This blog is part of an ongoing series about my "bucket list" while I'm 24 years old. This blog post is about achieving #3. Check out my blog post about all 24 goals here!
Hello Everyone!
Throughout my under-grad experience at Grove City College, I had the opportunity to be a youth group counselor for the East Main Presbyterian Church Junior/Senior High students. Sunday afternoon/evenings were the best part of my week, getting the chance to minister and hang out with THE most incredible group of students I've ever been around.
We did all sorts of cool stuff, like fall "reaf-laking" for the community:
I made some great friends with the other counselors:
Which often would turn into VERY competitive rivalries...
They even threw me a surprise graduation party!
How awesome are they??? Just LOOK at that cake!
Let me reiterate - an 8th grader made that cake - knowing full well skittles are my favorite candy. Susannah, you're amazing!
Best. Cake. Ever.
There were so many amazing activities we did together, here's a list of some highlights:
Annual Ski-Trip to Peak n' Peak - 1/31/2015 is still one of my favorite days ever in my life.
Annual Super-Bowl Party - Got to witness a Broncos' loss and a Broncos' win with them. (To all the bandwagon Panthers fans who came in dabbing - shame on you. Even though the Broncos won, I'm still not over that disrespect.)
GROG - An amazing game of freeze tag in the darkened church where the "GROG" monster scares the kids while they try to find the pieces of a missing flashlight.
Hiking Trips - One day a bunch of us tried to knock over as many dead/rotten trees as possible by ramming as many people into them as possible. Second worst poison ivy of my life - totally worth it.
While there were many moments of fun and spiritual growth, the event that brings out the best of our group is the 30 Hour Famine.
30 Hour Famine, 2016 - Service Project at World Vision Warehouse
Description of the famine from the World Vision website:
"What’s the 30 Hour Famine? Take a youth group lock-in, thought-provoking Bible studies, games, inspirational videos, and more — and mash them all up into an unforgettable day-and-a-half of going without food to raise funds for the hungry."
I am a true believer and supporter of this event. As someone who's been involved with student ministry as a leader and/or participant for about half my life, I've never been part of an event that does a better job at challenging it's participants to make an impact and grow closer to Christ.
Here's a breakdown of the core aspects of this year's event:
Fasting - Participants who fast refrain from eating for 30 hours. There are multiple reasons why spiritual fasting is good for you, and the benefits are in full display during this event. My favorite part of the fasting is that it makes the participants live in a prolonged state of healthy discomfort. We are constantly stimulated by the comforts of our world, which makes it harder to focus on God. It can be difficult to turn of the noise of everyday life and even think about God. Depriving ourselves from an everyday comfort causes the body to search for a way to fill that void, and is a good state of mind to learn more about Christ. (This is the same reason I believe strongly in rustic summer camps being healthy for youth who rarely have moments away from technology.)
Education - Both the Bible studies and the videos are fantastic, and combined with the state of mind from the fasting, the lessons can stick with the participants long after the event. This year's famine education focused on the refugee crisis in Syria. We played games in family groups, modeling the journey of a Syrian family escaping war and fleeing to another country. We also watched Salam Neighbor, a short film about life in one of the largest Syrian refugee camps. Education for the students can instill a desire for life-long service, and have lasting effects beyond the event.
Games - Like I mentioned above, the games are a series of activities that put each team in the role of a Syrian family. In addition to the education, a healthy competitive atmosphere is fantastic for teaching many lessons to the students. My main goal in my youth ministry is to create God-focused leaders that will be more competent than myself through harder work and smarter thinking. During these games, I try my hardest to model and instill in the students good sportsmanship, creative strategy, and endless persistence to win as many points/rounds/awards/etc. as possible. Unfortunately, we lost by one point to the winning team. Although second place is unacceptable, we did everything we could think to do to win. I'm proud of my team for their hard work that is making them better competitors for the next activity.
Our team during our first challenge.
Lock-In - One of the best parts is sleeping overnight in the church! Because we stop eating at 8:00am, we go to sleep very hungry, and get to experience that all together. After watching the sobering videos of the life in Syrian refugee camps, going to bed hungry makes all the feelings hit home. We only have to try to sleep while hungry once, while there are hundreds of millions of people in the world who endure that every day.
Service - The first activity after we start the fast is going to different serve projects. I have been with a group that went to the World Vision donation warehouse for two of the years that I have participated. This year, we sorted through endless boxes of donated shoes to get them ready to ship abroad. One of my favorite parts of visiting the World Vision warehouse is their collection of donated Super Bowl shirts. As many of you know, all the shirts that the players wear after they've won the Super Bowl are made beforehand for each team, and the losing team's shirts get donated to organizations like World Vision. They have a display of all those shirts over the years - unfortunately for legal reasons, no one is allowed to take pictures. My favorites are the 2007 "Patriots 19-0 Perfect Season", and the 2016 "Carolina Panthers - Super Bowl Champions" shirts. Ha.
Fundraising - All proceeds for the event go to World Vision. This year, we were able to raise over $16,000! Not bad for a group of ~40 people!
(At the time of the picture, more money was still coming in!)
This year's event was additionally special because it was my "Homecoming" for the youth group. While I was making the decision on where to live after my volunteer year, Pittsburgh-area was always at the top because of the East Main Youth Group. While there were other factors that made me interested in Pittsburgh (watching Survivor every week with Ethan being a major one), being close enough to spend my Sundays at East Main sounded incredible! It was the favorite day of my week in college, and I'd already have a 7th of my daily life solidified as awesome!
However, in the time that I had been gone, I decided to settle down in Asheville, NC (for some context on that decision, read this blog.) And while I have been having an incredible time living in Asheville, I have always missed this group so much. They had invested so much into me throughout my years with them, and even contributed to a fourth of the fundraising for my volunteer year to start my journey in Asheville.
I wouldn't be in Asheville without their support, which is why ultimately it is easy to choose to live in Asheville. Throughout my time in Asheville, I've been told that the students mention me, and ask when I'm coming back. They even video chatted me from group once even though I had been gone for months and should have faded from their memories. Their care for me even though I am gone shows me that they are in full support of whatever purpose God intends for me. Ultimately, while I miss them very much, I'm glad that I'm able to live out God's purpose for my life with the skills I learned from the years with those students.
Take a look at some pictures from the event below! God bless!
Game leaders wearing the black bandannas were required to also act as Syrian militia. Some have better aim than others.
The time I smiled while in competition mode. The rest of my team is either gone or standing with a box on their head - despite that, we almost won!
The families with their few belongings in the prison camp. Not shown: the water gun I had secretly stolen from one of the guards that I have wrapped up in our tarp. I tried to sneak away and take out the guards one by one "Die Hard" style; but new rules were created that didn't allow me to do that.
Blindfolded during the "find your family in the dark" challenge. By far our team's worst performance.
The winning team. While I hate to admit it, they did better than us and deserved the win. I'm happy for Jaqi and her teammates, but also sad to lose by one point. Congrats, Jaqi.
This blog is part of an ongoing series about my "bucket list" while I'm 24 years old. This blog post is about achieving #3. Check out my blog post about all 24 goals here!