a month at a YL camp where they will work tirelessly to serve hundreds, if not thousands, of campers. They will fold towels, make beds, wash dishes, serve meals, clean game rooms, fill water balloons, pass out safety glasses and so much more. All for free, all so kids can encounter Jesus.

For so many of our ministries, it’s the transition that they are walking through where they are graduating their older friends into church ministries or other opportunities. This has been a goal of ours for the past few years and it seems to really be taking off this year. Building relationships with churches takes time and none of us were ready to just send our friends off to something that didn’t exist or that we didn’t believe in. Thankfully, churches around the division are stepping up to say “yes” to our friends with disabilities, yes the church is in incomplete without them, yes we aren’t quite sure how to do this but we will, yes we believe we’ll be better for it. Just a couple of weeks ago I was sitting at the Regional Special Olympics Basketball tournament. Many of our friends in YL Capernaum are on teams, as well as many of the young adults that graduated into a ministry called The Ascent, run by three churches. My heart exploded when I looked down the bleaches to see volunteer leaders (with their own young children) from the Ascent, filling a row, cheering on their new friends. The buzzer sounded and they jumped off of the bleachers, charged the court and were high fiving our friends. They get it… it is all about relationships. A bench-clearing buzzer redefines what they signed up for, not a program, but a relationship.

And for my friend Owen, it means making another mark in Young Life’s history. Owen is one of our Capernaum alumni from Fayette County, GA. His YL leader taught him about being a leader and about how to use his gifts and talents to serve others. He’s done program (the funny guys) for clubs, a few training events and even a weekend but this summer he’ll be the first person with a disability to serve on a YL Assignment team in a program role. He’ll be a part of the humor in camp for thousands. And not humor in the eyes of the world, where people would laugh at him. But humor in the eyes of Christ, where kids walls will break down, they will enjoy pure humor, they will laugh with their peers and they will be reminded that the world is a bit bigger than themselves. Owen’s taking the stage and it’s sure to be amazing!

As I sit in the Denver airport today, I find my heart exploding over these great stories and the knowledge that with every new Capernaum ministry comes the opportunity for moments like these years down the road. It’s just all so good.

Thanks for praying with us and cheering us on!

On A Mission

There is a beauty in our friends with different abilities serving one another at Young Life Capernaum. Last Wednesday, I got to see it in action again!

We were recently given the gift of a van that has space to transport our friends who use wheelchairs and our friends who don’t. Club was starting in an hour and we still had 2 pick ups to do, rush hour traffic, and of course the process of securing each wheelchair in our van all made for a bit of a rushed evening.

“I help you, Christen,’ said Zachary. Zachary takes service seriously and does it with a smile like at our local grocery store where I run into him bagging my groceries or at home, or hanging out with my family, his attitude is incredible! As we pulled up to Joey’s house, Zachary, always aware of safety, carefully got out, walked around to the back and opened the back hatch, lowered the folding ramp and stood by with a smile of pride and joy.

As Joey’s dad wheeled him toward the van, Zachary stepped forward; he said to me, ‘I do it or you?’ We didn’t need many words that day, Zachary and I worked seamlessly together and got our friends in that van, secured, through town, unloaded, and to club and right to the feet of Jesus!

When club was over, Zachary quietly stood by the van, opened the doors, unfolded the ramp, handed me tie-downs and LOVED helping! As we drove and talked about the club talk, I asked one of our friends Joey, what his experience with church was and he responded “I heard that God is nice and takes care of people but I don’t know much about Him….” I listened as my reserved friend Zachary piped up “I know about Him. He loves me. He helps me. You want Him help you too?”

I was amazed by the boldness of Zachary who told Joey about how God has helped him at school with his grades and to do a good job at his work sites. Next thing you know, our whole van is listening to Zachary pray for Joey who struggles with the way kids look at him. Zachary was asking Jesus to be Joey’s best friend, to help him find nice friends, and to know love. I was teary eyed. The van was quiet.

As we folded up the ramp and Zachary took his place in the van again, I asked my friends if they remembered the story we’d used all last semester to talk about Jesus. Zachary recounted perfectly the story of the friends lowering their friend who couldn’t walk down to Jesus’ feet. He even opened his Bible to show find the story. We reviewed the characters in the story and I asked my friends which one they were like. There was a long silence and I wondered if they were still tracking with me. I looked in the mirror and caught Zachary’s ear-to-ear grin as he said “I the friend. I take friend to Jesus, even push wheelchair.”

Zachary is on a mission. He is a junior in high school and this is his first year at Young Life Capernaum, but he is on our team! He is praying for his friends’, who also experience disability, not just to know about Jesus, but to know Him! We aren’t talking about him coming to camp as a camper this summer, he already knows Jesus! Zachary wants to get more friends to Jesus’ feet and he will do all he can to make that happen! We are working on a plan to get Zachary to work crew this summer!

