Category: Church (Page 6 of 7)

So, years ago I’d helped with a lock-in close to Dallas. And we went to play Whirly Ball for a late night activity. When I was planning a Destination Unknown (DX) for my youth group a few summers ago I thought of Whirly Ball. But Jaybrams recommended Group Dynamix right there in Dallas instead. Having never heard of it I did a little research on it. And it was awesome. So awesome that I went back last weekend for my 3rd DX.

Basically it’s a huge HUGE indoor ropes and challenge course. But they are experts in team building and initiative games. They would make a perfect event for youth groups, sports teams, OR adult corporate groups. But I think the best they have to offer is the lock-in, both for the experience AND for the price..

Our lock-in schedule was as follows.

• 8pm to 11pm: Orientation and games on the floor. It could be team games, individual games, total group games, etc. All constructed to encourage communication and cooperation. Again, very well run and very fun as well.

• 11pm to midnight: We had pizza delivered and had a bit of a break. LOTS of fluids were taken in at this point.

• Midnight to 2am: Another orientation and then up to the upper ropes course. There were over a dozen “elements” to do. Some were fairly easy and some were very hard. But you were buddied up w/ someone else to make sure you were following the proper  safe guards as you traversed around the course.

• 2am to 4am: The inflatables and general sports (ping pong, soccer, basketball) were set up. Also a movie on the HUGE wall was started up if you wanted to take a break. Also the laser tag course was being set up.

• 4am until: Laser tag and then the Wii and XBox 360 games started. Most people played LaserTag, but as the games went on, people started dropping out. Most everyone had been up since at least before 5am. And many had been up all night since they went to get the new Harry Potter book at midnight Friday. So even Wii Sports and Guitar Hero II (360 style) lost battles to sleepiness.

• 5:30ish: Most people finally crashed. Not everyone, but most.

• 7:30: Everyone up to eat a few donuts, shower off in front of the sink and load up just after 8am to head home.

So…if you have the stamina or extra drivers to be able to drive to Dallas and back w/o a lot of sleep, I’d whole heartedly recommend Group Dynamix for a youth event. And the cost is very, very reasonable…especially when you realize you don not hav eto worry with paying for a hotel stay. (The best part of our trip was that the AC didn’t work in the back of the bus…

Call and ask for Andrea. Tell her Blake from Mississippi sent you. And ask for Caleb as your facilitator. You kids will have a great time and they’ll think you planned an awesome trip.

• And don’t think that Whirly Ball isn’t good. Here are links to the Atlanta and Dallas Whirly Ball Courts.

Two years ago the youth ministry took a Destination Unknown trip to Dallas. We repeated the trip this past weekend. We scored some tickets to Six Flags over Texas and then went to have a lock-in at Group Dynamix. All in all it was a great time. Destination Unknown is a youh trip where the kids don’t know where we’re going, they just show up and hop on the bus and we take off to parts unknown…

Six Flags was hot…and I mean HOT! I think most of us got close to dehydration just because of the heat. But when you can buy a $4 bottle of water, no one should get dehydrated, right? The food prices are atrocious at Six Flags. People would get a hamburger, fries, and a drink fr $12. A salad and bottle of water was $14. Papa John’s pizza was about the same. So the key is to sit with people who won’t eat all their food and finish it up for them.

The bus was pretty hot too. The AC worked in the front, but not in the back. So that made riding interesting. And we got hardly no sleep.  I bet I got about 45 minutes of intense rest. I’m not going to call is “sleep”, but really good rest.

The guys who ran the show at Group Dynamix really did a good job. Caleb and Taylor knew the games well and how to make it fun and involved all the kids. I’ll give a more lengthly explanation of Group Dynamix soon.

Well, last Sunday was Bob‘s last Sunday. Now he’s headed to be a District Superintendent for the Starkville District. I guess if you gotta go somewhere, Starkville is a great place to go. So this Sunday will be an “off” day of sorts in the way of having a pastor, but then July 1st is Mitchell’s first Sunday here as our pastor.

