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Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Shared Memories and the Spiritual Value of Group Activities
It has been way too long since this blog has been updated. Forgiveness, please.
Next month, we are taking our middle school students to Canobie Lake Park and our high school students to Six Flags. On the face of it, these just look like fun ways to spend a summer day. And certainly, that is true. For a roller coaster enthusiast like me, I can't wait to go. But I believe that there is something far more important happening on these trips then multiple trips on Bizarro.
First, is the strategic timing of the events themselves. We go right after we welcome our new 7th graders to SURGE and our new freshmen to HighLight. This is a great chance for our new students to be incorporated and included with the rest of the group. This is a chance for them to build relationships with the students in the grade ahead of them and closer connections with their own classmates. It is their first chance to be a part of the shared history of the group.
Which brings me to my second point. Shared memories are vital for the life of a group. It can help build connections between people who don't have too many points of connection. It can help level the playing field for people who don't have as long of a history with our group as others. For instance, we have many students who have known each other since sharing crayons in the Lamb's Workshop preschool. We have many students who have been together through VBS after VBS and through Sunday School and Confirmation. We also have students who have not been a part of us for that long and who end up feeling a bit left out of the group history. The Canobie trip and the Six Flags trip and other trips like them make them a part of the group history, and give them a memory to share with everyone else in the group.
This is vitally important. One of our core values is our "Relationship with Each Other." We value fellowship and friendship and relationship at a peer level and think it is of great importance in the spiritual development of students. From my perspective, this isn't just a fun day of roller coasters and fried dough. This is a chance for our students to build relationships with one another by connecting outside of routine for the purpose of building a history together. This base level friendship can then be the foundation upon which we build accountability, encouragement, community, and service. These kind of trips pay dividends in small groups, in Bible studies, in youth group gatherings because it helps our students be more aware of each other, more comfortable with each other, and more trusting of each other because they have a longer history together.
So while these events, in and of itself, may not have the spiritual impact of Winterfest or CHIC or even a regular night of HighLight, they do help us build a shared memory as a group and draw students closer to one another.
First, is the strategic timing of the events themselves. We go right after we welcome our new 7th graders to SURGE and our new freshmen to HighLight. This is a great chance for our new students to be incorporated and included with the rest of the group. This is a chance for them to build relationships with the students in the grade ahead of them and closer connections with their own classmates. It is their first chance to be a part of the shared history of the group.
Which brings me to my second point. Shared memories are vital for the life of a group. It can help build connections between people who don't have too many points of connection. It can help level the playing field for people who don't have as long of a history with our group as others. For instance, we have many students who have known each other since sharing crayons in the Lamb's Workshop preschool. We have many students who have been together through VBS after VBS and through Sunday School and Confirmation. We also have students who have not been a part of us for that long and who end up feeling a bit left out of the group history. The Canobie trip and the Six Flags trip and other trips like them make them a part of the group history, and give them a memory to share with everyone else in the group.
This is vitally important. One of our core values is our "Relationship with Each Other." We value fellowship and friendship and relationship at a peer level and think it is of great importance in the spiritual development of students. From my perspective, this isn't just a fun day of roller coasters and fried dough. This is a chance for our students to build relationships with one another by connecting outside of routine for the purpose of building a history together. This base level friendship can then be the foundation upon which we build accountability, encouragement, community, and service. These kind of trips pay dividends in small groups, in Bible studies, in youth group gatherings because it helps our students be more aware of each other, more comfortable with each other, and more trusting of each other because they have a longer history together.
So while these events, in and of itself, may not have the spiritual impact of Winterfest or CHIC or even a regular night of HighLight, they do help us build a shared memory as a group and draw students closer to one another.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Sanford: Day 6
"Hey Steve, can we stay another week?"
"Hey Steve, we stayed up late last night brainstorming all these ideas for things we can do in Sanford!"
"Hey Steve, can we fundraise money to build the kids a new playground."
Yes, our teens have caught a passion for mission work in Sanford.
Anyone who knows me well knows I hate it when teens get stereotyped as lazy, selfish, and irresponsible. I hate this because I know the stereotype is not true. Our students this week have constantly proved this stereotype wrong.
They gave up a week of their summer vacations, when they could be hanging out with friends, sleeping in, earning money, or a whole host of other stuff to sleep on the floor, wake up early, work hard (for no financial gain), take 3-minute showers, let three 4-year olds hang from their arms, and put aside almost every selfish desire for the sake of someone else.
Today our teens finished a five-day drywalling job on Day 4.
