Capernaum Stories

My Capernaum Camp Experience

2010-07-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

Photo: four newly made life-long friends at North Bay Capernaum camp

by Anonymous

Although at times I was greatly exasperated by my buddy, I still count it as a blessing that I went on this trip. It was unlike anything that I’ve ever done before and an experience I hope to have again in the future. Among other things, this week has showed me wonderful examples of patience, love, joy, and self-satisfaction to a degree that few people can challenge. Although these people are clearly deficient on the outside, it certainly seems that they are better on the inside than most of us.

While I’m tempted greatly to wish that I had been assigned to another buddy, I think that perhaps I had just as much or more to learn from someone like Mike* than I could have ascertained from anyone else. Obsessed with something that I hold in extremely low regard, Mike is nothing like me and our desires clashed quite often. He loved to flirt with girls; I don’t ever flirt with girls or even desire to flirt with girls. He loved to just sit around and talk; I don’t enjoy just sitting around and talking at all. I would have liked to explore the various activities the camp had to offer, but he wanted to spend most of his time at the pool, a place I would very rarely visit if left to myself. So, the main point is, I spent most of the week doing things I really didn’t savor. I know what this was supposed to teach me: to forget my own desires and learn to genuinely love and serve someone who is nothing like me. I have to admit, that unfortunately the amount of bitterness and frustration I felt and still feel can only mean one thing. If I am really being honest with myself, what I really need to do is hang out with Mike and people like him again and again until my annoyance and bitterness is replaced with love, compassion, and tolerance. Only then will I be ready to move on.

Another thing that struck me about my companions with special needs was the happiness and contentment they possess. They love to dance and sing, and they are so carefree and positive. When we did Capernaum Idol some of them had the worst voices I’d ever heard but everyone still cheered and they went away happy. They just wanted to enjoy life and valued that far more than their achievements. I don’t know how they got to that point, and I don’t even think I would want to get there, but if somehow I did, I think I would be a lot happier as a result. Immersed in a culture which is so driven by performance, it was remarkable to see how content they were given their circumstances. In fact, though they have far more problems than I, their self-image is probably better than mine in spite of their inhibitions and physical disabilities. They simply don’t focus on the negative aspects of their existence; they don’t seem to care what they see when they look in the mirror. It’s the heart that counts w/ them and their heart is as big as anyone’s I’ve ever met. If one were to see how Christ sees a person, hanging out with them could certainly give as good a perspective as you can ever hope to find.

On another note, the other buddies were really great people as well. Their joyful servitude was phenomenal and far surpassed mine, not necessarily what they were doing, but how they were doing it. Some of them were very strong Christians and had insight which I really found beneficial. That combined with how fun they were to be around, made our night time outings enjoyable all around. The two biggest things I noticed by spending time with them was what strong Christians act like, and that I’m not a very “fun” person. I don’t know how some people find so much joy in jumping around, dancing and acting silly, but most of them did and I know that is not for me. I admire many of them quite a bit but I would not want emulate how they act. All in all, however, I think this camp was a great experience for me and one that I should definitely look to have again, because as I said previously, I have not even begun to learn all the lessons that that this amazing environment has to offer. And hopefully I will be a different person one day as a result of my time there.

* name changed

North Bay 2010

2010-07-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

by John Köehler

How is it possible to encapsulate a week of time, supernaturally amazing people and Holy Spirit experiences into a story? Seriously, it would be so much better if you could simply climb inside my heart and sit still while I show you a kingdom slide show, a holy powerpoint, a blessed movie written and directed by the Big Director in the Sky. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, please give a big Young Life welcome to our Lord and Savior, Jesus!!!

APPLAUSE!!!!

Ha ha, if only it was that easy. Like Spock doing the Vulcan mind meld and instantly you could see the things he was thinking about. Cut right through the clutter and get to the point. The Vulcan point. Pointy-eared Pharisee that he was. But it would have to be a heart meld in order for it to work in the way I'd like, and the way God intended. Can someone please get on that and create a heart melder, a soul melder?

No, wait.....it was already created and it was called North Bay.

The photos below were mostly taken by Gerald Juan, a leader for Asian Young Life (AYL) in New Jersey. So why does an Asian dude have a Hispanic last name? Just another mystery in the melting pot that is Capernaum, a subdivision of Young Life, a continent of the Kingdom of God. Here now, for your viewing and eating pleasure, is a collection of photos by Gerald and his friends, with accompanying captions made up on the spot.

No wait.... I was there, so every word is true. For the most part. All of it. God's people, photos and captions. Enjoy.

In the beginning was a tunnel of love, and we all went through it when we were born and will out again when we die. On either side the angels stand, hands outstretched, applauding, calling out to us in love and kindness. How can they all possibly know me. They know my name. They love me yet we just met. How can this be?

The photo shows Austen getting off the bus, wearing an awesome Hello Kitty shirt. She is attracted to the amazing camp shirts all in tie dye, entrancing and compelling. Since she has autism Austen did not want to high five at her first camp experience some years back. She didn't trust people and was shy. But now she knows what love hides in the middle of the high fives and she gives back more than she gets. She knows that God loves her and her shirt while everyone yells "HELLO AUSTEN!"

The angels gather around us and introduce themselves. They act so familiar yet we've never seen them before. Why should we open up our hearts to them as if they are our family. Dang it all! Who opened my heart? It feels creepy and good at the same time. You want to run yet you can't stop hugging them.

The photo shows Jenny the Jewel and Danny the... Explorer surrounded by their new family; the campaigner kids from AYL. Supposedly shy and close knit, they came completely unglued and reached out to surround their new friends with agape, a love only God can give through His people. Mmmmm, tastes good. Can I super-size that?

We roll and walk in feeling the weight of our disabilities and wishing they would run away and leave us in peace, leave us alone. But then a green man comes and dances around happily even though he can't speak. He is so happy and his happiness causes us to forget our unhappiness and even the way that our legs don't work quite right.

Green Man was a random program guy who had no purpose other than to be there, to be happy, to dance and to cause others to feel the same way, or even BETTER than him. Because when we put ourselves down below others, the net effect is that they are lifted, and not the lowest carving on the totem pole. Green Man the servant leader happily dancing his way to the bottom of the pole. Just keeping it green folks....

He walks, she rolls. He talks, she mumbles. He is old and she is young. He is smart and she is..... smarter! All that glitters is not gold but sometimes oysters hide a pearl. The pearls can be seen from the outside but you have to look and listen and get down on your knees to experience the beauty.

This is me with the amazing and beautiful and oh so intelligent Angela West. Just another moment at camp. Angela was the trip leader and here she is telling me what she wants to do. She was the brain and I the mouth and hands and feet and voice to cause her thoughts to become action and our people to obey. Or not obey!

The angels lead us into a large circle of others like us, like them. We pray together, hand in hand, eyes closed, heads bowed. We give thanks to our God for our new friends, this new place and for His love and for being there with us.

AYL joined us in a very large circle of perhaps 70 people, all coming together in a circle of love. Ha ha ha, what can be better than a circle of love?

An angel takes us to a special place to do something we've never done before. We are afraid even thought we know we cannot really ever die again. Our fear is upon us and we will not go. But the angel sings to us and our fear fades away and so we go, our fear forgotten like an old friend we never really liked.

Nicholas was not a particularly happy camper when this photo was taken at the bottom of the zip line. But his buddy walked with him up to the top of the tower and helped him overcome his fear, whispering to him the whole time, "You can do this Nick, you can do it." Eventually Nicholas believe him and he did it. He become a man that day, and the next. And all the days of his life.

Let me show you what peace really is, he said. He taught me to hold my hand in a certain way to say peace to others. Then he held my heart and I could feel his peace inside me. I learned how to give others this same peace, and the true meaning of "peace out!"

David is a man of great peace in spite of his childlike mind and fear. For him it is simple: either you love him or you don't. Either you would play with him, or you would act like an adult and keep your distance. Either you're in or you're out. Either you're my brother or an outsider. What's it gonna be?

Four friends came, bringing their crippled friend down to where they knew the rabbi was talking. But they could not get to where he was, so great was the crowd. So they lifted him up to the top and lowered him quickly down to where he could be healed.

Michael came as a leader but instead was treated like the campers with the finest of care. And in the humility of others he learned what being a servant leader meant and so..... he became a leader.

The angels mixed among us and we grew more and more like them. After a while, we could not tell the difference and realized we are all God's angels, all of us sent by God to serve His people and love them all for the sake of the Father. We are all the same.

Four brothers fighting to see who could love the most. Each of us lucky and blessed equally by God. How lucky am I to have such friends?

Everybody Perfect

2009-08-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

Brett Matthew Figgins is a cool dude, as can be plainly seen in the video above. We were at the Grand Canyon on the same day that Michael Jackson died. I love this video. The juxtaposition of a God made natural wonder man and a God made natural wonder. Grand Brett and the Grand Canyon.

Nick Palermo had arranged to bring the entire camp of 400+ people from Lost Canyon to the Grand Canyon. It was such a great and profound illustration of God's power, and allowed us to point to the Canyon and to the campers as perfect examples of the power and love that God put into his Creation. It was a gift.

Some people say that the people of Capernaum, that is people with disabilities, do not get it. I sometimes wonder what "it" is that they think we should get. We may not get everything, especially some things that require lots of brain power or things that are theological in nature. Translated to mean complicated and difficult.

But God's Creation is not difficult to get and his love for us was never meant to be complicated but simple in the very best sense of the word. Brett expresses the simplicity of God's creation and why he did what he did: for our sake as well as His.

I would put Brett up on the same level as the finest theologian. God said to go out and make disciple of all nations, all people, everywhere. So why not Brett? He helps me believe in a loving God and that God made us all, each and every one of us, part of His creation. For his sake and for ours.

Tiffany

2009-08-20T18:57:00.000-07:00

Tiffany is a Rock Star. Truth is that ALL God's people are rock stars, but few of us actually believe it. When I met Tiffany she hoped she could be a rock star but she did not believe it. Yet she knew she had talent. So naturally she signed up for Capernaum Idol.

This video was shot on Day 2, during Field Games. I love this because it shows Tiffany busting out some of her amazing moves, but also because of the Buddy who passes by. Watch her.

Tiffany is dancing completely on her own in front of the program sound cart, looking up at Sugar Shane and Spicey Momma, hoping for some recognition. As she turns to her right, a Buddy appears on the left and dances in perfect rhythm with Tiffany, in tandem, on the same team.

Tiffany is not even aware of her, doesn't even know she's been there. To me this was just a magical moment at Camp. There is something so profound here and I'm not really sure I can accurately voice it. That beautiful Buddy became one with Tiffany, even though she was not invited or even noticed by her. This says that we all can join another at whatever they are doing whenever they are doing it as a way to say, "you matter."

By matching Tiffany in her dance moves this Buddy showed the entire field of people that Tiffany is awesome and is such a great dancer she can't stop herself from dancing with her. I don't know what she was thinking, but I think the Holy Spirit inspired her.

We tend to think that the Holy Spirit will only get involved in our lives in huge and important ways, but I say no. I say the spirit of God is ALWAYS with us, always nudging us, always pushing us to be led by that spirit, the inner part of us that was made by God himself.

This video shows God's Holy Spirit busting out a move. Pretty cool if you ask me.

____________

Tiffany did go on to win Capernaum Idol. But after the first round she was walking away down the sidewalk by herself. I called her a Rock Star and the campers with me agreed. She turned around and said, "Do you really mean it?" We said we really did. She said, "Thanks for telling me that, because I felt so bad I was going to go back to my room and cry."

God takes people like Tiffany who feel they don't deserve an award and crowns them with his love and talents and gifts. Tiffany is a Rock Star. God's Rock Star!

Foo Man Choo

2009-08-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

Foo is a cool dude, so I called him Foo Man Choo, after the super cool TV hero who was named after some Asian bloke from a long time ago. Bloke is a cool word that means dude, which means homie which means guy which means hombre which means man. Foo is a man who happens to have Cerebral Palsy.

But no cripple pity please for Mr. Foo Man Choo, oh no. This dude is for real. This video was shot during Water Olympics of Lost Canyon Capernaum Discipleship Camp. Those are a lot of words which basically means Heaven, since Jesus did say the Kingdom of Heaven was "at hand."

Only deal is that Foo can't use his hands, so he gets his friends to help do the things his hands won't do for him. Like get out of a rubber inner tube out and out of the pool. Watch the magic lift. One guy on his feet and legs, the other on his back and a third up top ready to receive the package sent Special Delivery by God himself a few years back when the sky opened and a star named Foo fell to earth to bless us all.

Then a fourth friend steps in to help Foo on the other side, an overabundance of friends. But seriously, is it really possible to have too many friends? Foo Man Choo would say no, heck no.

Watch the look on his face when I close in on him. He knows he's on. He knows I've been filming him. He knows this is his star moment and he does not disappoint. He cannot speak to us in words so he speaks with his face and his expressions. His look is defiant. His look is I am Foo and I am the man. Look what I just did. Look at my muscle. Look at the muscle of Mr. Foo Man Choo, who rode the inner tube beyond all hope.

Foo rode the pool inner tube across Heaven and had a blast, while his friends hung on for dear life and shared in the beauty of his life.

Lost Canyon Beautiful People

2009-08-20T17:36:00.000-07:00

This video was taken at the start of the Field Games on Day 2 at Lost Canyon Young Life Camp near Flagstaff, Arizona. Being the normal caring and quiet fellow that I am, I naturally shouted to wake everyone up and get them "ready" for the video. Not that they needed me to do that, mind you. They were plenty ready. They just didn't know quite what was going on.

The games were still being organized and they.... well they were standing around looking swank in their various team outfits. We're talking coolness manifesto or even worse. Or better if you want to go that way. Maximo Swanko Importanto, which translates as, "Most Awesome."

This particular group was from Phoenix, under the spell of Mr. David Thames. Thus their rather outlandish outfits and whacky attitude. The Toucan hats, the leis, grass skirts all were quite nice. But it was their ATTITUDE that heaped on the final helping of excellence and Swank. Soon as I called them out watch the dudes pose and flash, then bust out a few moves right there on the grass in their.... grass skirts.

Now lot of guys would have trouble looking sway in grass skirts but these dudes owned them. Then when the rest realized I was videotaping they came in to do closeup posing. These dudes can pose better than most posers. They know how.

Note the finger hanging over the edge of my iPhone. Accident? Posed of course.

First the guys busting it out front then through the web to the rear where the girls quietly waited for the right time to bust THEIR moves and if not, to watch the boys do their silly things. Oh those crazy boys they say but they love the boys and can't take their eyes off of them. Who can blame them? A big hand wave and we're done. Just a touch of Lost Canyon...

Danny & Ben

2009-08-12T15:38:00.001-07:00

(L-R): Danny O'Rourke, Ben Daulton (wearing his Best Camper medal) and Wendy O'Rourke share a moment at the 2009 Capernaum Week at Rockbridge camp.

by John Koehler

Tara Criste knew she had to get Ben and Tommy Daulton to camp, no matter what. Tara is the Associate Area Director of Young Life Capernaum in Hampton Roads. She worked on Ben and Tommy's dad, Dave, and finally it all came together; they both came to camp. This fact in and of itself is no big deal. Plenty of kids come to camp with Capernaum. What was a big deal was that both boys were potential behavioral problems, especially away from their Dad.

When I realized that Dave was not coming I said to Tara, "Well you've done it now. We have two boys who may cause big problems and no way of knowing exactly what will happen." Or something equally corporate and whiny. I think Tara answered me with,"Don't worry, God will provide." I waved that off as just another Christian cliche.

But God did provide, and his name was Danny.

Turns out that Tommy was not really a problem, but on Day One, when the campers and Buddies and Leaders were all getting their camp legs and figuring out what was what and missing home, Ben was melting down. Ornery and upset, not wanting to go along with his cabin mates. Starved for love and attention, he acted out.

Danny was just a 13-year-old middle school kid signed up as a Buddy because his parents and sister were coming. Danny's dad Marty is the pastor at Church of the Messiah, home of our Chesapeake Club. His sister Molly is an old hand with Capernaum and served as a club buddy and had been to camp several times already. Wendy is the mom and also well versed with the people of Capernaum.

But Danny had never really done much with Capernaum, and wasn't really sure what the whole deal was. I remember seeing him on his bunk on Day One while the cabin was in an uproar. His look was pure "deer in the headlights." I let him be.

The next day we had a talk about stepping up and serving the kids and treating them like little brothers. This could be pretty hard to take for a young man half the size of some of our campers, and less than half the size of a big dude like Ben. I'm not sure if Danny got assigned to Ben, if he picked him or Ben picked him. Either way I'm pretty sure God set the whole thing up.

Ben lumbers. He's a big dude and when he walks he lumbers along at a pace befitting a barge or something else equally large. You don't hurry with Ben. You wait for Ben and you ease along with Ben. Danny is speedy and wiry and coordinated. Ben is awkward and uncoordinated. Danny speaks clearly and with intelligence. Ben is hard to understand and his intelligence of the brain is limited. But he's plenty smart where it counts: in his heart.

How good is God to bring these two together? Polar opposites, yet so much in common according to God. I remember seeing them together on Day Two, holding hands, walking along happy as well.... happy as campers! I had trouble with the image because it was so incongruous, so odd, so strange and out of place. This little boy/man with the world as his oyster (pearls included) together with the huge man/boy who could never get past the ugly oyster shell.

But there they were just happier than jaybirds, jabbering away. Danny's fear was gone and so was Ben's need to act out, because here was a friend who loved him from top to bottom, inside out with a cherry on top. Which took away his fear of loss and the pain of losing his dad, even for a day much less a week. Because Ben had Danny, his replacement dad, the man child who loved him like the dad back home who was temporarily forgotten until the bus brought them back together.

