Team

A Successful Youth Night!

Last night, the Barstow SDA Church held our first Youth Night, and eleven youth attended. (Which is an amazing number since until three months ago, we only had about 5 regularly attending youth in our church.)

 

Since it was our first event, it was relatively simple. We had Christian music playing as the youth arrived and gave them about fifteen minutes of free social time. We opened with a fun "getting to know you" ice-breaker that loosened everyone up and made them laugh. (I had them pull some squares of toilet paper from a roll. Unbeknowst to them, the number of squares they choose was the number of facts they had to share with themselves to the group. It become very fun when some of the guys had to come up with 10 to 20 things!) Then we enjoyed pizza (three cheese pizzas and a vegan pizza for the four of us that are vegans) and chips for dinner with their choice of apple juice or bottled water to drink.
 
As we ate, I initiated a devotional discussion on the origins of evil, sin, and Satan. The youth really opened up. I simply guided the discussion by asking certain questions like: "Is there evil? Does Satan really exist? Then does that mean God created an evil angel? Where did sin come from? What is sin?" The discussion led into the night's movie, "Cosmic Conflict" by Amazing Facts, and I was surprised to see have attentive they were to the movie.
 
We closed with a group prayer circle at the front of the sanctuary. Everyone participated, holding hands and sharing in a part of the prayer. Some of the things they shared for the prayer included: thanking Jesus for dying for our sins, for His forgiveness and second chances, for loving us, for safe travel home, and more.

 

Overall, it was a fantastic first meeting. I look forward to preparing next month's Youth Night and switching up our activities. Praise the Lord!

 

Your sister in Christ,

~Jacquelyn

Tags: church, meetings, teen, youth

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GlobalPermalink Reply by Linda Granato on March 2, 2010 at 2:00pm
I'm just joinng in or i would have commented sooner. Praise God for your good start in youth ministry!!! Sometimes we get caught up in the numbers game and think if it isn't "BIG" than it isn't a success. The heart of the youth is what we want to reach--whatever the number. Keep working on a relationship with these kids in and out of the group time and soon they'll bring their friends. Keep on keepin' on!!!!
Your Sister IN Christ

TeamPermalink Reply by Jacquelyn || AYS Developer on March 2, 2010 at 7:26pm
Linda Granato said:
I'm just joinng in or i would have commented sooner. Praise God for your good start in youth ministry!!! Sometimes we get caught up in the numbers game and think if it isn't "BIG" than it isn't a success. The heart of the youth is what we want to reach--whatever the number. Keep working on a relationship with these kids in and out of the group time and soon they'll bring their friends. Keep on keepin' on!!!!
Your Sister IN Christ

Thank you, Linda!

Last Sabbath, we held our second youth night for the month of February. I was aiming to hold the majority of the event outdoors, but it turned out to be a cold, stormy, wet afternoon/evening (which is unusually seeing as we are in the middle of the Mojave Desert). So we had to move into the social hall, but despite the weather, we had a good turn out. 10 youth attended. 3 of our usual teens could not make it because their family was out of town, but one girl brought two of her friends that were visiting.

We opened the afternoon with prayer and three group/team building activities that were brought back to Biblical principles. The first one, "The Human Knot", is more of an ice-breaker to loosen everyone up. All the youth stood in a tight circle and grasp the hand of someone across from them, then the other hand of a different person. Then they had to figure out how to "untangle" themselves without letting go of anyone's hands. It was fun to see a few of the youth who are usually reserved take charge and for some of the more self-centered youth to actually asked others for help. It was a good "team-work" activity that lead perfectly into a little discussion about being part of the body of Christ and working together.

Another activity we did was a tennis ball toss. Everyone stood in a big circle and had to say someone's name before passing them the ball. Then they had to repeat the exact order it was thrown while I added more tennis balls. They managed to get up to 5 balls going at once! That was a great illustration of how confusing life can get when you hear all of these people calling your name and see 5 identical tennis balls flying around at the same time. We talked about relying on God and giving ourselves quiet time with God to ease the confusion and stress of everyday life. Then I gave them 5 minutes to find a Scripture verse or refresh on their favorite Scripture verse. Then they stood in a circle and when they received the tennis ball, they recited the verse. We did that exercise about six times until everyone was confident with their verse, and then I randomly began asking if they knew someone else's Scripture verse. That was fun.

The last activity is meant to be done on a log but I had them stand in a straight line, shoulder-to-shoulder. Each one randomly drew a Scripture verse from a basket. Then they had to re-arrange themselves in the order that the Scripture verses are found in the Bible. (Next time if it is dry outside, I want to do this but with Books of the Bible.) It took them a bit of time to get in the right order, and then they still needed help. So one of them volunteer to be the "guide". I gave him a Bible and he had to see if everyone was in the right order and then guide the rest into the correct places.

Then we had dinner. I asked for 3 volunteers to help my sister and me heat up the food and set it out, and the rest of them were in charge of putting out the tables. Dinner was homemade build-your-own taco or burrito that my sister and I prepared the Friday before. We had taco meat, rice, chips, salsa, and all the toppings. After we ate, we had a devotional discussion that picked up where last month's youth night left off. We talked about the enmity between mankind and Satan, God's plan of salvation, what is temptation, and how to overcome temptations through Christ. Basically, I decided to use the "Great Controversy" as a guide for these monthly get-togethers. Then we closed in prayer.

It was a great night, and I was very happy that the turnout was so great considering the awful weather!

