We started out at the church at 5 pm for pizza dinner and some sharing time since we haven't been together as a group in so long. Everyone had fun telling each other what they've been up to lately and how their Christmas was.
Next, the kids picked balloons to pop. The balloons had slips of paper in them with team numbers on them. Once teams were established and team captains picked, we piled into vans and headed to the Brandon mall. We started off in the food court, went over rules, passed out backpacks to each team with necessary supplies in them, and then sent the kids off on the Amazing Race. Similar to the reality show, the kids were given clues and sent on searches for items and other clues that would then lead them back to a leader who would check to see that they completed that leg of the race and give them their next set of challenges. There were three legs in all and the kids had approximately 2 hours to complete the whole race. Here are some of the challenges they had to face:
- Find a peace sign somewhere in the mall and take a picture of it using your phone/ipod.
- Find a Christmas tree and ask someone to use your phone/ipod to take a picture of the whole team holding hands in front of the tree.
- Everyone on the team must put on the silly glasses provided with this challenge and go into any store and ask for directions to the nearest bathroom. Only one person needs to ask, but everyone must go along and be wearing the glasses! Remember the name of the store you went into for your team leader. Also, have someone take a team picture of you all wearing the silly glasses.
- Find the words motherhood, yankee, fossil, and aroma somewhere in the mall. Take pictures of the words to show your team leader.
- Go to Bath & Body Works. Use the pencil and paper provided with this challenge to write down six scents of the mini hand sanitizers. Next, buy one and everyone use it after you leave the store. Make sure to bring back the receipt.
- Go to Dick’s Sporting Goods. Find a tent that sleeps 6 people. Use the pencil and paper provided with this challenge to write down the maker of the tent and the tent’s dimensions (floor area and height). Take a picture of the tent with your phone/ipod as well.
Then we headed back to the church and exchanged gifts from the names we drew at our Thanksgiving feast.
Before the craziness resumed or kids got too tired to listen, we sat down then for some serious time where we talked to the kids about the theme of the new year. Acquire the Fire is in April and the theme this year is Relentless Pursuit: Captured By the Fierce Love of God. We showed the kids their promotional video and encouraged them to invite their friends outside of the church. We looked at some verses about God pursuing a relationship with us...Luke 19:10, Romans 5:8, John 6:44, Proverbs 8:17, and Luke 11:9-10. Then we read some verses about how we're called to pursue God and what happens when we do...Deuteronomy 4:29, 2 Chronicles 15:2, Psalm 9:10, Psalm 14:2, Psalm 27:8, Psalm 105:4, Psalm 119:2 & 10, Hebrews 11:6, and Jeremiah 29:13.
We talked about the new curriculum we're going to be going through the first part of this year and gave the kids their January calendars. The curriculum is called Pursue: A 9-Week Small Group Collision-Knowing the Messiah (A Rock Your Face Off Jr. High Resource). We also gave the kids small tokens to carry with them to help them to remember "pursue".
After that, it was time for the games to begin and the adrenaline to start pumping again! We played Musical Clothes, a big hit at last year's lock-in...and totally hilarious and embarrassing to see the boys end up in my clothes! The other girls were more than happy to add some of their clothes into the bag too. Ben in Rachel's skinny jeans.....unforgettable!!
Of course, there was Karate Circle and Amoeba....classic favorites. But we added some new games this year as well.
We played Balloon Stomp, where everyone had a balloon and was in teams and the last team to have any of their balloons left unpopped won.
The Blob was a cool twist on tag where we started with 2 people holding hands who were "it". They had to keep hands held while trying to catch and tag others. Once tagged, you had to join the hand-holding chain and try to catch others to add to the "blob".
Everyone's It was another version of tag where.....everyone was "it". If tagged, you had to sit out until the game was over. The last person left untagged was the winner.
We played the Human Knot where everyone started in a circle, held hands with someone across from them, and then twisted and turned (without dropping hands) until everyone was back in a circle again. We also did the human chair.
Then the kids broke into two teams. When a number or letter was called out, each team had to try and arrange themselves on the floor in the shape of that number/letter. The first team to do so, earned a point. And the first team to 10 points, won. The boys won that game!
We played Assassin too!
We played Assassin too!
Last, but not least, we blacked out the church and handed out flashlights for everyone's favorite....Sardines. Obviously, I have no pictures of that game. It was an interesting few rounds. Let's just say we all learned that Brandon C. can absolutely NOT be quiet when hiding!
We went outside to do sparklers then (2 am). We kept the fireworks to a minimum this year since we didn't want to make a mess of the church parking lot and it was very late by the time we made it outside to do them anyway.
We ended the evening with PJ's, movies on the big screen, and snacks. Some kids chose to pull all-nighters and not end their evenings at all! We brought some board and card games for them. They also stayed up until dawn playing Romans and Christians. Overall, we had a great evening of fun, food, and fellowship...bonding together as a youth GROUP!
Rachel had a bit of fun and mischief with her new make-up kit as well when the few that did sleep nodded off. Most took it with a grain of salt!
Rachel had a bit of fun and mischief with her new make-up kit as well when the few that did sleep nodded off. Most took it with a grain of salt!
The morning came all too early for a few of us ;), but the smell of pancakes made the wake-up call a little more pleasant. Thank you to all of the parents who contributed to the snacks, pizza fund, driving to and fro, etc... We couldn't have pulled it off without you.
WE LOVE YOUR KIDS!!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR ENCOURAGING THEIR PARTICIPATION IN ZERO GRAVITY!!! IT IS A HUMBLING AND HONORED PRIVILEGE TO BE THEIR YOUTH LEADERS!!