There is nothing that God can't do and everything he will do in a pinch or even when you don't believe it is possible. Because God does not do based on our unbelief, but on the depth and width and size of his love for us. And that is almost unbelievable. Which gives me hope and makes me believe that there is a chance for us all.

At a Young Life camp up in the mountains of Virginia near the little town of Goshen, God showed me his mercy and grace and glory and love love love like a river flowing down through the woods while the deer bend their heads to nibble the grass and brook trout explode up to capture the fies. Ahhh, I do thank God for Danny and Ben, for doing the impossible in a way that God makes possible in us all.

If we just try to love another and treat each other like family then God will do the rest. Because when we love one another by way of agape we are loving on the creation and the creator, the living being that made it and us all.

In August of 2009 I saw God walking among us at a place called Rockbridge, and he looked exactly like two men I know named Ben and Danny. They're friends of mine and so is God.

Love,

John

PS- Marty just reminded me of something that happened at Camp, and which may be part of the reason why Ben took to Danny so well. Seems that Ben had a brother named Danny who died when he was very young. When Ben met the living Danny he remembered his dead Danny and knew God had brought his brother back. God brought Danny back for Ben's sake. Maybe a piece of the old Danny is in him, but for sure a piece of God were and are in them both. Either way, Ben and his new brother Danny get a good deal! How good is God?

Ryan The Hurricane Hunter

2009-08-06T14:15:00.000-07:00

by Cletus Cowpie

Well siree and mamiree and all you fine folk reading this here letter, we had us a plum fine time at the 2009 Capernaum Discipleship Camp at Rockbridge.

Just take a look at that there photo and you can maybe get a taste of the beautiful people that were there. Over 400 able and disabled God-made folks all together in one place, with enough love to bout fill up the Good Year Blimp and one a them aircraft carriers bigger'n a small city. They was all just finer than Caroliner and better lookin' than movie stars and rock stars as play up in front of folks just to make them happier than pigs in a mud hole.

By the end of the week our speakers, Mr. Chris Buda (he ain't that happy fat Chinese feller you heard about though he is pretty happy and well he might be a big feller too) and Mr. Ty Saltzgiver (he ain't nearly as big as the Buda cept maybe fer his heart and I have no idea why he likes to give away salt), why they had everyone convinced that we was all God's favorite. One at a time. No matter how messed up or caught up or how good lookin or ugly we was or if we could walk or not or talk or not or really when you come right on down to it God don't care what we can or can't do cause he's the one who canned us, if you follow my meaning.

Now how exactly do you suppose God can make each and every one of us his most very favorite child? Sounds pretty complicated but I reckon old God can handle it just fine. Shoot, last I checked he INVENTED complicated, which makes it pretty simple for him, right?

So there we was on Tuesday night, Day Four and a whole lot more. We was all outside havin' fun on the basketball court whilst them leaders was inside not havin' so much fun doin all that big brain stuff while we got to do the big heart stuff outside. Dear Lord, thankee kindly fer makin' me smart with my heart and a tad slow with my head. Cause that way I gets to be outside with my Capernaum friends.

We had us a regular three ring circus that night, we did. Ben and Kirk and my cousin John was all there standing high in the sky on that pagoda contraption, jabberin' away like jay birds on moonshine. To their left was basketball and slam dunk contests. To their right was wheelchair soccer or really more like Wheelchair Rugby on account them pretty people was usin' their hands and heads and wheelchairs in addition to their legs and feet. Cheatin' is all part of Capernaum games, which really just means everythin' is fair, long as you don't hurt no one.

And then there was Smack Down 2009. Oh howdy doo and Lord save us, please pass the chair!

Smack Down is basically wrestlin' fer boys and girls. They all wear helmets and are shown how to do it proper so they can't hurt themselves...... much. Now you take an average able-bodied kid and let him wrestle and it ain't all that. But you take a kid with disabilities and it sure IS all that and a whole lot more, I'm here to tell you. Many had never been allowed to do it their entire lives, especially the ones with physical disabilities. For them Smack Down was just something for others, never for them. Just a dream that would never come true.

But lucky for them, that ain't the way Young Life Capernaum rolls. Capernaum is all about makin' dreams come true.

After quite a few matches, with bodies flyin' every which a way, one young feller came up and said, "I'd like to wrestle that Hurricane! I'll tear him up!" Now Hurricane was a kinda dried up wrestler that kept threatening to take over Gary's Show during Club, and all the Capernaum fellas did not like that idea and a bunch of 'em wanted to bust that boy upside the head or maybe even worst. And that's why that boy wanted to wrestle Mr. Hurricane outside in front of the entire camp so as he could teach old Hurricane a lesson about why you don't mess with our friends Gary and Kenny.

So Ben and Kirk and John said, "Hmmm, that there is a fine idea, it is." So they called up Hurricane himself on the radio and asked if he would come on down and wrestle and he said, "Oh yes I will," along with some insults and such that I can't rightly share in this here story. That boy got some issues.

So by and by Hurricane came storming on over, makin' insults and such. And some of them boys right near about attacked that boy and here's the thing. That there Hurricane was right scared a some of them boys, and if I'm lyin' I'm dyin.' He looked scared when our boys chest bumped him and shouted insults at HIM. But then he got his composure screwed back on and broke through the crowd and set to hollerin' and carryin' on in the ring and we 'bout had us a riot. It was Panda Modium, or Grizzly Modium or one a them modiums, cause Hurricane bout got himself kilt. And he ain't even Scottish.

Then John announced that Hurricane was gonna have to wrestle Mr. Ryan the Redeemer and the place went kinda crazy. Cause Ryan is the dude in the wheelchair you can see with the circle round him. He ain't all that to look at, kinda got scrawny little legs that don't do him much good and not too much go power in his engine. But here's the thing, that boy can swing his arms and he's got the gumption and get up and go of a man twice Hurricane's size. His heart's got enough go power to out power any Hurricane and he knew it, did young Mr. Ryan. Soon as he was called out to wrestle the 'Cane, Ryan started waving and pumping his bean pole arms and the rest is history for the books.

Course to be fair, Hurricane didn't know his doom right then and just laughed as Ben Hourigan and Ben Mortensen lifted Ryan up out of his chair and over to the ring. Fact is Hurricane kept on slingin' garbage about how he was gonna tear old Ryan down to size and send him back to his Momma, put him back in his wheelchair and stuff like that. Poor old Hurricane did not know what old God had in store for him, to teach him a lesson and bring him down to size.

Pretty soon the bell rang and Hurricane went down in a wrestler's crouch. But not Ryan, oh no. He had his pretty boys, the two Bens, carry him right over and he WHACKED the tar out of Hurricane just as sure as a logger fells a tree. That boy ripped Hurricane's mustache and helmet right off his punkin' head and he fell backwards in a faint. Then Ryan finished him off with a flyin' body slam and before you could say, "Skip to my Lou my darlin'," the Hurricane was pinned and he was the one in pain.

He limped off the court pretty fast as we took the WWE championship belt made of gold and put it on Ryan's skinny little body and his two boys held him up and spun him around like God's favorite whilst the crowd about died and went to heaven and maybe it WAS heaven come right down to earth, cause didn't Jesus say, "the kingdom of heaven is at hand?". If only you'd been there you'd a seen it fer yourself, just as plain as day and honest injun true, cause everybody knows them Native Americans is right honest people, now ain't they?

So Ryan from Baltimore got to wear the golden belt and Hurricane, well sir. We ain't positive what happened to that boy. Last I heard he was gonna take up cat herding up in Wyoming. And we wish him luck too. As for Ryan, good on ya boy! Ya done tamed a Hurricane, and that ain't easy, son.

This is Cletus Cowpie sayin' so long. Snip snap snout, this tale's told out!

Lilly's Birthday Gift

2009-03-15T09:30:00.001-07:00

On March 10th of 2009 I got the letter you see displayed from a young girl named Lilly. I met her at Club, where she had come with her family to participate in Capernaum.

Being a completely grown man of 50, I did my best to act my age and then failed miserably. Truth is that Lilly was the mature one, so I set out to prove it. When I found out that her name was Lilly, I told her that was not possible. She assured me that it was and so I took out my phone and showed her the photo of the one and only Lili- my granddaughter.

I told her she would have to change her name and she laughed. She actually laughed at me like that was the funniest thing she had ever heard. And of course it was.

In that funny moment we became friends and would never forget each other. Lilly went home and subsequently celebrated her birthday (March 2) on March 7. But since she was part of the Birthday Club, where they accept gifts for others in lieu of themselves, Lilly decided to ask her friends to bring money for Capernaum. She raised $206 and sent it to me along with the letter.

Here is what she wrote in case you cannot read the letter:

Mr. Koehler,

Hello, its Lilly! March 2nd was my birthday but, we had the party on the 7th. I participated in the birthday club which is when instead of gifts you ask for donations. The donations will go to the charities or organizations of your choice. I have chosen Young Life Capernaum. I'm so joyful to have collected $206.00 for Young Life Capernaum because I think it is important to teach everyone about God! I hope this contribution helps you continue to do the work you do best!

Your Friend,

(not your granddaughter)

Lilly

I loved this letter so much that I posted it here for all the world to see. Lilly's heart is JOYFUL to give and she is happy to help Capernaum, even if it means giving up on her own presents. Hobbits give gifts to their friends on their birthdays, so I think Miss Lilly must be a Hobbit. So I name her a Friend of Hobbits and Humans alike, plus Elves and Leprechauns and all the Little People of the world, make believe and believed.

Though she is not my granddaughter, we are fast friends and there is nothing you can do about it. So snip snap snout, this tail's told out!

A Dad's Story

2009-03-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

The Need, The Ministry, And the Challenge

by Darryl Orrell

Darryl and Lynn Orrell are parents of Mr. Josh Orrell, the young man (in all three photos) with certain disabilities, many similar to ALL young men who push their way through life. Darryl used these notes to speak at a Capernaum Business Breakfast on March 4, in Chesapeake Virginia at the Broken Egg Bistro.

THE NEED

My wife and I struggled for some time attempting to locate a church that could minister not only to our spiritual needs, but also for our son – Joshua - who suffers from an unknown intellectual disability. We soon discovered that churches were simply ill equipped - and in some cases seemingly unwilling - to accommodate those with intellectual disabilities in the sharing of God’s word. Sadly, this remains a huge obstacle in many of our churches today.

Now I specifically cite “Intellectual” disability because nearly all churches have accommodations for those who are physically challenged, but the vast majorities are missing the mark when it comes to ministering to those who are intellectually challenged… Eventually my wife and I became discouraged in our search and quit all together.

THE MINISTRY

A few years later, through my son’s best friend, we discovered “Young Life – Capernaum” and at first, we simply viewed it as a nice social event for our son to attend. However, in time, we began observing subtle yet obvious changes in his personality – changes that took him from being a shy recluse young boy and turning him into the outgoing and socially active young man he is today.

Moreover, we observed that he and his friends were being exposed to God’s word on a level of understanding commensurate to their intellectual abilities. Even more profound was these rather simplistic spiritual messages were also penetrating the hearts of parents and caregivers alike, and they certainly served as inspiration to my wife and me moving us towards rededicating our lives to serving Jesus.

We began a family bible study and working in concert with “Young Life – Capernaum” and our newfound church, Joshua accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior last summer, and we praise God for the blessing of His grace. Joshua along with several of his Capernaum friends, their parents, and even caregivers were all baptized at the Virginia Beach oceanfront the following week during Capernaum Surf Camp.

Turning out to be an auspicious event, Surf Camp took place during the height of summer with tourist and locals alike stopping in amazement to watch these baptisms being performed, and we can only wonder how many were inspired that day to re-examine their hearts and reconcile or begin a relationship with Jesus Christ, but God certainly knows!

“Young Life – Capernaum” plays a vital role in our community! It not only provides young people with disabilities an environment of – open acceptance - blanketed with fun…, adventure…, friendship…, and challenges that build self-esteem…, but most importantly it provides a network of spiritual mentorship that enables them to learn of God’s love and accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Thus in knowing they have God’s supreme acceptance – empowers them to then confidently challenge…, endure…, embrace…, and even forgive society for all its… fallacy regarding those with disabilities.

THE CHALLENGE

In closing, I would like to share with you something the great Apostle Paul once said. He said, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”

Your financial and prayer support can easily answers those questions by ensuring the ministry of “Young Life – Capernaum” continues to move forward and share the Gospel with not only those having disabilities, but with everyone who comes forward so they too, may call upon the Lord in whom they believe.

Indeed, our nation is facing some tough economic challenges and investments are risky, but this is a risk-free “Kingdom” investment guaranteed to yield returns beyond any worldly gain. Not only for those you bless by giving, but also for yourselves because Jesus said, “Truly I say unto you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” I challenge each of you to search your heart and make a “Kingdom” investment today by supporting this much-needed ministry… Thank you and God bless.

Going West with Angela

2009-03-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

photo by Glen McClure

In 2006, when I came to visit Capernaum club, I did not know what God had in store for me. It is funny to say that I did not really want to come to Capernaum in the first place. I was just trying to graduate from college, but I thought Capernaum was going to be another way for me to gain experience. Little did I know that God was painting a beautiful picture for my future with Capernaum. I became a Jr. leader, Sr. leader, a part-time staff, and now an intern. Each of the roles helped me to understand that God was calling me to minister to people with disabilities. When I entered the YoungLife Internship Program, I knew it required some training away from the area. I did not know what exactly it was going to be like. Can I tell you that I was in for a time of my life? My wheelchair and I were about to experience two wonderful weeks in the beautiful snowy mountains of Colorado at Frontier Ranch.

_______

New Staff Training 2009

by Angela West
Young Life Capernaum Intern
Hampton Roads, VA

Preparing the Way

The first person to start to think about all the preparation needed for me to go to Frontier was one of my best friends, Tara. She brought it up even when I was just considering joining the internship program. After all, she knew what it was going to be like since she was just finishing her internship.

Frontier is one of the most beautiful places you can go to in the country, but Tara knew it was not the ideal place for a person in a wheelchair. There are hills to climb, ice to avoid, and staircases in most of the buildings. Boy, what a vivid mental picture did I have. She and John talked to Nick and Pam, senior staff of Capernaum, and together we started to prepare the way.

We knew it was not going to be a clear-cut path because there has never been anyone in a wheelchair at New Staff. Nevertheless, we took it as an opportunity to illustrate that God uses Capernaum to show people His power.

As the time drew nearer, God had formed a perfect plan for me. Every detail that the Frontier staff knew of was going to be planned out. Kristi, who was just a person on the other side of the computer to me at the time, seemed like she cared so much for me. I remember jokingly writing that if she did not understand me the first time, all she needed to say was, “girl, I have not a clue what you are saying, repeat yourself.” She wrote that she would try but it might be a little hard for her at first. I was very excited to meet her and all of the people at NST.

Flying with One of God’s Angels

The day before I was leaving, I found out that Ashley, my assistant, was not going to be on the same flight. My friend, Leigh, said I had the look of terror on my face. I had only flown a few times, but never without a close friend. My fellow intern, Alison, was on the same flight; however, I had not asked her to be my aide for the flight.

I humbly picked up the phone and called Alison. For anyone that knows Alison is aware that she is full of God. She is beautiful on the outside and on the inside. On the other end of the line I heard her say, “Angela, we are going to get to have girl time.” I just smiled and knew everything was going to be okay. When I picked Alison up for the airport, we were both nervous about flying. I had only flown once before as an adult, and that was not a good experience. One airport had left my wheelchair at my layover city and the other had messed up the battery. I was not looking forward to seeing what would happen this time.

We were able to board the flight without any problems. Flying was fun! We talked, laughed, and looked at the crazy inventions in the magazine on the airplane. She laughed when she saw my playlist on the iPod. I have some High School Musical and Hannah Montana on there. I was jokingly saying, “It is for clubs!” “Sure…” she said. We just laughed more.

When we arrived at our lay over connection, my wheelchair was waiting for me outside of the airplane. The airport staff transferred me into my wheelchair and I was in a hurry to rush over to my next flight. I tried to turn on my wheelchair and my power did not work. I looked at Alison and began to panic!

I could not begin to imagine these next two weeks without the ability to push myself wherever I needed to go. Alison smiled at me and said not to worry. She began pushing my heavy wheelchair with two book bags on her shoulders. If it had been anyone else, I don’t know if they would have handled it with the grace that she did. Together, we raced through the Atlanta airport. We ended up fixing the wheelchair while we were waiting to board the plane to Colorado. Everything was going to be great now!

Ranch Welcome

After a long day of flying from Virginia to Colorado, we had a two hour bus ride to Frontier Ranch. The bus ride was quite scary for me because Ashley and I were sitting in the front row of the bus. When I looked out the front window, all I could see was snow falling heavily. It was awesome! I had never seen so much snow.

After battling the traffic from the snow, we finally arrived at the gates of Frontier. It was just as beautiful as I saw in a picture. The only scary part was the road up to camp. It was very curvy and narrow. It looked as if the bus would fall off the edge of the mountain. Ashley and some other interns laughed at me as I sat there with my hands over my eyes in terror.

When we finally reached the dinning hall of the camp, everyone else had arrived and was already eating dinner. We quickly learned that we were the last ones to arrive at camp. Kristi was waiting for us to check in and I was so excited to meet her. She greeted with a hug and I knew right then that we would be friends.

Rolling into a dinning hall full of 200 strangers was very intimidating. When I went in it looked like all the tables were full. My friends, Hannah and Brooke, who I did not know very well, rushed over and gave me a big hug. It was so relieving to see some familiar faces. Brooke offered to feed me right away, and I knew that she was going to become a special person to me.

Say What?

