The Night of the Youth

This last Friday, we got a chance to do things our way for youth. I've previously voiced some dissatisfaction for the way that youth is run here. The fact that almost nothing spiritual gets through to the youth and the lack of involvement of the leaders with the youth spurred us on to do something a little - not tremendously - different. Usually there is some game with us chasing kids around for the whole time and then a 5 minute devotional (which the youth listen intently to) right before they get snack.


Our goal was to create an atmosphere that was fun, energetic, and built each other up. We did this through games with teams working towards the same goal. There was no real losing or winning but rather working together! The games seemed to go really well, but then there was worship. We practiced and practiced and sounded fine, but when it was time for the kids to worship, it just didn't happen. Almost no one participated. Most sat around talking, some wandered around doing silly things making a ruckus, others tried to worship. So whatever happened we got through it and then Steve had a talky-deal. We tried to make the talk relevant and challenging, something we think that the youth are striving for there. As usual they were quite receptive. We then broke into groups and prayed for each other. That was sweet and I think should be done more often. We have a leaders' meeting coming up this week so hopefully some stuff will be brought up there.