When was the last time you stayed up for more than 24 hours? At the age of 32? Last night we had an event called Hens & Rosters (pronounced Roosters) that was supposed to separate my youth group into boys and girls, but it didn't end up that way. We ended up just having a lock-in of unique design for us.First, we went and watched the Wilson Central vs Mt Juliet High game. (Central won 28-10), then we headed back to the church for pizza, movies and Paintball... Now the paintball was part of the uniqueness because we played in the dark with very little light to see anything, much less enough to hit something.
Needless to say, the teens had a blast. Almost all of them participated in paintball and got shot one way or the other (even if it was from the sidelines). It was interesting because we really didn't have an "official" paintball field, we kind of threw one together with the church's open field and some playground equipment (man I am glad the paint is water-based). The kids did a great job in helping clean everything up, kudos to them...
I have spoken with a few youth pastors who don't like doing all-nighters. Some of them are older than me, some younger, but they just really don't like doing it. The reasons vary from person to person. The question is, what will we do to minister to today's teenagers. Now, some people might not think that having an all-nighter where you play paintball and eat pizza is all that effective. Let me tell you it is. Now I am not saying we spend most of the night sitting around talking "god" talk, but we are building the relationships necessary to be able to minister to them. Spending 12 hours with someone gives you a great amount of time to get to know them, see them in action, and watch them interact with other students.
I am not saying this is the only way, but one way that I don't mind doing. I stayed up all night last night, and watch as the students starting falling asleep. When we started waking everyone up at 7 to start clean up, only about 3 of them had been up the whole time. Again, I want to give them kudos for helping clean up like they should.
Jesus tells us in Acts 1:8, that we are to be witnesses to everyone. This includes lock-ins, football games, paintball fields, movie theatres, concerts, McDonald's, Kroger and where ever we interact with other Christians. Our example and relationships to non-Christians are important in helping us to share the gospel of Christ with them. It opens the door to tell them about the good news that is our faith. Last night I met 4 new students, and the door has been opened to witness to them...
1 comment:
Been reading your "blogs" and this one was very intriguing. I am one of those "old" guys that is not real big on the all nighters. I always enjoy them, but it usually takes about a week or so to recover. "These old bones, they ain't what they used to be..."
In regards to your desire to build relationships with your students, this is a great goal. Relationships are vital to accomplishing our goals in ministry. But, in reading about the different things that you did that night, I didn't see much about how your took this opportunity to share the gospel. You said you didn't spend most of the night sitting around talking "god" talk (why the quotes?), but was God talked about at all? You didn't mention it if you did. Was it all about the pizza and the paintball? If it was, you may have missed a golden opportunity.
One of the things we have to be careful of is that we stay focused on what it is we are doing. Like I said, relationships are vital! But we have to be careful and make sure we are not just another part of the "entertainment industry". Fun is fun, fellowship is fellowship, but when you have students for 24 hours (?), take advantage of that time and allow God to speak through you. It is an opportunity with a "captive audience" you don't want to miss. There are lots of things/people out there to entertain them. Not so to disciple them.
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