Dinner the second night we were suppose to eat dinner with our small group that the team had picked out for us. Each of us in the small groups did not know each other and were eager to get to know one another. The new staff team had a brilliant idea that the proper way to introduce new people to one another would be over a meal. Conversations are easy to make up and there is no pressure if there are moments of silence between conversations.

Well, when a person, like myself, tries to communicate with people that are not familiar with disabilities, it is hard to talk in a loud environment, such as a big dinner. I tried to talk across the table but I knew that people were just nodding their heads to be polite. I even noticed that one of the girls would not even look at me directly.

I attempted to use Ashley to translate, but it still felt very awkward. I was somewhat dreading the next two weeks, if this was what it was going to be like for me all the time.

Kristi

The NST Staff that I emailed from the beginning was Kristi. Like I said before, when I first met her, I knew that there was something special about her. I could tell as the days passed that she was getting use to understanding me. Even when she didn’t, we made a joke about it. There were times that I just needed someone to talk to about some personal issues, and she was constantly ready to listen. Everyone loved Kristi because she was always ready to help.

There was one day that I was just tired and ready to go home… and it was only the third day. After breakfast I asked Kristi if she could take some time to talk to me. She had to take care of some other things, and said she would come to my cabin when she was finished. I had just had a bad experience with the shower, when Kristi got back to me. I told her what had happened and she prayed with me and said she would take care of it.

She also asked me if she could braid my hair. It was awesome that she took time to spend time with me and we became like sisters. I laughed when she had to answer the radio several times when people were looking for her. What could she have said? Was hair braiding in her job description? Maybe not for YoungLife, but God certainly worked through her that day and the days after. This was just the beginning of an awesome friendship…

Chaps’ Class

It has been a few years since I have been in school, and I kind of forgot what it is like to be in class for hours at a time. At first, I had to make myself concentrate on the lectures. A lot of the information about adolescent development was a review of what I studied in college. I was a little bummed, because I wanted to learn something new to help me reach out to my Capernaum friends more.

The second day of class, while I was listening to Chap, I realized that I was sitting in a class that was covered by the love of Christ. I never had been in a class where Christ was the center of the discussions. By the third day, everyone felt like we were drinking out of a fire hose. I remember one day after class, my small group and I did not know if we could handle anymore information. It was funny because we sat in our group and did not say anything for the first few minutes.

Another day, when I was trying to leave the dinning hall, I had a chance to talk to Chap. I was nervous because I did not know how he was going to react to me. He was so awesome; I knew he was trying to understand me as much as he could without help.

The last day of class, my region and I wanted to take a picture with him. I could not get to the stage, so I did not think I was going to get to be in the picture. When Chap realized what was going on, he came up the stairs, and he and all of us took a picture together. I was sad that he was going to be leaving, and I partially didn’t want a new professor.

Mat Carrying Women

Sometimes I imagine what the friends in the Mark 2 Capernaum account were like. I believe during these two weeks I met two of the friends. Hannah and Brooke are two Capernaum interns in different parts of the United States. I had only met Hannah once at the All Staff Conference the year before. We ran into each other the day before it was over. I had only met Brooke once at Rockbridge. Although these two women did not know me very well; they certainly were the ones that carried me through the two weeks.

Hannah does Capernaum in Seattle and reminds me so much of a friend from high school. She is always laughing and so fun to be in a room with. Every morning before class began, she would come over to where I was sitting to put lotion on my hands because she knew hers were dry, and that meant mine were too. I know that does not sound like a big deal, but it was to me. Sometimes actions are just as powerful as words.

Brooke turned out to be my closest friend at NST. I can truly say that I don’t know what I would have done without her there. She is hilarious and always knew how to make me laugh, including times when we were supposed to be quiet. One morning at breakfast, the team was telling us what verse we needed to read for our devotion time then we were going to pray and leave quietly. Well, our table did not hear the directions. Just as the room fell to silence, Brooke screamed, “PSLAMS 24 WHAT?” I literally had to stuff a napkin in my mouth so I wouldn’t laugh. With tears running down my face, I tried not to make a sound. That was just one of the many laughs we had. She was also the person that I could cry with. I always went to her when I was overwhelmed, and she knew what I needed to hear. We were like two peas in a pod.

Hannah and Brooke are like the friends in the Capernaum account. They carried me to the feet of Jesus at NST. I left different a person, because I saw Jesus in their eyes and actions. Friends like them are sweet gifts from the Lord, and even if I do not get to see them as much as I would like, I consider them to be two of my closest friends and sisters.

God Paiged Bill

Have you ever met someone that you knew was a great person, but something about them intimidated you? Bill Paige was that person to me. I knew he had to be a great guy because he was the one that was going to lead chapel, but he looks like he could be a quarterback in the NFL. He always joked that a person did not want to mess with him. I laughed, but on the inside, I knew it was somewhat true. Eventually, after hearing him talk a few times, I saw that he had a heart that loved Christ and us.

The line that he used in his talks was “look at your neighbor, and say, ‘neighbor,…’”. It was so funny, and yet very powerful. Brooke was sitting next to me most of the time, and it was funny to say some of the things he told us to say to her. Once we had to say, “Neighbor, I don’t know what type of shoes you are wearing, but I am wearing issues.” I was laughing so hard, and my friends thought I forgot how to breathe.

One day, I was having a little war with myself on the inside. I smiled but I was not happy at all and wanted to be alone. As I found my table for lunch, Bill came over to me and in my ear he whispered, “You are doing God’s work just by being here.” I did not have a chance to say anything before he returned to his table. A few minutes later, he came back and said, “Can I have a picture of you to put on my computer and under it I will write ‘Get over yourself’”. He was trying to say that I was doing a great job by overcoming the obstacles, but he also spoke truth into me to keep going.

Bill Paige answered God’s page to rescue me from checking out too early. I grew to love to listen to him and hear his cries out to the Lord. He became like a dad to me while at NST.

CommonWealth Women

I was a little sad when I was not in the same cabin as the women from the Commonwealth Region. I had asked Kristi to put me in a cabin with some of the Capernaum women so they could help me if I needed help. That was before I knew the women from my region very well. When they found out that I was not in the same cabin, they were so upset. I knew that they loved me, and I loved them.

Every one of them took turns helping me during meals. When it was free time, if I was not with them, they made sure I was alright. There were days when they walked up the road and invited me to come with them. It was some of the best times there as we had an amazing view of the mountains around us and great conversations. I loved being around them.

Even at night, when everyone went back to their cabins. I went to the Commonwealth women’s cabin. There were times when we would all be in a circle on our laptops checking e-mails from home and the room would be totally silent. We laughed about it, but truthfully, just being in the same room made me feel like I was at home.

I don’t know if my girls know it, but they all have a common amount of wealth that is more precious than silver or gold. Love and acceptance are two of the most precious gifts that a person can be given, and that is what I received from them. I hold all of them and their love close to my heart.

Small Group #20

Remember the small group that I did not want to be a part of because they wouldn’t talk to me? Well, that same group became my family. It is amazing to see how God can change a group of strangers into a body that grew to love each other unconditionally.

All six of them were awesome, and I think each of them had a purpose for being in my life. Two of them, Donnel and Bethany, really stand out in my mind. Bethany is the woman that I had a hard time talking with the first few nights. It seemed like she did not want to talk to me. Over time, the walls fell down and she became like a sister to me.

One night towards the end of the two weeks, she and I went to go get our papers. While we were going over to the building, I thanked her for getting to know me. She asked if she could be honest with me, and I of course said yes. She confessed that she was very much intimidated by my disability, but she was so glad that I always tried to be in the middle of everything.

Donnel was the other special person to me in my small group. He is a guy that does Urban YoungLife, and he looks like he could be on Bill’s football team. He always would have something to say to me and I would just smile. He called me baby girl, and I knew if I needed anything, he would be one of the first ones there for me.

I am so glad that God brought these people into my life. It shows me that sometimes I have to put in a little more effort when meeting people for the first time in a group. But it sure was worth all of the effort. I looked forward to our daily small group time. When it was towards the end of the two weeks, we were a family.

Snowy Adventure

The second Saturday, we had a day of free time. We could pick from different activities, for example, skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, going to a spa, or going into towns. My region wanted to go to an activity together, and I was excited. Of course, they would pick snowshoeing! I highly doubted they were going to have something to fit the wheels of my chair. So what was I going to do?

Skiing was not something that I wanted to do. Going to the spa sounded relaxing, but I admit I am a bit of a tomboy. Going to town to shop, ehh, I can do that anywhere. Snowmobiling was all that was left. Kristi called the company to ask if they could accommodate me, and they said definitely.

So Kristi, four guys from Washington, and I were on our way. I said to myself “Why didn’t I just go to town?” I had forgotten that I have a hard time breathing when I am on something that goes really fast. I was getting scared. As we were getting the equipment on and learning about the snowmobile, I knew there was no turning back for me.

I was on a snowmobile with the lead guide, and we went slowly. As we figured out the best way for me to be on the snowmobile was sideways, I started having the time of my life. He started to pick up speed and jumped a few hills. I had a blast and did not feel any fear. The scenery of the woods covered with snow was breathtakingly beautiful. I enjoyed every minute of it.

When we got to an open field, my guide said it would be funny if we staged a picture of me crashing. So he turned a snowmobile on its side and I laid beside it. Kristi took a picture. It was freezing but hilarious. The lesson of the day: Dream Big, go all out, and choose to make memories!

Flying Book

That night after dinner, I knew I needed to study for the book quiz. The team had put together a study guide and I wanted to do it. I could not find my girls from my region so I went to my cabin. I started to do my study guide, and it was hard. Twenty minutes passed and I only had two answers. I was getting frustrated, when my friend, Erin, walked in. She invited me to a study group, and I felt some of the pressure fall off of me.

I did not know anyone very well. I was just relieved that I was not alone. Everyone was very nice, and we laughed a lot. All of us were answering the questions. However, there was one guy that annoyed the heck out of me. Ben took every answer and tried to turn it into a deep theological discussion. Now, I am a pretty responsible student, but that night I was tired and my head was hurting. So after he gave another one of his discussion, I flung my book and hit his leg with it. I knew he knew I was kidding, but I didn’t care if he disliked me.

Ironically, the day after, he and I started to hangout. I have to say he was one of the few guys that really got to know me. We had so much fun talking and playing cards. I truly felt like I was with my best friend. The second week, I felt like we were inseparable.

I wouldn’t recommend throwing books to make friends. But I was very blessed to meet Ben. I am not going to forget the times we shared. They were definitely special. By the way, I got a B+ on my quiz.

Dale’s Love

Our second week of class, I did not know if my brain could handle anymore information. I was kind of nervous about the second class, but I was excited we were going to talk about the Book of John. Dr. Dale Bruner appeared on the stage, and something about him immediately grabbed my attention. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew I was in for a treat.

At the beginning of each class, he started out with a passage from John. Instead of reading it out of the Bible, he recited everything from memory. The first time that I heard him do this, I forgot that I was suppose to read along because I was so amazed that he knew the book by heart. After sitting in his class a couple of times, I knew that he taught from his heart and that he loved us so much.

After each class, everyone would race down to the stage to talk to him and he was always willing to stay until he talked to the last student. One of the nights I really wanted to go down and talk to him but I was not able to walk down the stairs. I mentioned to Ben that I was kind of bummed that I could not go down there.

I left the classroom and started to hang out with some friends in front of the game room. I noticed that Dr. Bruner was walking towards me and when he approached me he asked me if I was Angela. He told me that Ben had told him that he needed to meet me. When we talked, it was awesome because I could tell he really wanted to understand me and I think for the most part, he did.

The next day of class, Dr. Bruner said to the entire class that he was able to meet me because of my friend Ben. He also thanked me for being so strong and hanging right with the crowd. It was such a pleasure to be in a class with a professor that loves the Lord and teaches right from his heart.

Commissioning

I knew that the last service was going to be very emotional because it would be the last time we would be together as a class. We were able to sit with our small groups. My small group wanted to sit towards the middle f the room and I needed to get out of my wheelchair. The boys in my small group sat around me so they could hold me up. When it was time to sing, they took turns holding me. It was such an awesome feeling and I cried most of the night.

The team allowed us to have 20 minutes to take turns speaking about what these two weeks meant to us. I knew that I was not going to be able to talk because I just knew that I would burst into tears. So I just sat there and listened to everyone else. Donnel was holding me up and he asked Chris if he could take over while he said something. Donnel stood up and said that he had a new hero and he looked down at me and said “Angela”. That was the end of my dry eyes.

The last ceremonial thing that we did was the commissioning vows. We had to pick a partner and promise to one another that we would continue what we learned there and take it home. I grabbed Hannah because I wanted her to be my partner. However, Ben had a different plan for me. We laughed about it later but it was awesome to have him as my partner. What better way to end this time other than with someone that truly saw me as “Angela” and loved me for me. I cried a lot that night, and we stayed up as late as possible to have the last night of fun.

_____

I am so thankful that God allowed me to be there at NST! I learned about the love that God has for us and experienced it like I never have. I hope that one day; another intern with a disability will have the same opportunity. Sometimes the road ahead of you looks scary, but don’t worry, God has a way. You just have to trust Him, and GO!

I AM GOING!

Angela West

Switch Hitter

2009-03-07T10:29:00.000-08:00

Photos: Babe Ruth shown making one of his home run swings in 1922.

Bettman/Corbis

by Nick Palermo

I’m at the baseball field watching my beautiful son, Joel, play baseball. It’s his senior year. He is the starting second baseman and lead off hitter for his team. He is also captain of the team. He is a 3rd year all league varsity player.

He has had tremendous success along with great respect from his teammates and manager…oh, by the way, he just caught a pop up to end the inning against Carlmont…anyways, as I was saying with success and respect like that, and the possibility of the best year ahead, you would think he would keep doing what he has been doing, and yet, he did the completely unexpected.

He decided to become a switch hitter, and because he is right handed he would bat left handed against an opposing right handed pitcher. Which meant he probably would be batting mostly left handed.

If you have not played baseball it would be hard to express just how difficult what Joel is doing. He is subjecting himself to second guessing and criticism from his manager, team and other parents. In the face of all that he has taken the risk. The result so far has been astounding. In six at bats he has 2 singles, a double and a walk.

I stand amazed, proud and convicted. Why? My son has set an example for me of not playing it safe when that would be the easy thing to do, and because of it he is growing to new levels and victories in his baseball career while inspiring others.

It makes me think, am I playing it safe? Am I willing to take the risk? For those of us on staff for awhile our risk is to settle in and go through the motions. That is what Abraham could have done. He had it all in Ur. He was established, successful, a beautiful wife, life was good, and then out of the blue God calls him to an unknown land with an unknown plan. How is that for strategy?

Amazingly Abram says “yes”. I would love to sit in on his conversation with Sarai that night. I imagine it would be something like this:

Sarai – Hi honey, how was your day?
Abram – I heard a voice today.
Sarai – Sit down honey, I know it’s been a long day you are doing way too….
Abram – No Sarai, I heard a voice and it was the Creator, you know Elohim. He told me to pack up everything with you and leave
Sarai – silence
Abram – No really, we have to do this
Sarai – So you said….
Abram – Yes, I said yes, when can you be ready?

Can you imagine doing this? Friend, what is God saying to you? Where is He calling you? Are you willing to do the absurd if God asks? Are you willing to leave your comfort zone, even if no one believes in you, second guesses you and you have an extreme possibility of failure?

The people that change the world do not play it safe. For every successful invention Thomas Edison had, he estimated 100 failures. Babe Ruth struck out more than most and hit more homes runs than everyone, except two players. Let’s launch, let’s risk, let’s step out in faith, let’s listen to one voice only – His voice.

And if His voice directs us/you to a crazy venture, let that Voice drown out all the negative, second guessing voices of reason. I want to follow in the footsteps of Abram whose daring faith changed his name to Abraham. I want to follow my son Joel. I want to follow the Son!

Switch hitting for Jesus,

Nick

Nick Palermo is the Mission Director and Founder of Young Life Capernaum. After serving typical kids with Young Life, Nick started working with disabled kids in 1986 and Capernaum was born.

Funny Tree

2009-03-03T17:35:00.001-08:00

by John Köehler

God said, "Blow wind, blow through the trees and make a storm." So the wind blew and a storm came to the pine forest. The trees danced back and forth and bowed before the wind. Pine cones flew from the branches and exploded onto the ground like grenades.

The ground was soft and muddy from the rain, and some of the pine cones were welcomed by the sticky soil in a warm embrace, as if to say, "we have been waiting for you." The storm passed, the blue sky returned and the birds and animals of the forest came out to celebrate life once again. Snow came. Winter came. Ground slept.

Spring came and green sprouts rose from the ground, up and out of the cones that had fallen during the autumn storm. They grew up towards their parents, the giants who had given them birth. One sprout grew straight and proud, faster than the others.

"Look at my son," said tree father. "He grows straight and true. God must have great plans for him."

Another sprout was stepped on by a passing bear, and so it grew crooked before growing up again. It was ugly compared to the other straight sprouts reaching for heaven.

"And that one," said tree father. "He will never amount to anything. Better he should die now before he embarrasses the entire forest. Why didn't bear just eat him?"

"Shhhhh," soothed tree mother. "Look at the life in him. Bear foot would have killed most of our babies, but this child of ours is special. Wait and see, father. Wait and see."

And so they did wait and they did see, as the years passed and the sprouts became saplings. Straight tree brother continued to grow straight and true, looking ever upward towards his father towering above him. Crooked tree brother was still much shorter than his brother, his thin trunk growing horizontal to the ground then up and out.

"Ahhhh," said tree father. "Our crooked son looks like a snake. What good will come of him, mother?"

Tree mother swayed in the wind and watched her special son far below. She watched the animals of the forest playing among the trees.

"Look how bird and squirrel play on his crooked body!" she said. "Isn't that useful, father?"