Heart Of Stone - Lyn TenBrink

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Ezekiel 36:26-27

I love rocks and stones. We have them all over our house as door-stops, on window ledges, in bowls on coffee tables. We have them as souvenirs from trips since our kids were little to now. I even collect “hearts of stone” that our family has found on various excursions. 

While these rocks are reminders of places, moments of time, history, beauty, creativity, they also remind me of where my heart has been and the places God has had to chisel away so He could give me a heart of flesh- a new spirit.

The older I get the more familiar I am with the process I have to go through with God and sometimes it comes in the most beautiful and unexpected moments and usually results in tears that I can’t explain. Tears that are both joy filled and sorrowful, tears that almost feel holy because they come from such a sacred place where God did His work. Where He literally loosened my fists and opened my hands, palms up, suspended in the air with expectation.

The last few years I have experienced God’s chiseling of my heart of stone MOST through my relationships and experiences with Capernaum friends. God has used them to begin a new spirit around:

Justice. As I have watched and walked with, in order to navigate a place for a wheelchair in a movie theater, a line of people or seating at a restaurant. Thanks Annie!

Knowness. As such a remarkable gift that it forces me, as a cracked pot, to look at the expanse of my Potter’s hands. Thanks Shawnzy!

Generosity. From a friend who has to repeat the same sentence 3-5 times until I finally understand, every time. Thanks Krissy!

Authenticity. In a way that when a song comes on at club, and despite the plan, a dance party bubbles up as if it was meant to be. Thanks Katie!

Honesty. As if there is no other way and the gift that goes with it is a genuine “new day” ALL. THE. TIME. Thanks Andy!

This chiseling of my “heart of stone” very rarely is comfortable or chosen on my part. In fact I avoid it. But I think God has had enough of our hearts of stone, at least mine. And I have a lot of new friends who give me a very real picture of what a “heart of flesh” looks like and I like it!

Do you need some new friends? Do you need a new spirit? Well, let me invite you to Capernaum!

Serve Not With 'Have To' But With Love

Last week, 5000 Young Life Staff gathered in Orlando to celebrate Young Life’s 75th birthday! The room was filled with people representing every aspect of ministry in the mission. We had people from around the world, unfortunately not all 99 countries that we are in but close. We had people from YoungLives, Capernaum, Multi-Cultural and Urban, Suburban, Wyld Life, YL College, Private Schools, Military Bases, Small Towns, Inner Cities… you name it, they were there.

Young Life did a lot of spectacular things in preparation for the conference and while we were there, but one of my favorites was how they chose to make the Work Staff Team representative of the mission. The team was made up of 60 folks, chosen from among over 400 applications. People came from around the globe to serve on this team and they worked hard. Harder than we can imagine and covered details that we’ll never know about.

We had the privilege of having three of our Capernaum friends serve on the Work Staff Team along with three coaches (amazing Capernaum leaders). They each brought their unique personalities and

 Jessica and Kara serving the YL store at YL75

gifts to the group. Owen brought his energy, passion and voice. GR brought his deep love for Jesus, joy and the gift of faithful prayer. Kara brought her sweet spirit, encouragement to others and a heart of gold. They all served selflessly, setting a bar for the entire team and really, for all of us.

On night one, Young Life had every flag from every country in which we have ministry. A woman walked out on stage and with a spotlight on her, delicately played her cello while all 99 flags were paraded into the gathering space for all of us to take in the greatness and vastness of what God is doing around the world. Kara was so moved by this that by the end of the week in our journey back to Nashville, when I asked her what her greatest highlight of the week was, she said “the flag ceremony, I was just so amazed by how big God is and how awesome it is that people do ministry in those places. I couldn’t believe that I got to see that. I cried the whole time.”

It wasn’t Magic Kingdom or Universal Studios. It wasn’t free swag or all of the new friends that she made. It wasn’t a daily trip to Starbucks or endless amounts of great food. It was the picture of God at work around the world at the same time that He’s at work in our hearts.

Jessica, who served as Kara’s coach, said that every day Kara prayed out loud for the international staff and volunteers. She “thanked God that they could be free to talk about their faith and not be persecuted for it”. And then she would end her prayers asking God to help her and the work staff to “serve not with a ‘have to’ or with haste, but with love”.

May our hearts cry out in the same way and our memories be greater for the kingdom perspective that Kara has reminded us of!

Freshmen by Christen Morrow Ara

I love freshmen. I love contact work with freshmen. There is something so exciting in the air when you walk on campus and meet students who have recently entered what can be a terrifying world of high school and begin to be their friend!  The excitement of new possibilities, new lives transformed, new families touched, new camp experiences on the horizon, and all the life to be had together through friendships built in Young Life Capernaum…. And this fall, our Young Life Capernaum team in Fresno, California has had an exciting new emphasis on freshman. Our club is so alive and full with new friends who are freshmen in high school!

