"Tuesday Nights Together"

One of my favorite things about youth ministry is the cylical nature of the school year. Students grow and graduate, new students are always coming in. Activities vary according to the season and school year.

Last night was our first event with the new class of JH students. During the summer we shift to "TNT" (Tuesday Nights Together), a less structured format which includes having dinner at a different students home each week. It's fun for the kids to host the group, gets the parents involved, and it helps us to get to know their families better.

So, last night was the first one of these for the summer. I was pretty excited that all of our incoming 6th graders were in attendance; I am eager to see them all get plugged in and make a successful jump from children's ministry to youth ministry. Our hosts did an incredible job with the food and planned out several fun games to get the kids interacting.

The game that turned out to be the biggest hit was a frozen t-shirt contest, with four teams each competing to be the first to unfold and put on a t-shirt that had been soaked, then frozen. This challenge was much more difficult than it first sounded, let me tell you!

That t-shirt was frozen into a solid rock, and it was hilarious to see the teams trying different strategies to manipulate it: banging it on trees, bouncing it off the ground, pressing it against their backs for body warmth, etc. Eventually, one team got their shirt opened and then on, but even then the other kids didn't want to give up!

We finished off the evening with a devotional from Ephesians 5, followed by ice cream and cookies. I can't wait till next week!

On the Road...

We're off... to Hume Lake!

Seven glorious days with thirty excited teenagers!

Pray for us!

Summer TNT

With our junior high program this summer, instead of taking a break (too much time away from our kids!) or falling into a rut of endless pool parties (anything gets old after a while!), we decided to try something new...

Enter TNT : Thursday Nights Together!

We decided to continue meeting on our regular youth group night, but instead of the structured lesson at our home, we would mix it up by visiting a different student's home each week. We extended our time to allow for barbecuing, swimming, trampoline jumping, hula kickballing, or whatever else struck our fancy! With TNT, we have also been extremely blessed to have one of our college guys, Chris Gruenholz, come in to lead worship with our group each week (yay Chris!)!

Our evenings conclude with a thoughtful devotion from Pastor Gary, which have each focused on a different parable. This past week, he shared the parable of the talents, which then led us into a time of sharing what our various talents are. (I was also excited to learn that our English word "talent" is taken directly from the original Biblical use of the term in this parable!)

I greatly enjoyed hearing our junior highers share their gifts and passions, as my heart's desire is to help them learn how to use these abilities for God's glory. "Basketball"... "Drums"... "Acting"... and even, "Binge Reading", hmmm!

Enjoy a few pictures from our most recent outing!