"Perhaps," said tree father. "But more useful to be straight and true like straight tree son. Watch that one, mother. He will amount to something great. Watch him."

And they did watch him and his brother for many years, until people came to the forest. They cut down the straight trees to build houses and walls. But they didn't cut crooked tree brother, for they saw no use in him. Nor did they cut down straight tree brother, but marked him with rope.

"We will save this one for a war canoe," said the chief to his men. "It is proud and true and God has blessed it with power. Let no one harm it until it is time."

Some children raced by and jumped onto crooked tree. They crawled out onto its crooked body and bounced up and down together, laughing like blue jays, as crooked tree gave them a ride like a horse that will never run.

"That tree has no use," said the chief. "Let us cut it down and burn it, for God must have made a mistake with this one."

"Do not cut down this tree," said the chief's wife. "Look at the children play on it. Perhaps that was what our father God - he who does not make mistakes - intended all along. It is no good for your war canoe, but it is good for them. Do not cut it down, father. I think God likes this tree."

So crooked tree was not cut down, and was left to grow sideways and then up. The children played on him and hung clothes from him to make their pretend houses. He became the center of their life and when they were near it their imagination never failed to amuse them. They called him Funny Tree and loved him and put their marks upon him.

They fought their play skirmishes near him and began romances in his shadow. They felt safe near him, felt larger than the small lives they lived in their village. Funny Tree was their tree and soon the village knew the tree had special powers and that power must come from God father that made them all.

The day came when straight tree brother was cut down and burned and carved until a war canoe was born. They launched him into the river and tree father proudly watched as the warriors paddled off in the remains of his son.

"Did I not tell you that our straight son would be useful?" asked tree father that day.

"He is most useful and has given up his life for this honor," said tree mother. "But there below us is crooked son, still alive and useful. They call him Funny Tree. They love him because he is special and protects them. Didn't I tell you he would be useful one day?"

Tree father did not answer, but looked down and watched his sons as the wind continued to blow.

A Letter from Ren

2009-03-03T17:15:00.000-08:00

Top photo: Ren cutting hard in the Pacific.

Bottom photo: Ren, Angela West and her black and white knucklehead friend at the Noblemen Golf Tournament 2008

February 27, 2009

Dear John, Angela, and Tara,

It is with great joy that I share with you that I have survived my 2008 year with Capernaum. My therapist has told me I have made marked improvement in my recovery of crazy kids!

Finally, with great coaching, I was able to share the moments of truth about your group of knuckleheads and break dancers. Was it the risk taker chick in a wheelchair that shot the Noblemen Golf Tourney Luge? Or was it the group of rag-tagged surfer crazies that insisted on getting out there and riding the big ones, oh yeah, it did not stop them with that trivial fact called NO WAVES!! (Thanks for the swim Angie!).

Or was it when my HOT wheelchair date blew me off when she got hit on by the lead guitar player? No, I think the moment that sent me deep was when at the Summer party where some pony-tailed motorcycle lover was fiddling to get the stereo going and at the moment of electronic connection, 75 knuckleheads busted into SPONTENEOUS break dancing and scared the crap out of passing motorists (Regina tell your Dad to check the plug!). Whew, I am a little better now!

While I cannot make the breakfast as the cost of recovery is not missing a couch moment, I would pass on to those there to give, give generously, give now, and then flee this group of too much fun, chocolate pudding fighters that get into your head and as always, touch your heart. Give now so they don’t track you down and force you to learn dance moves that synchronize with wheelchair spins. Give now before you learn the Angela claw dance! Give!

I simply will prepare for 2009 with my own Butterscotch pudding arsenal, learn 3 cool rock star moves on a guitar, quietly take some break dancing classes, bring a working stereo for the group, and count the blessings I have received by so many Capernaum kids. Maybe this is the year they get me to do the zip line at Goshen.

Enclosed is my contribution for those countless smiles, extraordinary leadership, and that special love that comes from being with God’s blessed candidates and an aging, over the hill, boomerang kind of guy!

Lose my phone number for a month!

Renny

A Pizza Story

2009-02-28T09:45:00.000-08:00

by AJ Mitton

Last week, my friend from Younglife Capernaum, Chucky, and I was spending time with each other at his huge, three stories house by the lake on a rainy, pitch black night. I was cooking a pepperoni pizza for our dinner.

When I pulled the pizza out of the oven a few minutes after the timer buzzed, the kitchen was assumed with the stench of rotten eggs, and big cloud of dark black smoke filled the room. When I tested the pizza from the oven before I served it to him, it had black, hard tar on it. It was hard to cut, like cutting a card board with a plastic fork.

When I tried to bite it, it was like biting a chicken bone. When it was going down my throat, it was like a sharp piece of ice going down. But the piece of pizza was not cold like ice, it steamy hot like lava from a volcano. Then, I followed it up with a cup of ice cold water. I felt the ice, cold water cools off my mouth.

I did not want to serve him this nasty pizza. So, I decided to make a quick call to Chucky’s favorite pizza place, Pizza Hut, and told them to deliver it to the back door. I went out in the spacey living room to Chucky and played some video games with him on his Playstation 3 on his huge, sixty inches high definition television with silver thin boarders.

When I heard a soft, three knocks on the back door, I quickly got up and ran to pay the pizza man. When I took the steamy pizza, I put it on the pizza pan that I was using to bake the last pizza and brought it out to him. I gave him a big slice of pizza and a tall cup of Coke with ice.

He loved it and said, “This is the best pizza that I ever had, thank you A.J.!”

I answered, “You are welcome!
__________

AJ Mitton is a Sr. Leader with Capernaum in Virginia Beach, VA. AJ has cerebral palsy and spends a lot of time in a wheelchair, but he does not let that get in the way of living life large. He is attending college at TCC and has a 4.0 average. He is married to Regina Howley. Photos are of AJ and John Koeler and AJ with Regina, his wife. Regina is the one without the beard.

Contact AJ at ylajy3k@hotmail.com

Climbing Capernaum

2009-02-17T16:47:00.000-08:00

by Eric Peters

The boy’s legs were useless. He could write and speak his name perfectly well (Brett), he could use his young hands to grip the braided climbing rope supporting his frame, but his body from the waist down was as inoperable as felled masts of white pine.

Like the moon in a clear, harvest sky, he dangled there thirty feet above the ground, a suspended child, a saint as it turns out, exhausted by the events leading up to this moment where he glowed at the upper reaches of the man made rock-climbing tower out of nothing short of utter fatigue and extreme revelry where the two emotions mixed and mingled as if they were reunited friends. The raucous cheering of the audience below made it perfectly clear that this was no ordinary moment, either for them or for Brett.

Normally this spot on the sidewalk adjacent to the climbing wall is a somewhat stale, recurrent place as participants, mostly high-school aged, with perfectly functioning bodies take to the fixed rocks on the wall each and every day during the summer months, some reaching the top with ease, others giving up apathetically midway, some never bothering to feign an attempt.

But today, if only for a few passing hours, this sun-drenched location atop the bluffs of Pelican Lake in northwest Minnesota is, like its biblical lakeside village counterpart, a Capernaum of sorts, a place where not only the physically impaired are raised, but the physically well can, if our eyes are open to the scene, find a healing as well.

A multi-generational crowd composed of adults, college and high-school aged gathers. We come and go as we please. I feel the sunlight searing my sandaled toes. I feel my toes. I feel. The boy, currently draped in a climbing harness and seated in his wheelchair, awaits final clearance to begin his ascent. Two men, his counselor-leaders for the week, also donning harnesses, are prepared to climb the wall with Brett assisting him along the way. They are his feet.

I witness the utmost patience of these gentlemen as they coax, urge and literally lift the physically crippled young man to a height and an experience that he might never have reached without such assistance, without such community, without such delighted belief. Like a banner on top of the world, this scene is a flagrant display of courage that rivals any contemporary professional athlete’s stamina and pursuit of adulatory perfection.

The oldest of three siblings, I am for all intents and purposes a scaredy-cat. For as far back as I can remember, I steadily maintained an overly cautious and hyper-responsible childhood. I rarely took risks then, and I find I rarely take them now as an adult. But as I am prone to do, tears percolate from my sunglass-veiled eyes at the very sight of such a risky, overtly spiritual and Christ-like display, which I am convinced I am privy to.

The boy possesses a rowdy belief that he has it in him to scale the wall. His counselor-leaders, in turn, possess a believing hope that, just like the young man lowered by his pals through the thatched roof to the feet of Jesus, their faith will heal the boy whom they now hoist. Though science might disagree, this physical exhibition has far less to do with actual physics than it does with the intangibles of lion-like courage, the swearing off of fear, and the Ghost of God moving with such ease and freedom through the discarded remnants of society as to render them mesmerizingly holy, while leaving the beautiful remainder as limp as withered limbs. Has Your Kingdom finally come?

The climbing wall is made up of a pattern of strategically placed rocks and of various planks of wood, all held together by the bones of structural integrity. The human body is much the same, held together by bones, capillaries, vessels and ligaments. The body of Christ is made up of many parts, talents and gifts, some receiving glory, some rarely receiving acknowledgment if any notice at all, but all are worthy in their unworthiness to serve the other.

And that is the way it is in Capernaum and along the shores of Pelican Lake where the broken in body are Heaven-strong in heart and spirit, possessing a belief so childishly simple that it seems too good to possess any truth at all. Here, the weakest things of earth shame the glamorous and the strong, and the physically well, if we are lucky enough, are overcome with the shocking realization that we too need just as much help in all our climbing, flailing and falling.

At the height of our exalted exhaustion, may we peer through the torn roofs of our lives and view the gathered community in support – those who cared for us from the very beginning, those clinging to the taut ropes of both theirs and our faith - and may we bless the Lord of our once-broken souls who coaxed, urged and lifted us to the good and final End.

www.ericpeters.net

http://middleofthestorm.blogspot.com/

www.squarepegalliance.com

Valentine's Dance 2009

2009-02-15T07:08:00.000-08:00

Story by Triple JJJ
& John Köehler

Photos by Lauren & Tina Masters and Gail Braswell

PREFACE

I met Alfie Lopez in December of 2007 when our good friend and Capernaum Sr. Leader Allen Nebrich died.
As we were walking through the Church of the Holy Family discussing Allen's funeral on the morrow Alfie said, "I want Capernaum here." I looked at her like who IS this woman! Little did I know that she meant every word of what she said.

This story is dedicated to Alfie and her awesome son, Jeremy, a new Junior Leader with Capernaum who happens to have a disability, though I don't think God cares that much.... and neither do I. Without Alfie and Jeremy, this dance would never have happened. Rock Stars!

Dancing With the Stars

Word up my Beauties! What a night, what a night, what a night we had. As you can see, my name is Triple J and my disability is Crazy OCD which means sometimes I repeat myself. Sometimes I repeat myself. Sometimes I..... word.

So check it out. Me and my home skillet DJ Jazzy Jeff were like WHAT, let's have a Valentines Dance. And all the awesome people of Capernaum said OK, that sounds like a good idea.

So DJ put on his best ghetto blaster clothes and I found my Grand Pappy's old red suit and we came to Holy Family for the dance party. Lucky thing for us two that Awesome T Travis was there. he's the dude in front of me and DJ Jazzy. Dude got game! Big shout out to him and Jump Jive Jose for all the help they gave. If not for them....... well I don't really know but let's just say that them boys can party!

Lotta people said me and DJ looked really good and man we DID look pretty stylin. We felt pretty on the inside too and could feel God inside of us and all around us. We were like crazy man it was so wild. People were coming in and we're like:

DJ: Word my home. Who are all these PEOPLE?

Triple J: My brother, I don't know, but they look cool to me

DJ: Who invited them?

Triple J: wasn't me, man. You?

DJ: not me! Who then?

Triple J & DJ: GOD IT WAS GOD INVITED THEM ALL!!!

So we figured after that that whoever came had been invited by the main man, Gee Oh Dee. And since he's our Daddy too we welcomed everyone like rock stars. Like family. And let me tell you that the good people of Holy Family made us all FEEL like a big holy family by making the place just about perfect and crazy cool. Psycho cool.

Miss Alfie and Susie and Mr. Joe Stefonowonovanandstuffedshirtsinaditch and Miss Kathleen and all the cool school peeps.... they all busted it out so we could bust it out in style. I think God musta been pleased by these Holy Family family. In fact I know it.

Groupie Love

That's Triple J on the left with one of his many groupies, Florence Thacker. TJ used his Passion/Love meter on Florence and the girl BROKE IT!

Triple J grew up with a colorful family which accounts for his impeccable clothing tastes and penchant for strong colors. Say what?

Here's the thing about Florence. If you get right up next to her and look into her eyes, you will see God. She is like looking into the eyes of some of our kids. Agape on fire, baby. Wait, you mean to tell me that anyone can have agape? You better believe it! Easy to see it with the kids of Capernaum but shoot, God thinks ALL OF US are special, not just.... special kids.

Now hang on a second. We call kids with disabilities SPECIAL and we have SPECIAL olympics, SPECIAL education. Gosh, with all those special titles they must be pretty special. Yup they sure are. But God never intended them to be set apart special, but special because they are HIS. Just like we all are. Just like Florence is.

Personally I think she was squeezing Triple J a tad bit too tight, but he seemed happy enough...

Nsync Beauty

We had a small stage from which Triple J, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Kitty Kathy rocked up the crowd. After a while they figured that they should share the stage and dared anyone special enough to be on the stage to..... take the stage!

So they did.

Towards the end of the night these five pretty girl came up and serenaded the crowd, singing along with Nsync with the song, God Must Have Spent a Little More Time On You. You know I really loved this song that night. It was the only slow dance we did. We taught everyone the basics to slow dancing, the right and wrong, how to do it right. Then we paired everyone up and danced. So sweet, so amazing. I looked and realized that God really did spend a little more time on all of them. All of us. He spent extra time on all of us. What? Did I repeat myself again.

Look at the lyrics and tell me this was not the perfect slow dance song for Capernaum. And don't get all fussy about the kiss part! Capernaum people like to kiss too.....if they can get away with it.

"God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You"

Yeah....
Oh yes
Ohhh..yeah..
Can this be true?
Tell me, can this be real?
How can I put into words what I feel?
My life was complete
I thought I was whole
Why do I feel like I'm losing control?
I never thought that love could feel like this
and you've changed my world with just one kiss.
How can it be that right here with me
there's an angel?
It's a miracle...

Your love is like a river
Peaceful and deep
Your soul is like a secret
That I never could keep
When I look into your eyes
I know that it's true
God must have spent...
A little more time
On you...
(A little more time, yes he did baby)

In all of creation
All things great and small
You are the one that surpasses them all
More precious than
Any diamond or pearl
They broke the mold
When you came in this world
And I'm trying hard to figure out
Just how I ever did without
The warmth of your smile
The heart of a child
That's deep inside
Leaves me purified

Your love is like a river
Peaceful and deep (and deep)
Your soul is like a secret
That I never could keep
When I look into your eyes
I know that it's true
God must have spent...
A little more time
On you...
(on you, on you, on you, you....on you, on you, on you, you..) ohhh...
(on you, on you, on you, you....on you, on you, on you, you..) yeah...

Never thought that love could feel like this
and you changed my world with just one kiss.
How can it be that right here with me
There's an angel?
It's a miracle...

Your love is like a river
Peaceful and deep (peaceful and deep)
Your soul is like a secret
That I never could keep
When I look into your eyes
I know that it's true
God must have spent...
A little more time
On you...
(on you, on you, on you, you..)
God must have spent...
A little more time
on you
(on you, on you..you....you..oooh..yeah)
A little more time
on you...ohhh

Rock Stars

Everyone wants to be a rock star. Everyone wants to be the cat's meow, the chicken strut, the dog's left foot..... what? What? What?

There is something totally cool about being up front, being on stage, holding the microphone and giving a shout out to your friends. A way to say look I'm here, I'm me, ain't I cool?
Why yes you ARE quite cool and you deserve to be up here on stage.

But I've got a disability.

So what, didn't God make you?

I guess so. But I'm pretty messed up. I'm not pretty enough or smart enough to be on stage.

Says who?

Uh.......everyone. Do you think God would be OK if I came up on stage and gave a shout out to my friends and danced up there? Would that be OK?

Let me pray about that..... OK. God said bring it on, ROCK STAR!!!

So you run run run to the stage and turn turn turn to the crowd and you dance dance dance for them and they clap and shout and cheer for you and you think wait..... am I in heaven? You wish you could have seen your Mom one more time before you died and went to heaven but then you look and see your Mom and she's smiling right at you and then you know that heaven came down to earth and you're a rock star, right there in front of everyone and for the first time in your life you think maybe there is a God. Because your heart feels ginormous inside of you and..... you're a rock star. People love you!

So you keep dancing up on stage because your people are calling your name. Rock star.

Beautiful people

No doubt Triple J and DJ Jazzy Jeff looked totally beautiful that night, not to mention Kitty Kathy and all the volunteer leaders, buddies and parents that were there. I mean we were all just shining, regardless of whether we had on our Sunday Best or our Friday worst, we..... looked...... beautiful. But look, don't take my word for it. See for yourself.

Word on the street is the demand for another party is high. And that's just from the parents! So look for an end of the year Dance. Shoot, don't just LOOK for it. Come to it!

2009-01-09T14:32:00.000-08:00

Nick & Steve

by Nick Palermo

Happy and blessed 2009 to you! I ended 2008 with an amazing experience. I visited our post high school club called Club Beyond here in San Jose. I don’t normally attend that club because I volunteer in another one of our Capernaum clubs. But I had a strong urge to go, so off I went to the Club Beyond Christmas Party and dance.

As I walked through the doors of our beautiful club room, it was a tsunami wave of music, dancing, laughter and joy in a sea of smiling faces. It is amazing to be a part of Capernaum because this is the normal state of things surrounding ourCapernaum friends. They are God’s joy factory.

