There is a passage of Scripture that most Christians quote when they face difficult moments. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” The words come out of Jeremiah 29:11 and they are written to the people of Israel while in captivity.
I had packed my duffel bag and bought a Greyhound bus ticket to Colorado Springs on the promise of a friend for a job in Boulder Colorado. My original plan was to leave in the summer of 1986. Yet, there are always complications that seem to arise when we plan something as important as a move. My complication was having a medical issue with one of my feet and I had to postpone my move until that December. I remember the weather actually being rather cold when I arrived and I remember walking with my duffel bag through downtown to an old Victorian house that had been converted into small rooms and small apartments. I remember giving the landlord $150 to rent a kitchenette apartment. After putting my duffel bag in the room, I walked across the street to a payphone where I called my family and told them I had arrived safely and that I found a small kitchenette apartment. The next call I made was to that friend who had promised me a job. When I told my friend that I had arrived, he seemed surprised to hear from me. When I asked about the job and when should I arrive in Boulder, he told me that he had decided to close the business.
I was shocked as you can imagine. I had uprooted my life and traveled almost a thousand miles on a Greyhound bus. Now, I was faced with a six-month lease and had no job. As I hung up the phone, I had to decide what my next step was going to be. I could eat the loss of money for the apartment and return home or I could stay and look for another opportunity. I decided on staying. A few days later, I contacted my friends at bear trap ranch offering to volunteer when there was a camp that winter. My friends would pick me up on a Friday during a run in to town for supplies and on Sunday night would drop me off at the apartment.
One afternoon, my friend Becky and I were cleaning up rooms in the lodge and just chatting about things we were doing or going to do. When Becky stopped and sat on the staircase. Becky had become extremely excited to tell me that she was volunteering with young life at the high school just across from where we both lived. She asked if I had heard of young life before. I told her the only thing I knew of young life was that Joni Erickson had a young life T-shirt on in one of the scenes from her movie about her life. Becky then asked if I ever thought of volunteering with young life and working with high school students. I remember telling her that the only group of high school students I would be interested in working with were those with disabilities. I had initially told Becky this thinking that young life had no interest in working with students with disabilities. Becky’s answer to that was, “I will ask the area director.”
It was at this point that Becky and I walked to the camp kitchen and the conversation never continued. A few days later, Becky got in touch with me because she had wanted to tell me that indeed she had spoken to the area director and she was wondering if she could give her my phone number because she wanted to talk with me personally. I told Becky that I would indeed love to talk with the area director.
I remember picking up the phone to these words, “hi, my name is Pam I am the new area director of young life and your friend Becky gave me your number. Would you be interested in going out to lunch?” The afternoon of our meeting I rode the bus to South gate shopping center down the street from my new apartment and got off and walked to Peter piper pizza where I waited for Pam to arrive.
As we sat talking and introducing ourselves to each other, Pam had told me that she had just returned from San Jose California where she visited a club called the Capernaum. Capernaum was a club designed for high school students with disabilities and had started shortly before Pam had visited. It was Pam’s hope to create a similar young life club in Colorado Springs. She simply did not know much about people with disabilities and was hoping that I would give her input and my thoughts on the idea and if I felt compelled to, she would welcome me as part of the creative team she was building. As we talked more it was clear and important to me that I needed to help in building out the idea and see if it was possible.
So, we would meet weekly to dream up ideas and talk about our thoughts. Pam’s husband offered any resources he had as an associate pastor of first Presbyterian Church. What seemed like a short time past and we named our club partners and our first clubs were supported by the church be it a room or flyers to advertise this new young life club to the community. Those first clubs were an active experiment as we learned what was required. Starting in the middle of the school year gave us time to experiment and adjust the club on the fly and we would gather in the summer to decide if we should cancel the club altogether. That first group of students were made up of two group homes in the community and a small number of students from around the community who happen to hear of us. As we neared the end of the school year, the students and staff of the group homes would be the ones who would give us the extremely important feedback.
As we sat in the young life office evaluating the club experience, I personally felt a deep connection with many of the students. I remember saying that I had wished there were a young life club I could have attended in high school. I also felt strongly that the club needed to continue even with all the mistakes we made. Yet, the greatest endorsement came from the students themselves and how they felt about it.
It was also during the summer and while talking with my friend who had discipled me those first few years while in college here that we both agreed I had found my ministry. I also looked back on my move to Colorado Springs and even how my friend in Boulder closure of his business was actually part of God’s ultimate plan and what was a setback turned out to be a real blessing.
I would eventually take over the partners club when George Pam’s husband took a head pastor position and I would lead the club until June 2000 when my health took a turn and I had done all I felt I could. By June 2000, I had witnessed an amazing explosion of disabled ministry across young life. I take great pride in also being able to set an example and encourage others with disabilities to also lead a disabled ministry. One of the last meetings I attended as an official staff worker was to vote on adopting a single name for the ministries within young life that would work with students with disabilities which helped build a stronger foundation and a single voice.
Today in 2020 the seeds of those early years are still sprouting and growing across the globe happening in parts of the world that none of us could have imagined. Also, today I am back not as a leader but as a volunteer with young adults who were a part of young life.
Note to Becky: for many years Becky, I have wanted to thank you for that conversation on the stairs. Your persistence in following up with Pam has made a world of difference in countless people. I have told this story to people across the globe and while encouraging others to embrace disabled ministry. I thank you from the bottom of my heart and there is a reward waiting for you. If by chance you happen across my website please drop me a note.
Thoughts? E-mail: francisearly@francisearly.com
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