As my husband Christian and I enter into relationships with students, particularly those from Spanish speaking homes, we are having a blast! Our friends are now one semester into their high school career… and can you guess what they are talking about, dreaming about and looking forward to? According to our friend and co-leader (and also their teacher), Mike, Young Life Capernaum club is

the main topic of discussion from the morning after club until minutes before the next club begins! Mike said that they are trying to guess what the next themed club might be, who ‘gets to be last’ in getting dropped off; thus giving them just a little more time in the front seat of the mini van with their leader. They can’t get enough! Here are a few of this fall’s highlights from our freshmen friends: video game nights, pajama club, human bowling, super hero club, movie outings, Starbucks ‘just to catch up’ and riding “shotgun” with their wheelchair loaded in the back and long forgotten.

As we watch many of our older Young Life Capernaum friends transition and into the next stage of their lives and faith journey, we are so excited about a whole new generation of high school kids who are becoming our friends, who are being invited into a fullness (and silliness) of life that they haven’t ever dreamed of, and who will be introduced to the One who made them and loves them! What a privilege we have to start all over again with a new freshmen class and be sure that every teenager with a disability is invited into all that God has for them!

What has been the highlight for your freshmen friends??

Universal Design by Lyn TenBrink

Universal design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.

It has taken me awhile but I am learning that with the nature of my job and all the traveling to and fro, God uniquely weaves and connects learning points for me. For example just in the month of October I had a conversation with:

• A woman in the airport who works with cities to create “universal design” in their public spaces. She was most excited about the variety of people she got to meet while working on a variety of projects.
• A woman at a meeting I attended is working to develop a “universal design” around worship services.
• A gentleman who was my seat-mate in the airplane has a cognitive disability and he works for a company that anticipates challenges he may have in his travels, and makes arrangements so that nothing gets in the way of his job. As he states it, “I work for a company that gets ‘universal design’ at every level.”

You get the message here; I have spent a lot of time thinking about “universal design.” As I have, questions have come to mind such as: 

 

Why do we need agencies and people to be intentional about this? 

Why don’t we practice hospitality and accessibility more often?

Why are public organizations more aware of and moving forward with UD than Christian organizations?

Why do we need laws to demand UD?

How have I been intentional about universal design in the last 24 hours?

These questions may have a variety of answers, but one thing I am convinced of is that these questions are part of the reason Jesus came.  He spent so much time modeling hospitality and accessibility; including a variety of learning styles and contexts so that people could hear “good news!”  He went to such a variety of people that his actions simply screamed, “ALL of these people are included, celebrated and needed” in the gospel of universal design!!!!  Jesus brought an inclusive, universal gospel of hospitality!!!!!

Our friends in Capernaum are part of that picture!  Jesus blew it up on so many different levels.  Our friends in Capernaum are changing those of us involved, and they are also opening our eyes to other “varieties” of people that Jesus came for!  Because I know Shawnzy,  Allen and Zach, its easier for me to invite Keisha and Azreal into my life. 

God is opening our hands so that we can invite more people to the table!

What does the life of Jesus in Luke 14 and Corinthians 12 have to say about “universal design?”

• We prepare, invite and go intentionally as if it’s a new day!!!
• We need to flip our individualistic thinking. We often think that we are the key to others flourishing, however THEY are also the key to my flourishing.
• No part of the body is indispensable. None, not even one.

What would it take for us to be a people of universal design as Jesus intended?

Let’s keep going my friends!

Davis' Story by Brad Mowry

I met Davis and his aide, Kate, at Capernaum camp last year. Davis is 19 years old and in a wheelchair. He is not very verbal and has much difficulty with loud music and crowds. I got to know Davis as I helped his aide get his feeding pump working (my daughter is also tube-fed so I am called in when someone’s having trouble!) and I entertained him with my imitations of Elmo and other Sesame Street characters.

On the first day of camp, I saw Kate pull in to camp with Davis and ran over to greet them. Davis had an Elmo stuffed animal this year, so my Elmo imitation got an early audience! 

Davis wasn’t doing well with the crowd and staying in our club meetings, so I had one of our property staff members set up a simulcast in the game room. Kate said, “I don’t want anyone to have to go to any trouble.” I replied, “Well, you don’t know where you are then, because it isn’t any trouble for us!” We often do whatever it takes for kids at Young Life camp, and just like in Mark 2, I had no doubts that we would “cut a whole in the roof” for a Capernaum camper to hear the gospel.  

At the end of the message, our camp speaker, Lori Conner shared with the kids that Jesus is making them an offer of relationship and they need to make a choice. She told them if they wanted a relationship with Jesus, they could say, "Yes,” to Jesus and she explained a simple “ABC” prayer - Admit, Believe, Commit.

When Lori said this and Davis heard it over the simulcast, he hopped in his wheelchair and shouted, “Yes, yes, yes! A-B-C, A-B-C, A-B-C!” When Lori told us the story, we all cried. I have seen a lot of kids – mostly typically functioning high schoolers – meet Christ at Young Life camp, but that was one of the most powerful conversions I have seen!

I am so blessed by knowing Davis and grateful that God brought him to Rockbridge, we “cut a hole in the roof” by setting up the simulcast, and his prayer has impacted so many people.