My dear friend and fellow staff person, Lydia, greeted me and pointed to her right asking me, “Do you know this young man?” I glanced over and was paralyzed by a moment of wonder that took me back to 1980. Sitting in front of me was Steve Hall, who is now 47 years old.

In the fall of 1980, I walked into Blackford High School campus and was given a destiny moment from God, and Steve was at the center of it. That day I saw a group of 25 kids in wheelchairs that God, in His crazy way, would use to birthCapernaum. The first kid I met was Steve Hall. He tried to shake my hand but I drew back because it was deformed. He tried to speak, but I could not understand.

One month later as God led me gently to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, it was Steve that broke the proverbial ice. We became friends, and it was Steve, 5 years before Capernaum even started, that I took to my Young Life club and to a weekend camp.

I will never forget telling 10 of my guys who signed up for camp that we were taking one more guy that they didn’t know. I told our guys that we would have to serve Steve together for the whole weekend. You know what? They did.

Steve became the center of our cabin. They carried him up hills, into games and activities. It was my first of a thousand memories formed with what would become Capernaum.

So as I stood in wonder looking at Steve 28 years later, I realized something amazing. All those years ago it was Jesus in Steve calling out to me. It was Jesus inviting me into a new world of kids with disabilities. It was Jesus reaching out His hand to me inviting me to take it and come with Him. Thank God I did because that changed my life and thousands of others lives.

Finally, I launched myself to Steve in a big long embrace. So much had changed for me in 28 years. Twenty-eight years ago I could not get myself to embrace his deformed hand, and now I couldn’t get to him fast enough to hug him.

My transformation is Young Life’s transformation because now we as a ministry have learned to embrace our Capernaum friends. You are a door opener for all these kids into the house of God with your lavish generosity in the gifts you give.

One behalf of all the Steve’s we know and are yet to know, thank you!

God bless you as He has me in this New Year!

2008-12-31T17:04:00.000-08:00

Skeeter's Supernatural Taxi Service

by John Köehler

Some poem excerpts from You Tube video Greenville Jesus Freaks

The Taxi

Now some folks might say that you can't really use a van for a taxi service, much less a big old gnarly-headed WHEELCHAIR van. I mean come on, who in their right minds would WANT to order up a taxi like that? Well sir..... maybe someone in a wheelchair just might. In fact I'm here to tell you that they DO order the service all the time cause I've seen it myself with my very own eyeballs, the eyes the good Lord gave me over 50 years ago. And these eyes ain't tellin' no lies, folks. At least not at this very instant....

First off you have to enter this taxi from the back. As if folks in wheelchairs don't already have enough to weigh them down with doors that don't open and people talking down to them and tables that aren't so welcoming and please use the rear entrance and oh yes mam, your type can sit way over there. We're so accommodating here at Our Lady of Perpetual Perfection...

So here they come and you ask them to enter the van from the BACK? Yup, that's just the way it works, folks and trust me, they don't seem to mind. Because this here taxi service is supernatural and made especially for them. So shoot, they probably would be willing to enter from the roof, or the engine or from underneath the chassis and up through the tailpipe. As long as they get to ride in the full luxury of the Supernatural ride, they could care less about their entrance.

As far as I know the taxi belongs to Luke Skywalker, who rents it to Young Life Capernaum in Greenville, South Cakalacky (Carolina for all you unedumacated types). The reason old Luke bought the van in the first place is on account of it being able to fly across the skies. Have I ever seen it actually do that, you might ask? Well no sir I have not seen Skeeter's Supernatural Taxi fly across the skies with my eyes open.

But if you look with your heart, why you can just about see it zipping across the very Kingdom of God and Luke Skywalker and all his friends too waving out of their star chasers as the Supernatural Taxi carries a bunch of wheelchair bound stars across the skies to say howdy doo to the moon and stars, the Big Dipper and the Big Gipper too.

Who is the Big Gipper you ask? Well now, he is the very sky itself and the stars and Big Dipper and Luke and the taxi and the wheelchair stars and their wheelchairs and the heavens and earths as far as the soul can paint a picture that will make you sing even if you can't sing. The Big Gipper is our Heart Daddy and he loves each and every one of us and pulls us one at a time on to his lap and hugs our hearts and the rest of us and my oh my don't we just feel right as rain when he hugs us that way and we KNOW we are his favorite without him even needing to whisper it into our ears.

But he does anyways and we love it when he does and ask him to say it over and over again.

Skeeter's Supernatural Taxi (SST) is powered by a big old V8 engine, but the REAL power comes from an engine made a long long time ago. In fact the engine that powers the SST was made before time was even invented if you can believe it. Well I can't believe it and I'm sitting here making this all up so I should believe it. Wait a minute..... where was I?

Oh yeah, the REAL power comes from God, OK? Now I know that may sound all spooky and creepy and outer space or religious, but it surely is not any of that at all. The SST is simply powered by God because he loves it and the people that ride in it. Without them there is no SST. Without the riders God would not make it super and it would just be another dumb van crusing down the road to oblivion.

The Driver

Skeeter's nose is flat and wide
Ginormous heart beats just inside

First thing you want is someone fairly young and with quick reflexes driving around God's favorites in a big old wheelchair van, right? And shoot, while you're ordering up the perfect driver, let's also ask for perfect vision and a professional license to transport wheelchairs and their occupants.

Or you could take Skeeter!

Turns out the boy didn't really have much of a chance and would have LOVED it if God had maybe tapped him on the shoulder when he was a danged sight younger than the fifty-fours years he had on him and that ten years ago when this whole thing started. But here's the thing: God doesn't really care about age all that much (don't I know), but WE sure do, now don't we? Yup, we do. Most folks figure if you're gonna work with kids you better be closer to the kid side of age. Or in Skeeter's case, he was able to relate to kids because his heart was young and spry. Plus he just flat out loved them and they KNEW it.

Skeeter has had a very interesting life and truth be told, he could die and go to heaven and he'd be happier than a pig in, uh, a pig in, well he'd be happier than a pig in a river of mud he would. He played football on a full scholarship for UNC and also some basketball. You can really see his power when he pushes and pulls and heaves the wheelchairs into the van. I'm fourteen years younger than the 64-year old stud and he wears me out.

Skeeter got game!

Skeeter was on staff with Young Life back in his glory days and served kids without disabilities, unless of course you count things like broken hearts, broken families and broken lives. But then he went off staff and worked in the business world for a long time. Oh now don't get me wrong, the boy continued to work directly for the Big Gipper and did his best to love everyone just about the way he wished they would love him and EXACTLY the way God showed us to love when he sent that amazingly cool man down to earth. I do believe his name was Jesus.

Did you know that man had a piece of God's own heart broken off and placed in him? God's honest truth I'm telling you it is. He was something special he was, and since old God figured we'd be frightened out of our whits if he showed up in a blaze of glory and burnin' bushes and tornadoes and stuff why no one would stick around to listen, now would they? Nope, we'd all be hidin' inside our houses, too scared to hear what God wanted to tell us.

God doesn't want us to be afraid of him, so he sent Jesus in his place, like God with skin on. And that man showed us how to love, boy did he. He said it was easy to love your friends, but hard to love your enemies. But we had to. I'm still having trouble with that one, oh yes I am.

So anyway one day God told old Skeeter he wanted him to be his supernatural taxi driver for some of God's finest in Greenville. Well Skeeter didn't have any idea who God was thinking about at that time, and wondered maybe he was talking about some Very Important People (VIP) like the mayor and elected officials and preachers and such.

Well God sure was thinking about his VIPs, but not the ones Skeeter thought he might be thinking of. Because God was thinking about some friends of his that lived in wheelchairs. They were all finer than Caroliner, but they didn't have any way to get around and go places. They needed them a taxi driver. A supernatural taxi driver, one that knew God and God knew him.

Skywalker had said that a starship driver had to have Jedi powers to properly operate the ship. The driver needed lightning fast reflexes but - most importantly - a spirit of Yoda and Jesus all wrapped into one. That would be Skeeter.... to a T. And lo and behold but turns out God had plenty of glory days left for old Skeeter and a whole lot of tears too.

But they was GOOD tears.

Travis

Travis rolls his broken parts
He'll tell you why you are God's art

Though he did not set out to do it, Travis has become a leader in Capernaum. Like most of us, he sees all the things he wishes he could do and the ways he would like to improve himself and be more like Jesus, or Skeeter or Tiger or Tigger.

But God and Skeeter and Coop just see Travis as he is. While he has not seen his own growth, being right smack dab in the middle of it, they have. So even though he wonders how God could pick a fool like him to lead anyone at all, Travis has accepted that he is now God's fool, ready or not cause here he comes. If God can use a fool, then why not you?

This summer at Rockbridge camp, we were all hanging out on the front porch of the dining hall, waiting to go in. Being a tender-hearted and careful man about guys in wheelchairs, I began wrestling with Travis. Me standing and he in his wheelchair. Is there a problem with this?

Look, before you skewer me with your lacerated thoughts, keep in mind that the boy is strong as an ox. Just because he can't move his lower half all that much does not change the fact that he can throw you across the room with his upper half. Doing a little grappling is a time-honored test of maleness, a way to say howdy or even embarrass the other. But that was NOT my intention here, people! At least not that I remember. I might have forgotten my meds that day...

Travis and I were laughing and carrying on. Then something happened when I straightened up. It was not my fault! For whatever reason, Travis' new wheelchair without the bumpers on back just flipped over backwards. Bang! Now I could tell immediately that Travis was OK. He is in many ways an athlete and he knows how to fall. So because I knew he was OK I did the appropriate thing any male would do when he gets the upper hand of a buddy and puts him on his astronaut: I started laughing.

There I was, looking down at Travis flat on his back, laughing my head off. He was smiling, but I could see a little look of defiance that said, "Oh, I'll get you back, boy..... I'll get you back!" Cripple guys are MEAN!

I was standing there just hootin' and hollerin' and then I realized that folks were looking at me. By then a bunch of high school girls came to Travis' aide and he did NOT mind at all, no not one little bitty bit. And everyone else looked at me, the Cripple Killer, the mean able-bodied dude.

Worst of all Pam Harmon turned around, saw Travis on his back, wheels spinning in the breeze, and me laughing while all around pie holes were hanging open in surprise and expectation at how exactly Pam was going to execute me right there on the spot, nasty big meany that I was. "Yay," they said, "Pam's gonna kill Koehler! Let's watch."

"Oh sure," she said, "wherever someone gets hurt, you expect to see John Koehler." Game over dude, dead man walking. I stopped laughing and clapped my mouth shut quick. And there below me, surrounded by a bunch of pretty little high school chicks, was Travis, laughing HIS head off at the ijit that was me. I tried to tell everyone that it was HIS fault, that I wasn't even touching him when he went over. But it was too late, and by that time Travis was using all of his cripple pity skills and the high school girls were making puppy noises over him. No one believed me.

Travis is a good sport about his own needs, like a lot of wheelchair dudes I know. He didn't even get upset the time we forgot to strap down the front of his chair cause we had just a little ways to go. Can you say duh? Sure enough Skeeter had to go over a pretty big bump and Travis' chair went back and then the front went up and Kevin said, "Oh no."

When I turned around all I could see was Travis' feet sticking straight up in the air. Now look, it was REALLY funny, but I waited til Kevin told us Travis was still alive, then I started laughing. Hey, you gotta show proper etiquette. We pulled over and got him strapped in right and he never held it against us.

Travis is just a fine human being and has figured out how to pour his spirit into others. Now that is an art form. I do believe that boy is fulfilling the destiny that God built for him. Here's the thing, God built ONE table for us all to eat from. I used to think there were a bunch of different tables, but no, just one. His table. And since we're all his children, he expects us to get along well enough to eat from the same table.

Travis is not afraid to elbow his way to the table and help his brothers and sisters more shy then he is get there too. I'd advise you to not get in their way, cause either God or Travis will be showing you some tough love mighty soon.

Travis said once about the SST, "You know, sometimes we have more fun getting there than we have being there." That gives you some idea of the size of his intelligence. He is one smart guy but the beautiful thing is that his heart intelligence is becoming downright brilliant. God wants us to love and live in a brilliant way, a radiant way.

And Travis? Well he is so brilliant sometime you might be blinded and wonder whether you were talking to an angel. But then you remember that angels don't use wheelchairs, right?

Travis is my blood brother. How can he be your blood brother you might ask. Because we are united through the blood of Jesus, and the fact that we all come from the same father. A genetic link. How strange is that? Stranger than fiction. I walk, he rolls. He's a chick magnet, girls just feel sorry for me. He looks low and I look high. He is a carrot and I'm a pea. Very different, yet both of us vegetables.

Hey, can I change to an asparagas? I don't want to pea...

Tia

Tia's moves may not be clean
Yet still she is God's beauty queen

Tia is one of God's beauty queens, no doubt about it. Tia's Mom can just about make your teeth drop right out of your mouth and curl you up in a ball on the ground cause she is so darned pretty and sweet to boot. Yes mam, you say to her, you can use me for kick the can. I'd like to be the can if that' alright, mam. Maybe you'll let me live out back here in your nasty old recycling container. Shoot, I'll even pay you rent.

In this case the apple did not fall far from the tree, cause Tia looks and acts like her Momma. Not that I'm a fashion hound (or even a rabbit), but the girl knows how to dress and what to wear and how to do her hair. Basically all the things a woman know how to do to make herself look better to the world and to GUYS, Tia knows how to do.

You might be tempted to call me a creepy old guy, but I just could not take my eyes off her. She is so beautiful and is in my opinion a Princess of the Kingdom. What kingdom you might ask? The Kingdom of God, I might answer. There is such grace and dignity in Tia. I could try all the rest of my life to be as grace-filled as she is and I know it is hopeless before I even try.

This is just one of the gifts God has given her and so I do not presume to have it, or want it. I am thankful that she DOES have it, thankful to just share some living room with her for a while. Thankful to speak with her and get a text from her. Shoot, I was ready to be her door mat if I needed to be! Or even have my toes run over by her! She obliged me more than once....

I am used to being with people that have physical disabilities, so I know that many of them can not do things we take for granted, like wiping drool strands off. When it happens you just reach up with a napkin or your sleeve and wipe it off. Or catch it and snap it off, if it comes from Coop and is strong enough to string up on a banjo!

We were driving back from somewhere or other and I turned back to look at folks jabbering away. One of the things about the SST is that it sucks words out of you like a campfire or a stream. It's almost like there is a spiritual vacuum that pulls those words out of your heart faster than you can say, "Jibberty jam."

This is the supernatural part of the taxi, for sure. Because if you put these same folks in another setting you would most certainly not get the same conversations. The supernatural aspect of God's taxi is the thing that runs through everyone's hearts like a river and flows on out of their mouths with words that sprang up somewhere a long time ago in a place called Eden.

Naturally I looked over at Tia for the BILLIONTH time, like sneaking a peek over and over at the Mona Lisa.... in 3D! She had an enigmatic smile, a soft smile, not sad, but not happy, just graceful and Mona like.

A strand of drool was hanging from her mouth. It was about six inches long, perfectly balanced. Not getting any longer or shorter. Just there. Normally I would have gotten out of my chair to wipe it away. But I didn't. Cause Tia didn't care about it. And truth be told it just made her more beautiful to me. I know that sounds weird but it is the truth.

Tia can't help it that her body is broken and she must be in a wheelchair. She can't help it that her legs can't hold her. She certainly can not help it that sometimes her mouth slips open and drool comes out and, worst of all, she can't just bring up her hand and brush it away like walkie talkie folks can. She accepts all of this. She accepts the drool and does not let it change her or bring her down.

She is God's favorite Princess and her drool is his jewelry. Everything about her is a treasure to God, so why not to us? I count myself lucky to be Tia's knave, her foot stool, her jester, her underling, underfoot, underway and understudy. Tia is one of the most inside out beautiful human beings I have ever met. I count it a privilege and joy to know her.

PS- one last thing among the many last things of my life. I think that God is in all of us whether or not we believe it or not, whether or not we know him and accept him. Some folks would say that can't be true unless we accept Jesus into our hearts but I would just tell them to go eat an onion and be quiet, they don't know what they are talking about. Seriously, just be quiet. Quit being in such a hurry to separate out the goats from the sheep when God make BOTH the goats and the sheep and Jesus CAME for the goats and the sick and needy.

Just be quiet and still and listen, you righteous people, you people that know God so well that it clogs your ears with stupidity and your eyes with ignorance. Just be quiet. Shhhhh.

If God made us in his image then God's image, his face, his personality and love and joy and all that is him, no matter what you think that is or in what form you see him, is in all of us. So if that is true then it is also true that we can see God in every single person. That may be a tough pill to swallow, and the pill may even be a placebo. But for me it is as true as the blue of the sky above, as real as the green of the grass beat of my heart.

I see God in people. I see God in Tia more than most, because she has learned to get herself out of the way. Well done Tia. Congratulations, for you have achieved what many spend their whole lives working towards: the simplicity of God.

I see God in Tia and she is beautiful to me because her own woman beauty has been joined with God's supernatural beauty. I think this was most evident when we were riding in the SST, when all the rainbows came together in a perfect storm of happiness and God turned on his headlights for us and our eyes shone like beacons and our worlds spilled out like tinkling bells at God's altar.

I wonder did I smell incense in that van...

Coop

Coop's insect eyes are tried and true
They see his God inside of you

Shooba-dibi-bop-boop
Shama-lama-pop-coop

That does NOT mean I want to pop Coop. I don't, though there have been times when the boy ran over my toes or more likely got all uppity with his big college words and tried to get under my skin when I might have popped him.... accidentally.

