Connections

Last weekend our Tween Ministry kicked off for the year, and my husband and I had the privilege to plan the event. What did we plan for these fourth and fifth graders? A lock-in! We hosted a lock-in in the spring, and were pleased to have eleven students. This year we were hoping for the same numbers if not more, and our eyes and hearts kept opening wider and wider as student after student entered the front doors. We ended up hosting twenty five students! How awesome is that!? As they kept arriving, I'll admit, I got slightly nervous for a minute until the excitement overtook the emotion of nervousness. I felt a gentle tug on my heart strings as I realized we would get to minister to these twenty five students, twenty of which were not regular church attendees! I got the shivers too =) So, what did we do from 6pm to 10am? Crazy, crazy things.

After we realized that we knew only five of the students' names, we decided to play the name game (my mother in law calls it 'whop-em!'). We arranged couches in a big circle and then we went around the circle saying our names. We did that about three or four times (after all, twenty five students and four leaders... wow, thats a lot of names!). Then Caleb got in the middle and explained that a person would say their name and then someone else's, while the person in the middle with a 'whacking stick' (rolled up papers covered in duct tape) would try to get to the person whose name they had said and try to whack them on the knee before they said their name and then someone else's. Learning and recalling almost thirty names within five minutes is hard to begin with, let alone having pressure put on you. But, it was a blast and we learned each others names in about a half hour =) Mission accomplished. Next, we played 'Have You Ever'. In this, one person stands in the middle and says 'have you ever ____" Those who have done whatever they said have to get up and switch chairs with someone that is not next to them. The last person left standing without a chair then has to repeat the phrase and attempt to find and empty seat. This gets crazy and loud, and we even had some tears due to rug burn from running and bumping into someone else. However, a paper towel with cold water on it seems to have magical powers with this age group.

After the first two games, we took them upstairs for some dinner. We had pizza, chips, brownies and a punch made from 7-up and green hawaiin punch. I didn't think about it then, but the children's ministry director pointed out that this meal may have been the first meal that some of our students had sat down with others to eat in a very long time. In our busy lives, a lot of families eat on the go most of the time. It was really cool to see how these kids interacted throughout dinner, though, and got to chat and banter back and forth. As they finished up we got questioned what the next game would be, and moved into the atrium for some balloon tag. We gave them each a balloon and a string and told them that the balloon had to be blown up larger than an ostrich egg, and then tied to their ankle. We then proceeded to yell 'go' and try to stomp each others' balloons. This sounds corny (but not as corny as the next game!), but its actually quite amusing. Some kids have strategy.. haha.. they'll hop up and down on one leg the whole time with their balloon in the air so it doesn't get popped. Others will literally just run around the boundaries the whole time without stopping. Then there are those who jump in stomping.. we had a lot of these students. It was fun to watch them.

The next game, the corny one I mentioned above, was a sock grab. We had them pull their socks so they were only on their toes, put their feet up in the air, and then after 'go', they had to crawl around on their hands and knees grabbing each others' socks. I figured this was pretty cheesy, but it was fun. Its actually challenging to try and grab someone else's socks while making sure no one behind you grabbed yours. This game didn't last more than two rounds because of hurt knees though, so we played 'Link Up Tag' (Ameba Tag). In this, two people stand side by side with an arm looped into their friends arm. Someone is being chased, and when they link up arms with someone, the person on the other side of the person they linked to has to run. This lasted a really long time, and got crazy when we added a second chaser and runner. But it was super fun.

My favorite game, though, would have to be the classic 'Sardines'. In this game, all the lights are turned off, and two people hide somewhere together. Then everyone has to try and find them, but not let others know that they have found them. When they find the hiders, they have to hide with them. So - the challenge is to find a place to hide thats hard to find and can fit as many people as are playing the game. The kids were hilarious. Not only did I have them asking me where Caleb and a helper were hiding, but I had two girls attached to each arm that were terrified of the dark. So, the second round of Sardines I took one of those girls and had her hide with me. We chose the very back corner of the darkest room. She was freaked out to begin with, let alone it being pitch black. But after sitting the corner of a pitch black room for a while, her eyes began to adjust and she could make out where the door was. So we talked for a bit, and after being quiet for a minute she told me she wasn't scared anymore, because 'it's just a big, dark, empty room.' That was a proud moment for her. The funny part was, that a few of the other girls opened the door, looked in the room, and said, 'no, she wouldn't be in here, its too dark for her, she would be too afraid,' and she promptly gasped and started giggling. After her giggle fit, we talked about how she had proved them wrong, and then people started finding us. But the minute the lights came on, she was up and trying to find whoever had said she wouldn't be there. She wanted to make sure they knew she had proved them wrong =) haha..

So, after all those games, we gave them some time in the game room, got ready for bed, popped in an episode of Veggie Tales and said goodnight. It was passed midnight, and they were tired; most of their bedtimes were around eight, so they were tuckered out. In the morning, we had breakfast, cleaned up, played another game, and then they left. As we reflected on our time with them, we couldn't help but be amazed by our God and students. Not only did we see them bond with each other, but with us as well. Some of them would've told us their life stories if we would've had time. Thats good though, because we want them to know that they can talk to us about anything. We even had a few students tell us about their home lives, and other things going on. Some of these students were homeless, some come from families with drug involvement, some from houses of neglect or abuse, and so on. And we get the privilege to minister to them through this ministry. It was an amazing and eye opening sixteen hours, and seeing the impact of just one night, we've already started planning the event for next month.

Keep these students in your prayers, to God be the glory!