Today our teens led a flawlessly-executed day camp program for the most kids we have had all week.
This week, our teens learned how to mulch, weed, plant, cut and hang drywall, paint, stain. Not only that, but they picked up on it fast enough to accomplish more than was expected of them.
This week, our teens left a massive impression on this community, encouraged a struggling community organization, made some children in need of love feel super-loved, and and brought joy to a sad part of the world.
This week, our teens learned to love the unlovable, care for the broken-hearted, and cultivate soil so that Evergreen Covenant can come in and plant some seeds.
This week, our teens learned to wash people's feet, to serve people to the point of near-humiliation, to love everyone.
I was blessed tonight when Pastor Frank told our students that he was a youth pastor for 15 years, and worked with several youth groups, and that our group of kids was the best he had ever seen.
I agree with his appraisal, wholeheartedly.
Parents, you should be proud of your kids.
I know I am.
See ya tomorrow night,
Steve
"Hey Steve, we stayed up late last night brainstorming all these ideas for things we can do in Sanford!"
"Hey Steve, can we fundraise money to build the kids a new playground."
Yes, our teens have caught a passion for mission work in Sanford.
Anyone who knows me well knows I hate it when teens get stereotyped as lazy, selfish, and irresponsible. I hate this because I know the stereotype is not true. Our students this week have constantly proved this stereotype wrong.
They gave up a week of their summer vacations, when they could be hanging out with friends, sleeping in, earning money, or a whole host of other stuff to sleep on the floor, wake up early, work hard (for no financial gain), take 3-minute showers, let three 4-year olds hang from their arms, and put aside almost every selfish desire for the sake of someone else.
Today our teens finished a five-day drywalling job on Day 4.
Today our teens led a flawlessly-executed day camp program for the most kids we have had all week.
This week, our teens learned how to mulch, weed, plant, cut and hang drywall, paint, stain. Not only that, but they picked up on it fast enough to accomplish more than was expected of them.
This week, our teens left a massive impression on this community, encouraged a struggling community organization, made some children in need of love feel super-loved, and and brought joy to a sad part of the world.
This week, our teens learned to love the unlovable, care for the broken-hearted, and cultivate soil so that Evergreen Covenant can come in and plant some seeds.
This week, our teens learned to wash people's feet, to serve people to the point of near-humiliation, to love everyone.
I was blessed tonight when Pastor Frank told our students that he was a youth pastor for 15 years, and worked with several youth groups, and that our group of kids was the best he had ever seen.
I agree with his appraisal, wholeheartedly.
Parents, you should be proud of your kids.
I know I am.
See ya tomorrow night,
Steve
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Sanford: Day 5
Well, it's the middle of the week.
We are all a little tired, a little crabby, and a little hungry.
It's the day we all had to push through, fight through, and crawl on our hands and knees to get through.
It's the day we all start to miss our own beds. It's the day that all this hard work starts catching up to us.
And we survived it.
Our students continued to soldier on, working their hardest despite their exhaustion. Each of our work sites had new challenges to overcome: the mulching and gardening crew had to clear what could only be described as a jungle; the drywall crew had the challenge of hanging drywall on the ceiling; and the painting crew worked on staining a large deck.
Great progress was made by all teams, and we enjoyed another fun afternoon of hanging out and loving the kids at our afternoon camp.
This evening, an Evergreen Cov family welcomed us to their home for swimming and a BBQ. We are rested and relaxed and ready for another day of ministry tomorrow.
Blessings,
Steve
We are all a little tired, a little crabby, and a little hungry.
It's the day we all had to push through, fight through, and crawl on our hands and knees to get through.
It's the day we all start to miss our own beds. It's the day that all this hard work starts catching up to us.
And we survived it.
Our students continued to soldier on, working their hardest despite their exhaustion. Each of our work sites had new challenges to overcome: the mulching and gardening crew had to clear what could only be described as a jungle; the drywall crew had the challenge of hanging drywall on the ceiling; and the painting crew worked on staining a large deck.
Great progress was made by all teams, and we enjoyed another fun afternoon of hanging out and loving the kids at our afternoon camp.
This evening, an Evergreen Cov family welcomed us to their home for swimming and a BBQ. We are rested and relaxed and ready for another day of ministry tomorrow.
Blessings,
Steve
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Sanford: Day 4
I'm gonna be honest with you right now...
I was really nervous about this trip.
I was nervous because nothing like this has been done before. Evergreen Covenant had never hosted a bunch of teens coming to help them in ministry, and we had never done our own missions trip before.