Well who ever in their right mind would go and give a cripple guy permission to be so high and mighty as to jabber away at a nice able-bodied feller like me as if he were my perfect equal. Didn't they teach him anything at all in special education about minding his manners and his Ps and Qs and all that? I mean really, shouldn't cripple folks be seen and not hardly heard at all? Shouldn't they have to take classes in what class of person they are? As in lower class cause everyone knows they already sit lower in the world and God must have wanted them to sit in the back, ride in the back, hold themselves back and generally back away from the upper class folks in the world. Like me. Shouldn't they have to learn they are my lesser and me their superior? Come on people, pay attention!

Well of COURSE not, but even if some folks still believe all that rot, Coop never got the memo I'm happy to say. Why that boy acts almost as if was every bit as important as me. Can you beLIEVE it? What audacity to hope and be that way. I bet he didn't learn that in school, so I'm blaming his Mom and Dad, yeah especially Princess Peg and her man hub who also did not ever get the memo about the proper way to raise their son Coop.

Oh they knew he was special alright, but they figured they were too, and their other kids and so was all the world and so what was the point about separating special kids out of the special world and the rest of the very special people. If God made us all then didn't he make us all special and so what if we're a tad different from each other.

The loggers pick out the straight trees and leave the crooked, but God made them both. Japanese sensai create perfection by making their bonzai trees crooked, because straight is boring and there is no art there. They go out of their way to create imperfection and call it beautiful and we can see that it is beautiful. The wind sweeps the sand pines over to the southwest and away from the prevailing northeast winds that rake the coast. They are completely imbalanced and completely beautiful.

Who wants perfection when imbalance is more interesting. Who wants symmetry when asymmetry is so much more poetic. Well sir, if that is the case, then old Coop must be very interesting and filled with poetry, cause that boy is about as imbalanced and asymmetric as you can be. Yet according to the Japanese zen gardeners he is most beautiful, so who are we to argue?

Not that I'm gonna tell the boy he's beautiful mind you. That would be gay and he would never let me introduce him without calling him beautiful and so I'd have to toss him and his wheelchair over the side of the boat, him laughing the whole way cause he won and even if he drowned it would be a beautiful death, and even if he died it would be a beautiful funeral.

I hate funerals. Why do we insist on becoming so maudlin about someone graduating to God? When Coop dies I will not attend his stupid funeral unless they PROMISE me it will be a big old party. Oh but wait, maybe he will come to MY funeral. Ha, if he does I want him crying. Not really Coop!! Dude, I want you to come and smell my exhaust baby boy, cause I just kicked your butt in the race home to our Pop Pop.

Look up in the sky and watch that shooting star cross your face and know that I'm flying with the angels. I will visit you in your dreams my brother and then we will fly together until you can not separate your dream from your wakey wake world and eyes open or closed make no difference because the Kingdom of God is at hand which means you can touch it all the time. Touch it, Coop. Oh yeah, you already are...

Maybe when we die we will finally realize that we were already eternal and completely alive and living in Heaven. Maybe we will and I wonder if there will be regret for not living that way.

If life is a journey then each step gets us one step closer to God. Think about it. Every single moment of every day brings us one step closer to our death to this life and birth to the next. And if we are marching to our new birth then we are in fact getting younger to that life, growing younger to the time when we will be born again to the newness of God when all there is in all eternity is you and him. I know I know, it is a confounding idea. If it confounded Nicodemus, one of the smartest religious experts alive, then you don't have to feel so bad.

When you die, baby, it will be just you and him, his lap spreading out before you like the most expensive Posturpedic and so you lay down and rest your baby self, and when he puts his hand on your brow all your pain and heartaches from your old life fall away and all the things you hoped were true are proved to be true and your heart explodes from your chest and your body expands like a tidal wave until you are so huge and you fly like another Supernatural Taxi across Heaven.

But you never ever leave God's lap as you fly across his Kingdom. It is so beautiful and you cry an ocean but your tears fall as rain across the skies in your hometown and all your friends back home see your rainbow and they remember you.

Coop makes rainbows every day and if you just turn your heart the right way you can smell them. Oh yeah and see them and feel them too. If you get close to him you'll learn you are part of the same rainbow and you are, according to Coop, the treasure at the end of the rainbow. And here you were racing your whole life searching for the perfect rainbow for the perfect treasure so that you could find all the riches of the world. One more rainbow Lord, just one more. Maybe tomorrow.

But Coop will show you that you just ain't looking in the right way and in fact, you ARE the rainbow. You just can't see it cause you're in it, but others can see it a little, when the clouds of your life make enough contrast for them to see your rainbow against the darkness. If God can make bonzai perfection and beauty from Coop, then why not you? If God shoots out the brightness and most colorful rainbow from Coop, the King of all Brokenness, then why not you, the Queen of all Perfection?

Oh I already know the answer, and so do you. Just because people can't see your brokenness does not mean you ain't broken. Coop knows that. He's broken on the outside plain as day, but he's perfect on the inside, plain as the Jewish Rabbi that healed his CP brother when he was dropped down through a hole in the roof two thousand years ago. God didn't MAKE him crooked, but he sure is using it to make rainbows and draw people closer to himself.

So what about you? Talk to Coop if you want to learn how to make your rainbow shine like a beacon on a hill. Talk to Coop if you want to learn how to heal the inside out brokenness of your heart. He knows a guy who can help. A guy who can turn your twisted soul into the most beautiful twisted bonzai rainbow the world has ever seen.

Talk to Coop and get ready to ride!

Liz

She rolls across the foyer floor
Pops a wheely then asks for more

I can't help but love Liz. She is one fine and totally bodacious chick, no doubt about it. She is sadness and gladness, weakness and power, rain and shine, stillness and speed. Liz is all things and wants all things that she can grab during her flight across time. Why not?

Why should she not have all the things you have? So what if she's in a wheelchair. Do wheelchairs make you retarded? Oh gosh, I said retarded! Retarded means held back, folks. It is OK to use the word, the problem comes from labeling folks as "retarded" or even worse as a Retard. That is a terrible thing, but the word is OK as a verb, according to...... me. Sue me.

Point is that some folks assume that anyone in a wheelchair is naturally less able than they are in the cranial world of thought and cognition. That means how smart they are! This is really a problem when the wheelchair low life has a speech impediment. I mean really, how rude can you be as to not be able to speak clearly to another human. If you can't speak to me in a normal manner then why oh why should I take the time to stoop down to your level and try extra hard to understand you.

And another thing, why can't you raise that stupid wheelchair up to my level and talk to me on the level in a normal way. Look, I just can't deal with you and your brokenness and your stupid retarded self with your stupid slurs and drooling and surely SOMEONE must have sinned in your family for God to curse you with the disabilities you have and thank God it is not me. Oh thank you Lord it ain't me.

Liz is very smart, and smart enough to understand those kinds of conversations that many folks have, external or internal, about her. She can see them respond to her, see them shrink away, treat her differently. She gets it all. She sees it all. And it just hurts her heart all the time. She wishes is wasn't so, but it is so. She gets it all.

And she wants it all. She wants to be part of the same world that can push her away, toss her out with the trash, dump her sorry self down the garbage chute with nary a backwards glance. She wants to live in that world and so.... she does.

Push pull yin yang hot cold walk roll bad good. Liz lives in the walkie talkey world and the roll & drool world all at the same time. Truth is her world is a hybrid, one that she's built herself and she is the finest Concierge at the Walk & Roll Hotel. May I help you she asks the able-bodied folks that beseech her to tell them how to understand the man in the corner who keeps rocking back and forth. She tells them about the man and they become friends with him.

How can I serve you, brother, she asks a boy who rolls in on a pimped out wheelchair and can't find his parents, because they put him into a foster home cause they never figured God meant for them to have a child that was less than perfect. Liz assures the kid that he is perfectly made and he falls asleep in the hotel lobby. Nobody stares and nobody cares, because if they did they know they would hear from the Concierge, who watches over her sleeping friend like a lioness her cubs.

A Concierge must be smart and empathetic and able to imagine what it is that people want almost before they do. They are magical people. Liz is a magical person, a beautiful magical, mystical and extremely special one-of-a-kind person sent by God as a bridge to help all God's people meet somewhere over the rainbow where their differences fall away and their sameness remains.

Liz reminds us that we are all the same. Talk to her and ask for her help. She'll make sure you get the finest rooms at the Heavenly Hybrid Hotel. Going UP!

Kevin

Kevin's head is out of sight
God uses him to do what's right

Kevin is God's man, just like Forrest Gump was God's man. He'll be the first to tell you that he ain't the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to book smarts, but I'm here to tell you that no one is sharper when it comes to being a servant.

Kevin doesn't know any better. No, I'm not kidding and I'm not saying that because he isn't intelligent. He is intelligent. What I mean is that he doesn't know any other way to be and has never learned any other way to be other than to want to do right according to God. Well shoot fire, I hope the boy never unlearns that and learns what the world has for him, because he sure has taught me some things.

Kevin takes a long time to say short things, and his best friends laugh at him about it. He doesn't mind, cause it's more like his accent and helps make him who he is. I don't know who God wants him to be but I do know what I saw that he is right now. Kevin has a servant's heart and aims to please God by serving others. God said that if we serve his people we might as well be serving him. Hmmmm, can that be true? You bet it is, and Kevin knows that the truth will set you free.

Rumor is that Kevin and Coop may move into their own place one day and if they do, then Kevin will take care of Coop's physical needs while Coop takes care of Kevin's intellectual needs. Truth is that I don't think Kevin is all that interested in becoming a genius like Coop, and is happy just the way he is, because he gets what he gets and can give what he has. The KISS rule applies to life and Kevin is living it out. In his case instead of it standing for Keep it Simple Stupid, it should be Keep it Simple Saint.

It never made much sense to me the idea of being a saint. Catholics make saints out of special people and have a rigorous method of bestowing sainthood. But I think maybe God makes us all his saints through the sanctification of what that Jewish rabbi did for us a long time ago. I think we have a hard time with the notion of being a saint for God or for anyone, but are real comfortable with the idea of being a sinner.

Now if you go to a black church, and I mean a real Gospel church, you will hear the preacher call the people SAINTS. All inclusive. Because even though black folks have to deal with some mighty tough things in life and still are dragging themselves out of the slavery of self and society, they know that according to God they are saints, made right by God alone, worthy of standing before God to accept his blessing and purpose.

Kevin is a saint of God and he knows it. Not the way a lot of righteous church folks do when they wear their best clothes and put on their best airs and walk their best way and talk the talk and walk the walk right on by the beggar in the wheelchair with his heart in his hand, "please can you help me out, brother?" Oh they can help you out, but you ain't their brother..... brother. You ain't related at all, so they walk on by, into church where they hide behind their hymnals and put on the armor of God, only the wrong kind, the kind that covers their hearts and fills their eyes and ears with mud.

Kevin knows that God loves him and he loves God. He knows that because of his belief God has made him perfect and will use him like a simple saint. Kevin is quite simply a saint. If you are interested in applying for sainthood, please talk to Kevin. Then you'll see that if a guy like Kevin can become a saint, maybe you can too. God will take anyone! Because to him we are all Grade A Certified Best by God. That goes for Kevin and for you.

Now get on with it, saint!

Josh

His smile betrays the treasure within
A lucky thing to be Josh's friend

I loved Josh from the moment I first met him at Rockbridge camp. But don't go telling him that, cause if you live in the hood and you're a dude, you don't go around loving on other guys with unseemly acts of gayness.

Like after I helped Josh load up in his wheelchair one fine day when I was visiting all the fine Greenville Capernaum folks. There we were just outside of the SST, me standing and him seated. So I did the right thing and bent over to give him a hug and he jumped back like I had a bucket of acid.

See if I hugged him in broad daylight on his street it would show him as weak and that was one thing young Josh most certainly did not need. Hard enough to get by in the hood with your whole body working, harder still when you lived in a wheelchair and your lower body was pretty much worthless due to the ravages of Spina Bifida.

But don't get me wrong, the boy is anything BUT weak. He is one tough muchacho to be sure. Josh pumps iron and does everything he can to make sure his upper body can compensate for his lower. He is super strong and can do gymastic fetes like get down out of the SST and into his chair on his own. We're not talking about a side to side lateral move here, folks. We're talking about leaning way way down and getting both hands on the bottom of the door frame and then spinning his body over and into his chair. Dude! Sweet move.

Basketball is his game or, more precisely, basketball is his passion. Josh plays in his chair, a push chair old school chair. He wouldn't be caught dead in a power chair when he can control his own destiny and pushing his own body around keeps him strong, in control and closer to being an alpha male.

No doubt he is alpha and thinks himself a chick magnet like most American guys do. He's a good looking guy for sure (he won't accept me saying that!) and does have a strong charm and knows how to use it with people.... when he wants to. Truth is that a wheelchair gives some guys special powers with chicks. Almost an unfair advantage! If I did it all over again I think I'd have me a wheelchair in high school. Use it during school and then put it away at night. Would that be cheating? You mean I can't use the chair unless I really need it? Dang it...

I helped Josh set up the Josh B-ball Tournament at Rockbridge for the past two years. I got on the mic and invited folks, whooped it up. It was an optional thing up in the gym during free time, same as Smackdown. Josh was upset cause we got a lot more people for Smackdown than b-ball, but I explained they come to Smackdown same as coming to NASCAR: someone could get hurt. But no one did, so take it easy all you big babies who think it ain't right taking folks out of wheelchairs and onto a wrestling mat.

Actually it AIN'T right, but sometimes right is wrong and wrong is right and what could be better than watching a couple of CP guys slow motioning their way through a match. Then there was the time that CW kept staring at me during Smackdown. I was a ref and helping keep the excitement up. CW was having a great time and smiling. Oh wait, CW ALWAYS smiles, so maybe he has a good time all the time. Maybe he never got the memo about being depressed. I'll explain it to him later.

So there he was, sitting near the wrestling circle. Every time I looked over at him he would point at me like Darth Vader in a wheelchair. Yup, it was a nasty point alright. Finally I said, "Me? You want to wrestle me?" Spastic waving and head bogging convinced me I was on to something. "No way I'm wrestling the likes of you," said I, and went back to the match at hand.

But he was persistent, so finally I told some fellas to get the big lunkhead formerly known as CW and now known as Bone Crusher out of his chair. They laid him on the mat and then I got on the mat. We stared at each other for a while, laughing. I knew he wasn't going anywhere quick, on account of him being a quadriplegic and all. I figured game over dude, game over. I win!

But he had other ideas and leaned into me. I grabbed him and we proceeded to do a series of rolls that might have been poetic if not for the wrestling mat, the stinky bodies all around us and the guys all yelling, "Kill him, Bone Crusher!" and other encouragements to CW.

I'm not really sure what happened but he managed to flip me and lay on top of me until I was slapped out three times and CW was given the pin. I figure he must of gotten everyone to pray really hard or someone in the gym had stuck a long needle into my voodoo doll likeness, cause otherwise no way would I lose to a sissy CP boy like CW. But I guess I'm the sissy now. He's gonna be hard to take.

Josh is pretty hard to take in basketball. As in take him out. You figure OK, I'm six feet two inches and he's like, shoot, shorter than a short munchkin. Game over, no contest. But I figure maybe Josh sold his soul to the devil or something, cause he has powers way beyond what he has any right to have. Dude got game! But come on, he's in a chair and I'm not. Truth is his skills and lack of height and my height and lack of skills about evened out my chances with the man.

When I visited Greenville Capernaum this past December, we had about a fifteen minute window between dinner and when I had to talk, and Josh was on me to play him like white on rice. Or maybe more like brown on rice, if you take my meaning.

I took a quick lead and we were at 7-4, first to 10 wins. Who says white boys can't jump? Well.... this one really can't all that much and I had more than one ball stolen by the midget on wheels. Dude fouled me too, over and over. He was mean man. I want my money back....whatever.

The problem was Josh was looking for his range and just wasn't hitting the 3-pointers. Then I lost my range and my layups and plus he was FOULING me. Then Josh started hitting the 3-pointers. Game over dude! Swish! He wound up beating me 10-7, but keep in mind he was CHEATING the whole game. People think cripples are nice and all, but I don't think so. They are tough and they CHEAT. But he did win, I give him that. Nice game, Josh!

Afterwards I was going into the restroom to, uh, rest. Skeeter came out and said good, Josh needed my help. He did need help and I'm glad I was there to give it. Blood was everywhere. Josh was on the tile floor trying to clean himself up. Turns out a sore had kind of opened up and bled a bit. I helped him get cleaned up and then cleaned up the floor. Josh never complained, never felt sorry for himself. Just matter of fact. Determined, courageous and honest. Called his Mom and told her what happened. No worries. Matter of fact.

Josh taught me some things that night. He taught me that supernatural things can be done by folks that we don't think have any powers whatsoever. And that we can do supernatural things that we never thought we could. Josh taught me that if a dude starts hitting threes on you, game over, baby, game over!

At camp we were getting ready to do the the Whirlpool, which is when everyone walks the same way in the shallow section of the pool, near the edge. It creates an amazing current that will push you right along. But to people with physical disabilties, that can be scary and require you to put a lot of trust in someone to carry or hold you during the Whirlpool. I asked Josh over and over if he wanted to go and how cool it would be. I pushed him hard and told him he needed to be brave.

At the last minute he looked at me and said, "Aright, I go, but you gotta carry me on your back." See Josh had to think through the whole trust thing and also not looking weak. He figured he would still be in charge if he rode me like his personal horse versus me carrying him like my little baby boy Josh. I said cool, and he hopped on.

Doing the Whirlpool is probably what really made Josh and me brothers. The other stuff was cool, but that was life and death. It proved to him that he could trust me, and proved to me that he was brave and I needed to expect more from him. I did and still do.

