WCBC Youth Group All-Nighter

Well, I decided to take a break from posting about Alaska and share about some recent events. Lately I have been trying to get the next update letter out to all of you, but that was put on hold by a hospital visit, being laid up while letting the medicine work and recovering from a fall.

Aside from all the latest hoopla, I had been riding a wave of excitement over the latest event the Warren Center Baptist Church Youth Group took part of. Sometime last year, one of the teens voiced that we should do an all-nighter. They usually go with another group, and with ROCC being our local ministry, they usually host one. But they voiced how they wanted to do one with just the youth group. With my background in camping ministry and running retreats, the gears in my head started turning and I soon had a few pages of notes with ideas. The task was quickly given to me, and the planning started.

In all of the process of planning the event, it was also decided that we could make a shirt for the youth group. But instead of going to a printer and getting a generic shirt, we went the fun route. The teens made a list of five things they wanted to see on a youth group shirt. The lists were put together to create another list of the most wanted ideas. These then were created into a design that we were going to silk screen ourselves. I dug out all my old silk-screening gear and went to work of getting it ready.

The design. Diamonds, Seagulls & Dirk... oh my.

The silk screen. "Official T-shirt" omitted due to sweatshirts being printed.

Time seemed to fly by. With the all-nighter set for the 29th, the days between Christmas and the event were a blur. When the start time happened, it happened! There was a lot of games that were played, we did make-your-own-pizzas, made out own shirts, played Family Feud, Gibberish, and much more. The night flew by (for me it did). Right and left games and activities were left out because of time. We even left out a movie and watched a shorter comedian video instead. But in the end they had a lot of fun.

Two highlights from the even came from different ends of the scale. The first is Gibberish. It's a game we play in Alaska that I decided to teach the youth group. It is a hectic game of charades and telephone. At 3am, it made for great laughs and confusion. This game will have to be done again.

Gibberish crew ready to go... so they thought.

The second highlight came from the teaching moments. We did three small messages throughout the evening to help bring out different truths. The first was an I Am Second video of The Robertsons from Duck Dynasty. (If you haven't visited I Am Second, do yourself a favor and check it out.) The second looked in Jesus teaching in Matthew 11:28-30. I tied ropes to my car and asked for a volunteer to pull it. After they couldn't we dug into this passage. The teens learned that when a yoke is taken up, it isn't just Jesus who carries our burden, but Him taking it with us. We then went further and showed what happens when we seek the help of others as well. The teen that had failed pulling my car asked some close friend to help him with his burden, and in no time the car was moving.

The third lesson came in the form of coffee. I used the process of doing a french press of coffee as a look into our lives as Christian. Every element had a spiritual connect: Freshness of the bean, consistency of the grind, quantity of coffee, quality of the water, time, etc. As I taught I went through the process, as well as showed and shared what happens when things aren't done right or when corners are cut. Don't worry, this batch turned out right.

The evening was a great hit, and already they want to do another. Sadly, I won't be around for it, but I am willing to pass on my knowledge to the next brave soul.

The "we survived" photo... or did they?

Sorry that there aren't many pictures. I was running the show, so my camera was idle.

- Daryl J. Howard