I was nervous because we had a strange mix of students attending the trip. We had a lot of kids who normally wouldn't interact with each other going. This made me worry about group unity and all that.
I was nervous because we didn't have any chaperones until it was almost too late.
I was nervous I didn't budget enough money for the trip.
I was nervous all our plans would fall apart and no kids would show up.
I was nervous because I have never led a missions trip solo before.
How funny it is then, to see God take my worries and just obliterate them.
So far, our partnership with Evergreen has been fantastic. They have welcomed us here with open arms and have helped us get settled into our work projects. It seems it was the perfect marriage of us needing an affordable missions trip and them needing a boost in their work in the community.
Our students have been WONDERFUL. I have seen leadership skills come to the forefront of kids who had never been given the opportunity to use them. They are getting along beautifully, loving each other and encouraging each other and serving each other. They have responded to the various challenges we have faced with flexibility, willing hearts, and a desire to show God's love to everyone around them. I couldn't be prouder.
Our chaperones have been AWESOME. They have been such a blessing to me and to our students. They have brought wonderful ideas, much-needed organization, joy, and servant's hearts to our group. Our students are blessed to have such wonderful adults demonstrating what it means to follow Christ.
So far, God has provided all we have needed and then some. Our afternoon camp has been excellent, and we have been able to love kids sorely in need of it. God has been good to us. He always has, and always will.
Today we made tremendous progress at all of our work sites. The dry wall is going up very quickly in the community center and we should be able to finish the room by the end of the week. Pray for this center; it was tagged with graffiti last night by vandals, as is a common occurrence. Pray that those who wish to work against this project would find something better to do.
Our mulching and gardening crew are almost done with their assigned work and will be able to move on to additional projects for the organization they are serving. Our painters at the homeless shelter finished the railings on the deck and will be able to stain the deck tomorrow.
God in his goodness held the rain off until after our ministry work today. And boy did it rain! We had thunder and lightning, and the lights at the Chinese restaurant we were eating at flickered on and off. Fortunately, the rain passed through by the time we were done and God blessed us with a very bright rainbow.
Again, thank you for your prayers and support. Continue to pray for good health, good weather, team unity, and energy. We are getting to the middle of the week when people can start getting sick of other people and start getting crabby and irritable. Please pray this doesn't happen.
Blessings,
Steve
I was really nervous about this trip.
I was nervous because nothing like this has been done before. Evergreen Covenant had never hosted a bunch of teens coming to help them in ministry, and we had never done our own missions trip before.
I was nervous because we had a strange mix of students attending the trip. We had a lot of kids who normally wouldn't interact with each other going. This made me worry about group unity and all that.
I was nervous because we didn't have any chaperones until it was almost too late.
I was nervous I didn't budget enough money for the trip.
I was nervous all our plans would fall apart and no kids would show up.
I was nervous because I have never led a missions trip solo before.
How funny it is then, to see God take my worries and just obliterate them.
So far, our partnership with Evergreen has been fantastic. They have welcomed us here with open arms and have helped us get settled into our work projects. It seems it was the perfect marriage of us needing an affordable missions trip and them needing a boost in their work in the community.
Our students have been WONDERFUL. I have seen leadership skills come to the forefront of kids who had never been given the opportunity to use them. They are getting along beautifully, loving each other and encouraging each other and serving each other. They have responded to the various challenges we have faced with flexibility, willing hearts, and a desire to show God's love to everyone around them. I couldn't be prouder.
Our chaperones have been AWESOME. They have been such a blessing to me and to our students. They have brought wonderful ideas, much-needed organization, joy, and servant's hearts to our group. Our students are blessed to have such wonderful adults demonstrating what it means to follow Christ.
So far, God has provided all we have needed and then some. Our afternoon camp has been excellent, and we have been able to love kids sorely in need of it. God has been good to us. He always has, and always will.
Today we made tremendous progress at all of our work sites. The dry wall is going up very quickly in the community center and we should be able to finish the room by the end of the week. Pray for this center; it was tagged with graffiti last night by vandals, as is a common occurrence. Pray that those who wish to work against this project would find something better to do.
Our mulching and gardening crew are almost done with their assigned work and will be able to move on to additional projects for the organization they are serving. Our painters at the homeless shelter finished the railings on the deck and will be able to stain the deck tomorrow.
God in his goodness held the rain off until after our ministry work today. And boy did it rain! We had thunder and lightning, and the lights at the Chinese restaurant we were eating at flickered on and off. Fortunately, the rain passed through by the time we were done and God blessed us with a very bright rainbow.
