Yoooooot Fun Times

Last week we loaded up the youth from the two Calvary Chapels on the Island and some from Richmond and headed over to Thetis Island for a few days at the Capernwray camp http://www.capernwray.ca/. The staff were awesome, the site wonderful, and the food ..well let's say you will never get anything close to what the camp offerred for the pittance they charge. The kids loved mealtimes !!

The Calvary pastors from the Island did the teaching sessions with the kids.

It seems from what I can gather the approach taken with youth in most other situations is to keep the teaching sessions light and short (especially with kids new to Christianity ) and only a few through the day with lots of fun activities to break things up.

This camp was pretty much the exact opposite. There were lots of fun things to do that the camp people put on for our kids but the teaching sessions and devotionals+worship were numerous, deep and long.

To take 20 teenagers (14-19 yrs old) and ask them to do four 1-2hr teaching/devotional+worship sessions a day seems to be asking for revolt ..especially if the kids involved are not really Biblically literate and the topics invloved are not snappy and "fun".

I must say I was blown away by the kids response ..some of whom had been Christians for only a few months. They listened intently through every session, there was no fooling around and no one had to drag them to the chapel for each session. They listened, they sang, and they prayed together- often with tears.

After the retreat was over I asked one of the guys (who had just become a Christian) how he had liked the camp. He said it was too short and next time we needed to do it for two weeks!

I asked another guy who has only just started coming to our church what he liked the most . He said the teaching sessions . I was kind of taken aback and said " But they were often very long !" His immediate response was . "Ya but I liked them."

Every one of the kids from our church came back enormously changed and all wanting to sign up for next year. They have expressed a desire to go to other retreats like the one they had just enjoyed so a three day trek up Mt Washington is in the works ..and yes more long teaching sessions between the fun times.

There seems to be all kinds of expert opinions on how the "youth " are to ministerred to. If people are looking for a formula here is one that works.

Take old and younger people to be the teachers, focus on teaching only the Bible, add in lots of worship+group prayer times, add in fun activities and awesome food ..and voila ..you have excited and happy yoooooot!!

Oh ya and you must have an ingredient that comes only by prayer . The working of the Holy Spirit . Without Him nothing happens that is truly lasting or important.