Alex & Niki

Alex & Niki sitting in a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Whoah now, hold on a second! First off, two people in wheelchairs ain't gonna be SITTING in no tree. I mean, OK, maybe if it was some kind of specially constructed tree house with a special wheelchair lift, you could get them up there and then maybe the old rhyme would make sense.

But here's the other thing, who the heck is EVER going to let people with disabilities romance much actually KISS each other. I mean WHAT! Why would anyone want to let that happen? Next think you know there'll be little baby wheelchairs running around and all kinds of creepy stuff happening, right?

Uh.... wrong. Actually that's all wrong. Amazingly enough, people with disabilities are EXACTLY like everybody else when it comes to love and romance. Exactly like you and me and.... all the rest of God's people. We all are drawn to each other because that is the way God made us. Sometimes that love and devotion blooms and relationships grow and marriages happen and babies come and families and so forth.

Alex and Niki are dating. They are a couple. They both are in wheelchairs, for different reasons, but both drive in the power lane. He's black and she's white, but they decide which is right.... and which is an illusion. Sorry, Moody Blues lyrics...

But here's the thing, love knows no boundaries. Whether it is God's love or love between a man and a woman, nothing can hold back love. Not skin color, cultures or money. Not disabilities so profound that the concept of holding each other is pretty tough. Nothing can hold back love. So... Alex & Niki are dating.

They are pretty much like most couples when you get beyond all the surface stuff. Alex is very protective of Niki, and threatened to break my legs when I threatened to sit next to her to "have her to myself" during the van ride. I believed him.

Alex is perhaps from the wrong century and would have been better suited to one of the romance periods when men held their women in the highest honor and spoke and acted out of devotion and with a certain poetic and thoughtful language. I love listening to Alex speak. He is an intellectual and you can hear it in the way he puts words together.

Niki is marvelous. She teases Alex like any girlfriend would and they communicate with more than words, with noises and things unspoken, just like any couple would. Niki is, like Tia, beautiful and graceful, her broken body held with poise and feminine allure against all odds. Seriously, what are the odds of a cripple girl being able to turn heads and make her equally crippled boyfriend consider two-by-fouring the dude checking out his girl?

The odds are pretty good, actually, cause Niki DOES turn heads and Alex WILL use a 2x4 if he could find someone strong enough to swing it against your head. Don't mess with the Alex. So yeah, Niki and Alex are just a couple that happen to have disabilities. So what? They want what you want. Happiness, companionship, fun, trust and love.

I like seeing them together. It makes me happy. But no worries, it ain't pity happiness. They just make me happy being together is all. Seems right, like a lot of couples do.

Niki and Alex are a couple. God is good.

Ben

OK, so I've got a lot to say about Ben Brewer. Yeah, I'm giving up his last name because it is important, because he's a grown man and because I'm pretty sure he won't sue me. His last name is important, folks, so stay with me now.

After actually visiting his house in Greenville one day in December of 2008 (a good year in the end), I had a chance to check out for myself whether or not the boy WAS a brewer. There were no telltale smells of malt, hops or corn alcohol byproducts, nor did I see any barrels, vats, copper piping, stoves or kegs anywhere inside or outside the house. But.... I never checked the garage!

So it is in fact possible that Ben is fulfilling his family name by brewing..... something! That would explain his spending so much time in a wheelchair. Intoxication. So sad really. So unnecessary. Oh sure, he'll try and tell you the reason is cerebral palsy, and that may or may not be true. But I'm holding out the brewing option. I'm pretty sure most brewers are cripples.

Well..... maybe I made all that up, but you have to admit, it WAS pretty funny. If that didn't make you laugh you should really slap yourself silly. Then go drink a large Slurpee and a half gallon of Moose Track ice cream. Now go back and read the story again...

Now let me please explain the disturbing photo used in this story. First, I would love to know what caption you would use for this photo. Send them to me and I may include them. Here are a few that come to mind:

You're right, Ben, I CAN smell it better from down here.

Look John, my chin is spooning with your head....

No, stop squeezing me, I just ate a burrito!

Stop it Ben! This is Greenville, not Brokeback Mountain....

Your captions may not be as "uplifting" as mine, but no worries. The story behind the photo is actually pretty funny. Turns out Ben has been aware for some time about the whole Capernaum Smackdown thing we started in Virginia Beach. He would even argue that HE was the one that invented Capernaum Smackdown, as he has wrestled with friends before many times. He's a dude, ain't he? Dudes like to wrestle, whether they are able bodied or disabled. No matter.

So when I came to speak to Greenville Capernaum, Ben was ready. I knew right away that he was gonna be trouble when before I even started to speak, while I was just organizing my papers at the podium, Ben was heckling me. How rude. Everyone knows you don't heckle a dude who's organizing his papers.

Is there anything possible worse that cripple hecklers? Well yeah, cauliflower is right up there on the list, but seriously, crippled hecklers should be banned. People feel sorry for them and allow it! That is so wrong. Ben was just a heckler that happened to be in a wheelchair. But BECAUSE he's in a wheelchair, people thought he was funny.

Don't LAUGH at him, for goodness sake, that will only egg him on, and I'll have egg on my face. The real problem is that he's a pretty good heckler. A good heckler has to be pretty smart and Ben is. He has a good sense of humor and is pretty quick on his feet. Well actually his feet are slow as molasses, but that's just an expression that means he's quick witted. He is.

Fortunately for me, Ben allowed me to finish my talk with only a few interruptions. As I was finishing, Ben became more and more agitated and I was afraid he was having a seizure. But that was not the case at all. Ben was purposely agitating himself so he could kick my big white astronaut. Ben was ready to rumble and I had no clue.

So the dude rolled up and started to get out of his chair. Most folks didn't know what was going on, partly because it took him like five hours to get out of his chair, but I knew right away. He was coming for me, a wicked look plastered on his face. A look that said, "I will put YOU in a wheelchair!" Everyone thought it was just funny, but for me, it was life and death.

Dude was calling me out. I was thinking, I can take this punk. I will crush him like a bug, but shoot, I was wearing a white shirt, and was trying to project an image of a refined and respected Capernaum staff member. Wrestling with a crippled heckler like Ben would only drag me down in the muck with him. Pah!

But the problem was if I did NOT wrestle him, he would crow all over the planet about how John Koehler refused to wrestle Ben Brewer. Ben the Cripple Maker! My life as I knew it would be over and I could never show up at any Capernaum event without being laughed. Wait.... they already do that to me. I'm confused.

So what the heck, I wrestled him, after doing the requisite amount of verbal taunting and chest puffing. We locked up and proceeded to wrestle. People were yelling and laughing and I was fighting for my life. He was slow but he was BIG. Plus he cheated relentlessly. He knew he'd have a tough time beating me without cheating.... so he cheated.

The photo was taken during the middle of his patented "Pit Fall & Roll" move. He grabbed my head as he was rolling and shoved it into his armpit while he yelled, "Smell that and DIE!" I nearly did, no kidding. The smell was so bad that my muscles locked up and he was able to easily pin me. Ben Brewer did in fact pin me in Greenville, South Carolina on Friday, December 5 at approximately 7:30 PM. But in my book (and in this story), it was a cheap pin. I will be redeemed!

Ben reminds me of Alex a bit in that they both are intellectually smart and deep thinkers. So one of the things he does brew because of his intelligence is a deep introspection. Sometimes I think it is easier for guys with low intelligence to get by then guys like Ben and Alex who understand everything and have the capacity to wonder why they have to go through life the way they do.

I wish I could be more like Ben and if I could I'd be a better man. He is a big gentle bear soul of a man. Even if he likes to wrestle and compete in other man cub activities, he is full of grace, something that I am lacking in, except when I write. So maybe I should lock myself away and let folks see me only through my writing.... nah. No can do.

Look, I'm not pining away wanting to be like Ben. I just really respect the way he IS and the particular gifts God gave him cause no doubt he did and thanks be to God because Ben makes the world a much better place to be. Thanks Ben for your patience and understanding of MY disabilities and stupidity.

Oh yeah, watch your back, boy. Watch your back, because I'm coming for you, sonny boy. I'll be ready next time!

SST

The lift is ready oiled and steady
The doors in back are opened wide
So drive on slowly to the platform
Stow yourself inside

The engine's bumping music's thumping
They strap your wheelchair down
You feel the lightness in your head
The taxi's left the ground

The driver's Skeeter taxi's Fleeter
A supernatural star machine
Across the skies you fly oh my
The Kingdom now is seen

Without a word a little bird
Flies from your racing heart
You laugh and cry prepare to die
Your brokenness departs

Others there all stop and stare
Like you they live in moving thrones
Your hearts embrace the smiling face
You'll never be alone

You see the sun still on the run
But Skeeter uses rocket fuel
Now everyone can meet the Son
No matter if your faces drool

Come with me and soon you'll see
He tells you and the others too
Soon we'll fly eternally
First finish what I have for you

Show their hearts the way to start
The engine that's inside of them
Then Skeeter says we must depart
That's not the last we'll see of Him

So down you fly and bye and bye
You land again on terra firm
You roll on out the turnabout
Another lesson earned

Skeeter's Supernatural Taxi's home
Another silly earthbound van
But when it flies across the sky
You'll meet the Son of Man
on the SST
You'll meet the Son of Man
on the SST

Melissa

2008-07-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.
Psalm 45:11

from the new book "My Inflatable Heart" by John Koehler

Melissa is a beautiful young woman. Perhaps not in the classical way that we typically refer to beauty, but in every other way she has a beauty that soars above other women who know every trick and buy every cure for their perceived lack of perfection.

If there were a beauty contest that judged only according to the standards of society, Melissa would never make it through the first round. She is overweight, has a slightly misshapen face, and can’t do much in the way of performing such as singing or dancing. She would quite simply not ding any of the bells needed for advancing in a beauty contest today.

If – on the other hand – you held a contest that was based on heartfelt grace and inner beauty, Melissa would certainly be noticed and considered by the judges. Her shyness would be seen for what it was: deep-seated humility bred from fear of rejection and massive waves of self-doubt; an ocean of doubt.

Her reserve and gentleness would be seen as a gift from God, while her kindness would be felt by all and honored according to the beauty marks and standards sent down from heaven. Gentleness would be seen as one of her strongest points.

It is impossible to look into the eyes of this young beauty and not be moved with wonder and compassion and appreciation for what God has made.

My radar goes off for many reasons when women are involved. The most commonly known form of radar intercepts by men is based on receiving physical signals about a woman. A quick sweep of the active radar system reveals her in detail and the random access memory performs a match against the interior logic system. The system finds her attractive and locks onto her.

Which of course means we keep looking!

Now another part of my radar deals with more than just my brain stem needs, but collects signals from people that light up my heart and soul. Melissa lights up my soul radar and I can’t help but notice her. The signal comes back in a powerful way and my heart responds and says, “Oh what a beauty is she! Stop and bask in the glow of her. Tell her she is beautiful. Adore her and love her.”

And so I do. Like all of us Melissa just wants to be loved and accepted into the family. Into your family and mine. She wants to be understood and looked at as a valuable human being with real purpose, versus a broken throwaway object of scorn and rejection.

She wants to fit in and the yearning for that is powerful and drives her like a root level directive. She does not understand this powerful need within her, but it is there. The rest of us know we seek the same things that Melissa does, but her need is more refined than ours because it is more simple.

There is a strange fallacy that human interaction and acceptance must be complicated in order to be successful. Therefor we complicate the process of accepting each other by building layers in our lives and going through a ritualistic breakdown in order to expose our wiring – our inner self – to another human.

We build up these layers of protection because we think we need to protect our hearts from loss and from others who might try and steal them from us or snatch them when we’re not looking. We build gates and moats and iron clad doors around the dungeons of our hearts and then we swallow the key.

Then we sit back and dare someone – anyone – to try and storm the Bastille that is our heart. We watch as they slam into the tough defenses we have built, bravely attempting to find a way in to claim the treasure that we hold. We laugh at them.

But Melissa does not know how to build such defenses. Her heart lays exposed inside of her, within easy reach and for all to see. She does not hide it because she does not know how to hide it. Hiding it would be like hiding her skin. How does one do that? Melissa does not know how to hide her heart or protect it from the world. It is a great treasure of God that glints and glows like treasure when you finally reach the end of the rainbow.

Melissa glows. She is in fact the end of the rainbow, but no one can see that because you can never see the rainbow when you are in it. You cannot recognize the brilliance of the light when you are inside the light. They look away because the radiance of her strangeness if just too much to look upon. They look away and do not understand so they call her ugly and pity her and her lack of normalcy.

They pity her and thank God that they are not like her. Meanwhile Melissa wishes she was like them. Neither quite understands how special she is, or that God has made her inside out beautiful for a purpose and a mission, hidden inside the rainbow of her life.

If you turn your head you can see it glowing. If you come up close to her and hug her and then look into her eyes you will see the glint of the treasure shining out. Stare into her eyes long enough and you will forget your toes and your heart will beat a little louder because when you strip away all the layers and scars from your heart there is only one thing left to see: the face of God.

To look upon Melissa is to look upon the face of God. She is a beauty queen of the finest kind, the heavenly kind. She is a Kingdom Beauty and God’s Favorite, and to behold Melissa is to behold the very beauty of God, when the garden was first green and from his laughter grew his first daughter, so beautiful and radiant.

Melissa is God’s first daughter, so beautiful and radiant. The world is a better place – a much more beautiful and pleasing place – because she is here with us, even just for a little while.

I am...

2008-06-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

Photo by Jim Harvey

Caption: Angela West shown doing the luge with groupies (L-R) Trey White, Ren Fortier and John Koehler.

by Angela West

So, have you had a day where you just feel like TOTAL CRAP? Like everything you do just does not work out. I have! Yesterday was one of those days for me!

I knew it was going to be a busy day. Tuesdays are always crazy. We have club in Chesapeake, and I am always running around getting stuff done. But yesterday, things were a lot crazier than ever because I needed to answer questions for my internship interview. This application was not something that I wanted to do in ten minutes. It required time and my full attention.

I just really respect the opportunity of applying for the position. I spent most of my morning completing it. I would write something, read it, and then rewrite it. I was just having SO MUCH trouble writing. I did most of it, but I had to put it down and go run errands before club. Maybe it was a good thing to stop, so I could think.

So my aide and I went to Virginia Beach to go get a wireless microphone from friends. I only planned to stay a few minutes. But we hardly ever get to just sit and talk. I looked at the clock and an hour had passed by. They really lifted my spirit, and I laughed so much. When I left, I had to run to the store. On the way, I ran into a man who was in a not so good mood. I accidentally got in his way. I apologized over and over, but he didn’t want to listen. He just grumbled at me. I wanted to say, “I know how you feel.” But I didn’t and I left feeling bad.

I hurried back home to pick up things for the club talk then ran to church. I was excited about the club talk. I thought it was going to be a great message. I was going to talk about Jesus and how He washed the feet of the disciples. As the kids were coming in, I didn’t see the pizza. Tara had called and ordered them that morning. We called and asked WHY THEY WERE NOT THERE YET. They said someone had changed the order. What? We told them we had over thirty hungry people with disabilities and it was not fun. So we played the games. We played games until they could have been published in history books. Tara declared a pompom war at the end. That was so fun, but I think I ate a pompom. Yummy!

The pizza was still not there. I was like fine, I am going to do the talk. The wireless microphone decided it was not going to work. So I just used the regular microphone. The kids were fidgeted because they were starving. I gave the talk but the interactions I usually have with the kids, that I absolutely love, were not there. I could see some of the kids got it, but not the usual amount. I felt as if I was a big loser. Some of the parents said I did a really good job, and I was thinking uhhh no. Even though I know God’s Word is never void, I was just ashamed. This is my job, this is my passion in life, so why do I do bad sometimes?

I just wanted to go home and cry. I was done. But I had promised a friend I would hang out. So a group of us went to dinner. It was fun just to be with people that I love. But when my friend was driving me home, we talked about the Lord. He said, over the past weeks his life has changed. He said he sees Jesus in John, Tara, in the Capernaum kids, and me. He said he wants to be like Jesus. That ten minute conversation changed my day.

So wait…I am not useless. I am a friend. I am a teacher. I am Christ’s disciple. I am God’s daughter. I am covered by His grace!

Kevin

2008-06-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

by Tara Criste

For almost a semester now we have had a Capernaum "buddy" named Kevin (on right in photo) coming to club. A buddy is someone who comes to club to be friends with kids with disabilities, but does not have the role of leader and all those responsibilities. He came the first time by a request of one of our existing leaders (they are friends outside of YL). Kevin came and came again to club every week even though it is almost 40 minutes away from where he lives.

Myself and other leaders began noticing how often he was coming and one time after club we all went out as leaders to Wendys. We got to know Kevin and he told us he grew up in the church, but he didn't have a lot to do with God and hadn't for a long time. He said he had many questions, but really loved club, the kids and the club talks.

All the leaders kept befriending and praying for him and we went out after club almost every week, talked, shared and built relationships. One of our leaders, Angela, who happens to be in a wheelchair, after getting to know Kevin and how much he was getting excited about hearing more about God, bought him a Bible in the NIV because all he had at home was KJV. Kevin was so thrilled with the gift and told us he began from Genesis and is still reading. Kevin is signed up for summer camp as an awesome buddy, he has built relationships with the kids and leaders. And he comes to all Capernaum events, even other clubs in Norfolk and excursions we do once a month.

The best part is Kevin told Angela, Jesus has changed his life and he is really understanding what a relationship with Christ is about. I describe him as a sponge and we are getting him plugged into a Bible study and finding him a mentor. Kevin has surpassed the common buddy role and comes to Jr leadership, leadership, plans games and skits for club and we are working and thinking about his first club talk eventually.

It is really great how in Capernaum we are not just reaching out to the kids with disabilities, but whoever shows up to club gets to hear the gospel. Parents, buddies, caretakers, kids, siblings, friends, etc. God is so good!