Again, thank you for your prayers and support. Continue to pray for good health, good weather, team unity, and energy. We are getting to the middle of the week when people can start getting sick of other people and start getting crabby and irritable. Please pray this doesn't happen.
Blessings,
Steve
Monday, July 25, 2011
Sanford: Day 3
We had an awesome day on our first day of ministry here in Sanford!
We were able to send three groups out in the morning to serve at various places in the community. One team went to serve an organization that helps disabled children and adults. They got to some much-needed gardening and mulching for them, and the difference was incredible! They will continue to help weed, mulch, and plant flowers for this organization.
Another crew headed to a homeless shelter in Alfred where they began one of several painting projects to help improve the outside appearance of their facilities. Today they tackled the painting of the stairs and ramp that lead to the front door.
Our third crew worked on installing drywall in an old community center at the park where we had our afternoon camp. This community center has been in a state of disrepair for many, many years, and was once the center of a bustling community park. As the neighborhood declined, so did the park. Evergreen Covenant has been hard at work to help a community organization restore this building and provide the community with a functioning community center.
Our afternoon camp was a lot of fun, as we played games, made crafts, and loved on 11 kids from the neighborhood. We had some kinks to work out, but I think we have a great plan for tomorrow.
Tonight we enjoyed dinner at Pat's Pizza, and took the kids on a shopping trip to Marden's. Both are Maine institutions. The kids did some shopping for their "Secret Servant Project." Every student has been assigned another person in the group to secretly serve and encourage this week. It's been a lot of fun so far, and it should get even better as the week goes along.
We talked a little bit today about how it's so easy to have a great attitude and servant's heart on a missions trip but the second we get home we are whining about dinner or complaining about our parents or being jerks to our siblings. I challenged the students to take the attitudes they have been developing on this trip home with them.
Tomorrow will be much the same thing. We are all having a great time and the students have been AWESOME. Thank you for your prayers and support.
Steve
We were able to send three groups out in the morning to serve at various places in the community. One team went to serve an organization that helps disabled children and adults. They got to some much-needed gardening and mulching for them, and the difference was incredible! They will continue to help weed, mulch, and plant flowers for this organization.
Another crew headed to a homeless shelter in Alfred where they began one of several painting projects to help improve the outside appearance of their facilities. Today they tackled the painting of the stairs and ramp that lead to the front door.
Our third crew worked on installing drywall in an old community center at the park where we had our afternoon camp. This community center has been in a state of disrepair for many, many years, and was once the center of a bustling community park. As the neighborhood declined, so did the park. Evergreen Covenant has been hard at work to help a community organization restore this building and provide the community with a functioning community center.
Our afternoon camp was a lot of fun, as we played games, made crafts, and loved on 11 kids from the neighborhood. We had some kinks to work out, but I think we have a great plan for tomorrow.
Tonight we enjoyed dinner at Pat's Pizza, and took the kids on a shopping trip to Marden's. Both are Maine institutions. The kids did some shopping for their "Secret Servant Project." Every student has been assigned another person in the group to secretly serve and encourage this week. It's been a lot of fun so far, and it should get even better as the week goes along.
We talked a little bit today about how it's so easy to have a great attitude and servant's heart on a missions trip but the second we get home we are whining about dinner or complaining about our parents or being jerks to our siblings. I challenged the students to take the attitudes they have been developing on this trip home with them.
Tomorrow will be much the same thing. We are all having a great time and the students have been AWESOME. Thank you for your prayers and support.
Steve
Sunday, July 24, 2011
sanford: Day 2
Day 2 was a blast!
After a wonderful morning of worship with Evergreen Covenant, we went over to Kennebunk to go to the beach. We had an epic game of four square on the beach and went for several cold dips in the ocean. After this, we were treated to showers at the home of someone from Evergreen.
After dinner at Bennett's in Kennebunk (cannot recommend highly enough), we came back to the church to get everything ready for tomorrow.
Please pray it doesn't rain tomorrow; if it rains we can't have our afternoon camp.
Thanks for all your prayers.
Steve
After a wonderful morning of worship with Evergreen Covenant, we went over to Kennebunk to go to the beach. We had an epic game of four square on the beach and went for several cold dips in the ocean. After this, we were treated to showers at the home of someone from Evergreen.
After dinner at Bennett's in Kennebunk (cannot recommend highly enough), we came back to the church to get everything ready for tomorrow.
Please pray it doesn't rain tomorrow; if it rains we can't have our afternoon camp.
Thanks for all your prayers.
Steve
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