Great Night at the Youth Center

Tonight was awesome! In-fact it was probably one of the best nights I’ve had since I began ministry out here. I’m sorry to say that it didn’t include a bible study or deep spiritual conversation. It is my hope to soon write you all with a similar post about such things, but tonight was great nonetheless.

Since I’ve begun ministry out here I’ve struggled not only with sharing things of a spiritual nature with these kids, but often just getting them to act in a civil manner to each other. I spent the first 8 months of my ministry here mostly yelling at them and correcting them constantly. We have finally built a culture resembling something close to respect, safety, and acceptance that looks miles away from the way it did a year ago.

Today was our weekly day of free time where we spend two hours playing a game or really whatever the kids want to do. We chose to play capture the flag and it was awesome! They encouraged each other, they laughed, they had fun. There was no disrespect, no complaining…. It was a positive, uplifting, teambuilding experience.

We went inside when it began to get dark and played cards and ping pong for a few minutes before the youth center closed and something happened that hasn’t happened in a long time, we lost track of time! We were all having so much fun we ended up staying late. The kids didn’t want to go and neither did the leaders. When we did finally wrap things up the kids enthusiastically told me that they would definitely be back to see us again on Monday (our bible study night).

Now, to you, the reader, this might sound like a simple game night, but I want to assure you that tonight was no ordinary night. While for many youth groups this may have qualified as a mediocre game night, for our group, tonight was a turning point of relationship building between youth leaders and kids. It was evidence that the long, hard work we’ve invested into the character of these kids and the shaping of this group has well been worth it and is beginning to pay off.

Praise God for an awesome night!

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