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Turning the Tables on the Teens
Dutch (Re)treat
Socially driven, hormonally charged teenagers enjoy youth group retreats not only for the spiritual benefits, but also for the opportunity to spend time with the opposite sex. So Nathan Hinkle, student minister at White Oak Christian Church, Cincinnati, Ohio, wondered how teens would respond to a surprise twist at last year’s fall retreat.
“We promoted the retreat as usual, but after arriving Friday night we separated the guys from the girls,” Hinkle says. “A few kids were disappointed, but those attitudes vanished pretty quickly.”
The teens not only accepted the separate retreat concept, they embraced the “Become” theme that encouraged the youth to become men or women of God.
“Our girls enjoyed connecting with the adult women who serve as volunteers, and loved the special events these sponsors planned for them—including a pizza and movie night and a ‘pampering night’ with manicures and pedicures,” Hinkle says.
In addition to these fun activities, the women led discussions on self-image, sexual purity, and finding one’s worth from God.
Meanwhile, the guys received their own teaching—and a hefty dose of physical activity.
“We focused on men leading their families and churches,” says Hinkle. The team also shared the importance of accountability and working together to grow in faith.
“At one point we asked the guys to carry backpacks of bricks,” Hinkle shares. “At intervals they removed the bricks—on which we’d printed the names of other guys in the group—and prayed for the person named. This object lesson reinforced the idea of carrying each other’s burdens.”
Like the girls, the teenage boys also enjoyed some “just-for-fun” activities.
“We wanted to develop a ‘warrior’ mentality, because being a man of God requires courage. So we developed our own version of American Gladiator,” Hinkle says. “The adults were sore for weeks afterward.”
The two groups reunited for a closing session on Sunday morning to exchange letters they wrote “to a man of God” or “to a woman of God.”
“While the girls read the notes, the boys circled them and prayed for them, out loud and all at the same time,” Hinkle says. “Then the boys each read a letter while the girls circled and prayed for them.
“It was a powerful morning for everyone there—hands down the weekend was the most rewarding experience of my six years in ministry.”
www.wocc.cc
Hard Ball
This April the women’s softball team at Milligan College in Tennessee will face their toughest challenge: a game with the U.S. Women’s Olympic Team!
Milligan, one of more than 40 teams to play the Women’s National Team during their “Bound 4 Beijing” tour, will host the game on April 13.
“It is a game these girls will never forget and the pinnacle game of my 20-year career at Milligan,” said head coach Wes Holly in a Johnson City Press article.
www.milligan.edu
Jennifer Taylor, one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD's contributing editors, lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
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