Your sister in Christ,
~Jacquelyn

GlobalPermalink Reply by Linda Granato on March 3, 2010 at 7:50am
Jacquelyn, this sounds great. I'm sooo happy for you and your ministry with these young people! I love hearing some of the ideas you are using to make it such a fun time together! I'll definitely keep praying for you here. As the youth director at my church, i have a bit of a challenge in that the previous youth director did not have a goal or focus and the meetings became stale and boring quickly. So i'm trying to change that and include the spiritual focus that was lacking and encouraging the group to be more participative. We'll have some ice-breaker games and different days we'll have some drama to work with. I'm trying to get my assistant who's good with music to have a short time in the beginning of praise in music to set the mood and include those who soooo love music. we are also starting once per month a cafe style meeting where they will be very informal and we decorate according to themes. the youth/young adults can come and share a song, musical instrument, monologue, poetry, short skit, etc. as they are comfortable. The lights are low so the intimidation is less for the shy ones. We had our 1st one on Feb. 26th and our next will be March 19th--Sunset on the Beach. I'm really excited about this because we've been planning and praying for this specific ministry for 3 years here and we finally have enough young people interested in helping to maintain it. I'm praying the Lord will do big things but for now, we're starting it small and using the church space. I'm sure in the future we'll be sharing even more. I'm excited that you are your kids are excited and look forward to hearing more about what is going on with you all. PS> it's cold and snowy here so until June, all our mtg activities will be inside. of course, we did have a flag football day on the lawn--with all the snow that accumulated there and the kids (male and female) still played and had a blast! We fed them soup and sandwhiches afterward and counted it a great day!

Your Sister In Christ,

Jacquelyn said:
Linda Granato said:
I'm just joinng in or i would have commented sooner. Praise God for your good start in youth ministry!!! Sometimes we get caught up in the numbers game and think if it isn't "BIG" than it isn't a success. The heart of the youth is what we want to reach--whatever the number. Keep working on a relationship with these kids in and out of the group time and soon they'll bring their friends. Keep on keepin' on!!!!
Your Sister IN Christ

Thank you, Linda!

Last Sabbath, we held our second youth night for the month of February. I was aiming to hold the majority of the event outdoors, but it turned out to be a cold, stormy, wet afternoon/evening (which is unusually seeing as we are in the middle of the Mojave Desert). So we had to move into the social hall, but despite the weather, we had a good turn out. 10 youth attended. 3 of our usual teens could not make it because their family was out of town, but one girl brought two of her friends that were visiting.

We opened the afternoon with prayer and three group/team building activities that were brought back to Biblical principles. The first one, "The Human Knot", is more of an ice-breaker to loosen everyone up. All the youth stood in a tight circle and grasp the hand of someone across from them, then the other hand of a different person. Then they had to figure out how to "untangle" themselves without letting go of anyone's hands. It was fun to see a few of the youth who are usually reserved take charge and for some of the more self-centered youth to actually asked others for help. It was a good "team-work" activity that lead perfectly into a little discussion about being part of the body of Christ and working together.

Another activity we did was a tennis ball toss. Everyone stood in a big circle and had to say someone's name before passing them the ball. Then they had to repeat the exact order it was thrown while I added more tennis balls. They managed to get up to 5 balls going at once! That was a great illustration of how confusing life can get when you hear all of these people calling your name and see 5 identical tennis balls flying around at the same time. We talked about relying on God and giving ourselves quiet time with God to ease the confusion and stress of everyday life. Then I gave them 5 minutes to find a Scripture verse or refresh on their favorite Scripture verse. Then they stood in a circle and when they received the tennis ball, they recited the verse. We did that exercise about six times until everyone was confident with their verse, and then I randomly began asking if they knew someone else's Scripture verse. That was fun.

The last activity is meant to be done on a log but I had them stand in a straight line, shoulder-to-shoulder. Each one randomly drew a Scripture verse from a basket. Then they had to re-arrange themselves in the order that the Scripture verses are found in the Bible. (Next time if it is dry outside, I want to do this but with Books of the Bible.) It took them a bit of time to get in the right order, and then they still needed help. So one of them volunteer to be the "guide". I gave him a Bible and he had to see if everyone was in the right order and then guide the rest into the correct places.

Then we had dinner. I asked for 3 volunteers to help my sister and me heat up the food and set it out, and the rest of them were in charge of putting out the tables. Dinner was homemade build-your-own taco or burrito that my sister and I prepared the Friday before. We had taco meat, rice, chips, salsa, and all the toppings. After we ate, we had a devotional discussion that picked up where last month's youth night left off. We talked about the enmity between mankind and Satan, God's plan of salvation, what is temptation, and how to overcome temptations through Christ. Basically, I decided to use the "Great Controversy" as a guide for these monthly get-togethers. Then we closed in prayer.

It was a great night, and I was very happy that the turnout was so great considering the awful weather!

Your sister in Christ,
~Jacquelyn

GlobalPermalink Reply by ERIC ASANTE on June 27, 2011 at 9:28am

Hi Jacquelyn, l really admire your tremendous delivering in the service of God.I encourage you, never give up just stake with the good things you are offering to the children of God in your department. And remember that taken this path,you have becomes the common enemy to the son of the perdition, the "Dragon" and the "old serpent". But the only armor you have to  overcomes him is your supplication. Remember that Daniel and friends were able to maintain their love for the Lord through supplication and their daily devotion. Read from Genesis to revelation, you would never find any man of God who never encountered  sufferings and Hatred as well as never been criticized,obstacle or backbiting.But with what they discovered in the Lord, they did not allow such to separate them from the love of God. They just realized that such are the worldly reward that they must receive and they accepted them  and gave glory to God.

 Belove, be strong and never be afraid of the threatens that the devil will place in your life for the lion of the Judah is still working for your safety and He will carry you on His arms where it may be found dangerous.

God bless you Jacky!!.

 


TeamPermalink Reply by Josue Sanchez || AYS Pastor on June 27, 2011 at 9:40am
Awesome! :)

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