Nashville camp update

2008-06-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

from Suzanne Williams
Capernaum's Southern Coordinator

hello friends-

we've returned from our camp trip and i can't thank you enough for praying for us while we were at windy gap! we had an incredible week, my mind is still reeling with the great memories that we got to share with our friends!

i have been asked a handful of times what my favorite part of the week was. that's a hard question when i got to watch my friends do the ropes course, zip line, screamer swing, water slide multiple times in a row, ride horses and drive the nascarts. it's also hard when i think about watching them make new friends, mingle around camp, get scared that the evil program character really is going to take over camp and then screaming for joy when the good guys win and participate in all camp activities. it's even harder when i think about the great questions that they asked about jesus, what everything that they heard means to their life and when i think about them having great conversations with others about jesus.

so it was hard to come up with my "favorite part", but i think i did it....

through all of my second favorite parts of the week i was reminded of the truth that god redeems our whole story. it's a truth that i have known, but like everything else, a good reminder is always needed. god spared nothing on reminding me this week.

i thought about how we often have names that describe us, from childhood on, whether they are true or not (scared, fat, ugly, peace maker, black sheep, skinny, etc). this week i watched a bunch of those names become false in my friends and watched them realize who god has truly made them to be....one of our friends thought she was deathly afraid of heights- this week she slept on the top bunk, did the ropes course and the zip line! another friend thought she was afraid of horses- this week she rode one, leaving her wheelchair in the stable! another friend was afraid of the water but he got in the hot tub! another thought that to be cool she had to act like someone different than who she really is- this week she learned how much people love her for exactly who she is and that she doesn't have to pretend anymore! one friend has grown up thinking that she has nothing to offer- this week she was a student helper and beautifully served all of her friends throughout the week! the list goes on....

i also decided to do something new this year, every night after we got everyone to bed, i would send an email out to the parents with a recap of our day and some pictures. it enabled the parents to process along the way with us, constantly amazed at what was happening. each update was quite simple, but the words and pictures seemed to communicate far more than i could've imagined. a couple of mom's said that they forwarded each email to everyone in their address book!!

not only did god use our week at windy gap to redeem parts of my friends stories, but he used it to redeems parts of their parents stories as well. some parents rested for the first time in years, some went out on a date (one for the first time in three years), some weeded their garden and enjoyed it....all rejoiced that their child was experiencing a week at camp with friends and adventure- a dream that many had given up on a long time ago.

god redeems and brings dreams back to the surface...and then makes them come true.
money back guarantee, that's what we promise. no one has asked, i don't think the ever will. nor will i.

suzanne

Randy

2008-06-07T08:46:00.000-07:00

Hi my name isRandy. I go to young life capernaum. I have seizure.I really like going to church to see my friends . I always tell my mom hurry so we won"t be late. I love the pizza and the soda the singing and the games. I also love when we pray.I can"t wait to go to see my friends. I think my mom and i are going to camp again. Thank You John From Randy

A True Story About Helen Page

2008-06-07T08:39:00.000-07:00

Typed by: Page

On November 19th 1983, the Lord told my parents that their about to have their first child and named her Helen Page. My dad rushed my mom to the hospital so at 8:11pm I was born. My dad's dad flew a airplane during the World War 2, my mom's dad was a Doctor during the same event, my dad's mom grew up during the Great Depression.

I had Down Syndrome since birth. Down Syndrome was discovered by Dr. Down. In my teenage and adult years I join Special Olympics swim team and half court basketball team. My interests are scrap ,art, horseback, swimming, basketball, dating with boys, doing computer games, safe internet sites, watching tv,
cooking, helping out.

Since my mom told me that Regina had formed Young Life Capernaum and I thought that it sounds like fun so I can make new friends witch I did. I felt sort of shy and nervous. once I start talking to new people I felt better. Ever since when I went to Young Life Club meeting I had the most fun in my life. On July 14th, 2005 I went to Rock camp for 1 week I had a blast of fun and favorites are club meetings, first night event, meeting new people and the best of all I accepted Christ.

I like to say," thank you" to John and everyone.

The End.

My first experience at summer camp

2008-06-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

By John

This was my first time and experience at camp this summer at Rock bridge and I had a great time. I had a good time doing the obstacle course because all of the people cheering for me and doing the swing at the end of the ropes course.

I also had a good time in the pool even though I scraped my left foot on it try to get around and meeting other people who have disabilities and who are able-bodied. I also had a good time at club on Friday through Sunday even though I was supposed to be at the beach working for my band but I had faith in my dad that they would get through without me there.

I also had a good a good time at the swing with Rusty’s nephew Jake and his friend Keenan going with me on it and making sure that I do not get hurt and I am very thankful for that.

Rachel

2008-06-07T08:31:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone
This story might make you cried . On Aug 4 of 06 i was eating excited about surf camp! . So me and my mom got ready to go to Surf camp i learn how to Surf that was pretty cool . Then we went to Johns house for a party i won a t shirt ! .

Then John said the zip line is now open so everyone who wanted to go on the zip line went . Of course that was me the first time i went on the zip line was ok . But the 2 time i went on the zip line was not ok for me . I fell on my butt and broke my back it felt like someone came up to me and hit my really hard. So Pam Bolt called 911 and they came .

I saw my doctor at three in the morning at the hospile and said i was going to have to have surgery to reaper my back . I got really sacred so what do you do when your scared you pray to Jesus and ask him to help you . You know Jesus came down from Heaven and brote my Gramthoer and my dog how is dead now and Jesus shake me and said don't be afraid Rachel i am your light and i will help you thought this time . Then Jesus told my he had my grandmother and my dog wanted to see me so i said ok . My grandtmhor and my dog and Jesus state with me until my surge was over then they went back to Heaven .

________

This Is my story . by Rachel Yong Life .

What Is young life? it is a place for people with disabilities .
Almost every Wed we meat. at young life. We talk about Jesus Christ . I am going to CampRockBridge this summer it sound like FUN . I am going to push John into the lake. And I am sure John will do the same to me by pushing me into the lake. Sure John will probably were that mouth guard round his neck like always . Allen last night bet me in the pizza constants . Richard HAPPY BIRTHDAY .

P.S. O yea I did this story by my self with out anybody to help me.

Taylor and Capernaum

2008-06-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

Hi,

My name is Taylor I have Down Sydrome and I am going to be twenty-five years old. I lived here about twenty years in Chesapeake, Va. I come from a huge family from my mom side of the family. I have five generations. From my dad side I have four aunts and four uncles and seven cousins.

My parents are divorced over seven years. This is really hard on me and my sister. We are three years apart in age. I never liked being in the center of it all. It tore me up and my sister too. I took it really bad. Nobody doesn't want to have this happened to them.

Capernum means a lot to me. You guys seem like a big family too me. I feel like I can talk to whoever there is. It's funny in a way. I'm about to cry just thinking about you all. This is too much for me. I'm speechless. I don't know what to say. I made friends with some of you. Some are very sweet and bittersweet. At least I know some of you like John and Tara and Rusty E.J. and Brooke and Derrick. He is so funny and makes me laugh too.

The younger one there. Erin is the coolest one and a very good listener. Stephanie and Kelsey too. Do I have to write this John? This subject is very touchy to write. I even like you John even if you do have Bipolar. I think I can work with you on that. Thanks. I do like Lea too. She is a good person to be friends with.

Taylor

Paul Story

2008-06-07T08:27:00.000-07:00

I have Down syndrome born in maimi FL 1984
love form paul
young life capernaum john koechler is my hero every thurday
l want to go l wear a cowboy hat
l love the paryers we do together l love the bible
nale is somebody l to be like
l feel so happy with my friends at young life capernuam
lits like family and bothers l love nysnc songs and backstreetboys songs too
l love being my friends there is no place else better there on earth
l am move to assisi house
love paul and john

Robert F. “Skeeter” Powell

2008-06-07T03:12:00.000-07:00

I was born at an early age. Mom and Dad were in the iron and steel business. Mom ironed.

I was really born in Eastern NC. Weeksville, NC to be exact. Dad was in the Navy stationed at a blimp base there. Mom had grown up in Elizabeth City, NC – coastal NC. My great granddad, Horatio Heath was a lighthouse keeper at Bodie Island Lighthouse and Currituck Lighthouse. My first year or so was spent in Sunbury, NC. Surely you know where Sunbury is. Outer Banks, Elizabeth City, Dismal Swamp, Sunbury coming in from the coast.

At about age two we moved to Greensboro, NC where dad had grown up. For all of the time I remember we lived at 612 Northridge St.

I grew up in a Christian home. Church was much a part of our lives til about Junior High. I think I had “fire insurance” early on but not a warm relationship with Jesus til later

In the spring of my ninth grade year Dan Komarnicki – the YL Area Director – came to a track meet I was in. That was the spring of 1960. We still keep in touch. The summer after my Junior year in high school I went to Frontier Ranch. Dan actually dropped us off and went to Trail West (Ahhhh, Dan had YL camping figured out) Roy McCassion was my counselor. He was everything I wanted to be athletically p- a two time All American at the U of Washington. Played in tow Rose Bowls. Captain of the team his Senior year. Dick Lowey, Bob Mitchell and Phil Mcdonald were the speaker and program team. Amazing. And yes I did give my life to Christ on the appropriate night.

My senior year I never went to club without a car load. President of our club. Didn’t miss a weekend camp or week of camp for the next 16 years.

In college (UNC CH) I played football and was a volunteer leader. The last two years I was on Student Staff. My academic senior year (I red shirted and had another year to play) we went to Notre Dame. I was on the kick off return team and got to play a lot at that position that game. Number 19’s knee got in the way of my kidney and my football career was over. I have only one kidney and was born that way. You knew something was freaky about me didn’t you. Well the good news is that the injury allowed me to help start a new club at Eastern Alamamce Consolidated High School in Mebane, NC. I could not have done that without the injury.

After college I went on YL staff. Two years in Atlanta in training then on the Greenville as the Area Director for 10 years. Martha Causey came to Greenville with me to be the area staff woman. Neat times. In 1979, according to my mother in law, I got a real job. It has been in different aspects of real estate so I don’t see how that made for a “real Job” Today I work for a large general contractor. I sell. Soon I’d like to retire from that and go back on YL staff in a Second Wind staff position and help out with Capernaum in Greenville, raise money for the local area and Capernaum locally and nationally, help Suzanne with stuff and any other Capernaum thing that would be helpful

Let’s go back to 1969. I met and married Cathie Skinner (Powell) 11-29-69. Cathie was a stewardess with Pan Am before we met. Was a computer programmer when we met and kept that up til 1998 with a break in there for two sons. Today she is involved in a ministry she started called The Anchorage. A ministry of Spiritual Direction and Retreats. Next year will be the 10th anniversary of the ministry

Rob is married to Susie and has two daughters – Morgan (3 and a little bit) and Madelyn (8 months). Yes grandchildren. God’s blessing on those parentswho allow their own children to live. Rob is a dentist and Susie is a veterinarian.

Lars is getting married Memorial day weekend. Ashley will be Mrs Powell. Lars is a professor at U of Arkansas – Little Rock. Ashley works in the health insurance supplement business.

When Rob and Lars got to high school I started to work as a volunteer in a traditional club. After about 8-9 years Ben Brewer came to club in a power chair and the rest as they say is history. The next 9-10 years have been with a Capernaum club. And that has blessed my life. Taught me a bunch about life and love and living.

Is this enough?

Oh, we go to First Baptist of Greenville. We are one of those moderate Baptist churches. We broke away from the Southern Baptist convention – or maybe we were fired. Anyway the struggle is over in our denomination for a while. Cathie is on the personnel committee and sings in the choir. I help teach a 9th grade Sunday school class – my people .

My name is Brian Cooper.

2008-06-03T05:37:00.000-07:00

My name is Brian Cooper. Everyone calls me Coop….this is my story (and I’m sticking to it!)

I was fortunate enough to be born into a Christian family. When I was growing up my parents never treated me any different than my older brother Sean, even though…physically we were VERY different. I was born with cerebral palsy and was in a wheelchair.

My brother was a healthy athletic guy. I was taught to believe that God put me on this earth…into this family…for a reason. I was not really different any anyone else in God’s eyes. My dad always made things adaptable for me to be able to participate in life as best I could. I backpacked in the mountains on his back. I swam in the lake like a fish every summer and spent hours in the family’s ski boat in a especially strapped seat. My brother made a special adaptive table for me to be able to control video games for his middle school science fair. I was NORMAL…but I wasn’t. I was disabled and I knew it. But what I did NOT know is how important that would be to others I met as I grew older.

I was friendly and outgoing at school with a lot of friends both disabled and able bodied. I mainstreamed from 5th grade on into regular classrooms. In high school I realized that most other disabled kids hung around with just other disabled kids; never interacting with the able bodied kids. I thought this was odd because I always went to the ball games and movies with friends. I hung out at the Mall. They seemed to live in a kind of shell, going to school, hanging around each other only and repeating the same thing every day. These guys were my friends and I wanted to help them. What could I do?

I first met Skeeter Powell in High School. He was a Young Life leader for “regular young life kids”. He talked to me at school and I ended up going to a football game with him. We became friends. He took myself and a bunch of other kids to a Young Life camp, Windy Gap . I was hooked! Young Life was for me…Jesus was for me! I knew I had to get my other disabled friends to join us! I had to let them know that Jesus did not care about our disabilities!

In fact, Jesus works through me because I DO have CP and because I AM in a wheelchair. I could not truly identify with these kids if I did not feel their pain. Skeeter had become probably my best friend. He provided all the transportation for these kids and we soon had them going to the football games. We even tailgated sometimes! We became closer friends. Some of my able bodied friends joined us and even went with us to Windy Gap and on other trips to help out. When people see that you are loved and that you do love, that you have an inner peace and happiness they tend to want to know why! We were ready to tell them!!

I graduated from JL Mann High school in 1999 with my class. I attended leadership classes at Furman University and became a Young Life leader. I returned to my high school to volunteer working with the disabled classes. I am still there today doing both Young Life and helping the kids. They trust me and confide in me. Skeeter and I and some others hold Young Life Club once a month at the school. Our group, known as Capernaum Young Life has really grown.

I have been on summer staff at Windy Gap and Sharp Top. This past summer I had the privilege of being the first disabled Assigned Team member in the Southeast! I was assistant to Brett Rodgers,the summer staff coordinator. Kind of like a boss….my parents always said I loved giving orders! However, orders is not what I did…we were a close knit team! From the first day when he introduced me to the summer staff he told everyone I had a personal helper, but that EVERYONE would be helping me because we were all in this together. You know what? They all did॥ and it was great!

Over the years I have met a lot of people who have become great friends through Young Life. Together we have helped lead many teens and even a couple of adults to Jesus Christ!
God gave me abilities and an outgoing personality. My family and friends strengthened them. Now I am giving back! Praise the Lord for HE is good!

Coop Cooper
January 2008

To see this story in video form, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DLqbec5_D0

Drew Palmer’s Faith Story

2008-06-03T05:32:00.000-07:00

I was quite surprised when Coop called my mom and asked if I would do a testimony at this gathering tonight about what Young Life has meant to me. For those that know me, you know why I was surprised. But for those that don’t, I am probably the guy that walks with a limp. I don’t really look like there is a disability in my life. So, I thank Capernaum; Coop, Skeeter, Travis, and CW, for looking past my disabilities.

I have never been asked to do anything close to this before so forgive me if I am extremely nervous. To answer your question of “why” I am nervous, you need to look at my definition of cerebral palsy. Coop, CW, Travis, and I all have Cerebral Palsy. Mine is considered mild, right side more than left and has given me speech apraxia. The 19 surgical procedures have kept me out of a wheelchair and speech therapy for all those years has left me with the vocabulary I have today. The connection between my nervous system and muscle control in my face has left me with an “out going” vocabulary of an 18 month old child. That is understandable to you but I know exactly what you are telling me. Can you tell I have had to listen to this explanation many times before? But, this is my speech and how I communicate within your world and mine. My world understands me better and every once in a while I get out something new, especially if it is sports related. Because I can’t speak like everyone else, the world tends to think I don’t understand and can’t do much. But, that is enough of the medical junk.

However, to understand what Young Life has meant to me, you kind of needed to know that stuff. When I am in a new situation (or any situation), I do not say much. I am shy as a result. I am trying to figure things out that you would not give a second thought. Where is the rest room? I can’t ask what I need to know.

Young Life has allowed me to be me. I have become self confident. I have come out of my shell with them whether they know it or not. They understand me. They will figure it out.

I have been able to enjoy singing. That takes my mom’s breath away. But, I just love to sing.

Coming out of my shell has meant so many things to me like …..

….knowing where everything is so there isn’t a need to ask
….knowing that people are friendlies and that I won’t get pushed around
….Knowing the people are my friends
….knowing that they and I have God in our hearts and souls, but then maybe it is all these things.

I found that I do not get as frustrated as I once did. I just keep trying to get the person to understand what I am trying to communicate. I am now able to express my love of sports. Whether it is saying “Score!” in soccer or teasing Skeeter about North Carolina. I have a strong sense of other’s abilities and help out wherever I can. And, I have learned that it is okay to have different friends for different things.

Many of you tonight who have grown up with a disability, especially our moms, have read and re-read Mothers of Handicapped Children, by the late Erma Bombeck. With a little poetic creativity on a section, I find the words that help me express what it has been like. “ I (that would be God) will permit Drew to see clearly the things that I see (that would be God again)…ignorance, cruelty, prejudice … and allow Drew to rise above them. Drew will never be alone. I (that would be Him again) I will be at Drew’s side every minute of every day of his life.”’

God has a different plan for me. It is different than yours. So far, I have learned a lot. And, I plan on continuing down the path He is setting for me. That is what Young Life Caperaum has allowed me to see.