We hate to see Bob leave. He was a great man to work both for and with. He’ll be missed. But I think Mitchell will be a great man to work for and with as well.

BUT…big news this week was that Tracy, the Associate Youth Minister that worked with me turned in her letter of resignation. So in the next couple of weeks I’ll be flying solo for a while. But I hope we’re able to get the position filled before school starts. I think that it would be important to have the two responsibilities divided between me and them Jr. High and Sr. High. The way things were with Tracy and me was that it was almost a complete overlap in most responsibilities.

Do you think it’s best to split responsibilities between Jr. High and Sr. High?

[tags]youth ministry[/tags]

Well, I’ve been back for 2 days now. And no posts. I’ve been catching up on life. We made it back Wednesday night and I went to be early for the first time in a week. Early being about 11. I was usually up to 1:30 or 3:00am at BigStuf…and wouldn’t trade it. But yesterday was catching up on receipts and budget stuff and some odds and ends at the office.

Today is a day just to be around. Went to the gym already. Now about to listen to MSU play Clemson in the Starkville Super Regional.

But…BigStuf. I  will give a day by day redux over the next couple of days.  But a few general observations:

• Again, from my experiences there is not another camp around as good as BigStuf. They have the best organization, teaching, worship, and location to make a complete package.
• The BigStuf interns are Godly college students that really make it happen. Whether it’s running tech, leading groups, managing the rec tournaments, or working in the store…they make it happen. And w/o them camp really just wouldn’t be possible.
• Lanny Donoho‘s vision for camp is a good one
• Brian Pirkle and Sheila Benton know how to organize and administrate. They are the backbone of BigStuf.
• Barry stayed away…got cloudy a few times and saw a few drops. But no real showers, much less storms.
• We carried 68 people and brought all of them back. There might have been a few I wanted to leave…just kidding.
• The BigStuf Band was good as always.
• I learned some new songs that are STUCK in my head. But it’s not a bad thing. More on them later.
• I continue to be impressed w/ Jared Herd.
• Louie Giglio‘s 2nd talk made me cry. Dude is a conduit for God. No doubt.
• Our volleyball, basketball, and ultimate fris teams did well. Advanced far. But didn’t win it all. But it was the best showing we’d ever had.
• Reggie Joiner has a very wise and strategic mind when it comes to ministry. His adult leader meetings were great.
• Taking a charter bus is almost always the best way to go. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Most def.
• Maurice is the best bus driver ever.

That’s a quick overview. Will try to go day by day w/ the next posts.

[tags]bigstuf, youth trip, panama city beach, xp3[/tags]

So now we’re at 3 or 4 days away from going to BigStuf….depending on how you’re counting. But we’re leaving on Saturday. This will be the TENTH summer in a row that I’ve taken a group down. That in and of itself should tell you how highly I think of this organization.

Our worship will be led by the BigStuf Band and Jared Herd and Louie Giglio will be doing the speaking. Jared is not known far and wide, but he knows how to bring it. I’ve been able to hear him a couple of times already at BigStuf and have never been disappointed. And this guy named Giglio…well let’s just say that he really knows how to bring it too.

From my experience, BigStuf is probably one of the, if not THE, best camp I’ve ever carried kids too. It provides the best combination of worship, teaching, and fun. The crew that puts this all together is very professional and wows me every time I’m there. Never been disappointed.

I used to want to keep it a secret because I didn’t want the summer to get to crowded. That was back when I fist started coming and they had only four weeks of camp in the summer. I could fax in my registration in April and pretty much get the week I wanted.

Now the have TEN weeks of camp and registration starts in OCTOBER! And things are mostly full by January! It’s grown. But it’s grown because it’s a quality camp experience and God’s blessed them for following after Him.

So…please pray for us while we’re gone. I’m going to try to do some updates while we’re away!