Youth Lock-In

i do not know what i was into when i volunteered to help for the youth lock-in activity of the church a few weeks ago. firstly, i do not know anybody among the adults nor among the teens, so i had my share of initial awkwardess and shyness (me??! yes! you bet!). i have rare occurences of social autism, and this is one of those. but by God's grace, He has dealt with me on ths. secondly, i've always been involved with kids and teens activities in my home church in manila, but overnight??? and locked-in to boot! this is my first time! 31 teens inside one house = chaos??? nah! i was actually pleasantly surprised at my experience...

attendance going 20... 21..22....28...31!!!!

during registration, i already felt the surge of energy... the teens were anxiously waiting for the list to exceed 20, and later 30. why? sometwo brave souls promised to have their heads shaved the mohawk style if the attendance count reach that number! haha! so can you just imagine when the last count was....31? they were all shrieking, clapping, shouting! and anticipating the moment the shaver will touch those precious hairs... haha! so after a few hours, after many games and activities, all the teens gathered around the kitchen to witness the moment of truth! there were mixed expressions of shock, excitement and fun. shock because they did not know they were serious about their promise. excitement because each run of the shaver on their heads is an inch closer to their request of mohawk style (one keeps the middle part, ala-Mr. T of the A-Team if you know this series), the other one shaved only the middle part! and fun because-- do i neet to explain?! hahaha!

ice breaker and a lot of push-ups

not all were friends yet when the program started, as obvious from the cliques i've seen during registration, so games ensued to break the ice-- it's called, name game. each person needed to recall the names of those to his/her right, so if you're the last one, you have to memorize all 31 names! i can't believe the memory banks these teens have! i am so amazed! but there were also some where their memories failed them, and had to do push ups!

of prayers, songs, inspirational words and sharing time...









after the name game, the teens girded up for the praise and worship. as they sang those solemn songs, as they meditated on each word, i can't help but have goosebumps as i see these young ones embrace the songs wholeheartedly. and as the word was preached by pastor david on the identity, i can sense God working in their hearts, God challenging their thoughts, God making Himself known to these young people. when we had the chance for smaller group talks, i knew that He has special plans for these teens. as Phil 1:6 says, "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. "

pizza, pizza, pizza!!! need i say more?

one...two...three...GO!!!!they had more games, and more games that really tested their mettle. i liked the treasure hunt in the nearby mall, with the goal of solving the puzzle of the new name of the youth group. 10 groups of 3's were scattered all over the mall searching for clues. can you just imagine how suspicious that looks-- teens in 3's roaming around the mall with pens and papers, and 8 adults waiting by the escalator?? there were a few who even asked the security guards?! well, well, everything went well and we did not have any discussion with the guards nor the police. and finally, some groups solved the puzzle right. and the name is.... 180 degrees. it represents the change in a person when he is in Christ. nice name. figurative and very descriptive.

more games...

at around 2 am, when i thought they've already fizzled out their energies from endless games and activities, they still wanted more! we adults were already knocked out! we still watched movies after the games, until around 6 am!!! and we had to wake up at 730am to taste pastor dan's sumptuous pancake delight!;)

when's next??

i'm sure all the youth have enjoyed this great lock-in experience, as they were asking when's the next one already? haha! as for me, i equally enjoyed it! i thought i volunteered to be of help. but in the end, i think i was the one it helped... it helped me appreciate more God's dealings with our youth... it helped me be blessed by the whole theme of the event... it helped me find my gifts once again which has slept for a long time... and last but not the least, it helped me open up opportunties for new acquaintances which in God's time may turn into good friendships! so... when's next?? ;)