On Friday, November 15th the youth group had a photo-scavenger hunt event. This was always one of my favorite events when I was in the youth group, and so I was very excited for this day to come. It was an awesome time, so I wanted to share with you all my top ten from the night. These are not in any order.
10. “Best Youth Group”
As the night progressed I heard one of the newer girls to the group say, “This is the best youth group ever!” I know this statement was mostly made because we were playing fun games and having a good time, but it still filled me with so much joy. This girl is still currently attending the youth group, and showing some really cool signs of growth and evidences of God’s grace. These “fun” events are so vital because they help break down walls and make people feel more comfortable with each other.
9. This Picture- All I’m going to say about this is: fishing pole.
8. Underground Church-
After we had returned from taking pictures all around Racine the group played a few rounds of Underground Church. Now anyone who has played this game before understands why I would be so exited about this happening. The game is essentially capture-the-flag with a Biblical twist. One team has to find the pastor who has 4 Bibles to give away, while the other team is trying to find the pastor so that they can steal the Bible’s. Spiritual warfare at its finest ladies and gentlemen. The youth group rarely has the whole church building at its disposal, so this was quite a treat.
7. The Photo Guys-
One of the trickiest things to figure out when doing a photo scavenger hunt is how to arrange the pictures so that everyone can see them. This is why I was so thankful that we had 3 leaders step up and take on this difficult task. There were definitely a few technical issues, but those guys worked really hard and came through so that the students could see all the pictures their friends took throughout the night. I am awful with technology, so that really took a lot of pressure off of me.
6. Commercials-
As a part of the scavenger hunt we had each team do a commercial. This commercial could be on whatever the team wanted. They could invent a product, re-make a current popular commercial, or whatever. All the teams did a great job, but this was my favorite one. David_30 second
5. Leadership-
I was so encouraged by the youth min staff we have here at the church. They all were so helpful with setting up snacks and making sure kids were where they needed to be. Also, every leader drove their small group around Racine to take all the pictures. As everyone is aware of, gas is not cheap. This was a sacrifice the leaders were willing to make to ensure their students had a good time. These leaders make me want to be more like Jesus, and that’s probably the best thing I could say of anyone.
4. My Small Group
Now maybe this is unfair that I am highlighting one small group, but I’m writing the post so I make the rules. It was so much fun driving around with the guys from my small group and taking crazy pictures with them. It has been such a pleasure to get to know all those guys over the last couple months. They are fun, goofy, and they love Jesus. I get along so well with them and it was awesome to spend some time with them outside of regular youth group hours. I love these guys.
3. The Farm
One of the required photos for the scavenger hunt was simply titled, “On the Farm.” My small group had the brilliant idea to take a picture at the restaurant called The Farm on hwy 11. It was quite funny because another small group showed up there while we were trying to take our picture, I guess we weren’t as clever as we thought. While we were at The Farm, we decided it would be fun to go in and try to take down another one of the categories titled, “Dance with a Stranger.” The problem was that no one in the restaurant would dance, and the workers almost got yelled at for helping us out! It was one of the most awkward situations I have ever been in in my life. However, it was hilarious and a memory my small group will joke around about for quite a while.
2. TK’s Group-
TK’s group took a different strategy from every other group. They decided to take all their pictures at church rather than driving all around Racine, and they almost won! They were very creative with what they used at the church to fulfill the requirements of the scavenger hunt….. and TK got to save on some gas money. Here’s an example of their creativity, this was their “Photo Bomb” pic.
1. Open Doors for the Gospel-
I know I said this wasn’t in any order, and the rest of the list reflects that, but this really is my favorite thing about events such as these. Sure they are fun, and the rest of the list talks about all that, but I truly love these events because they open more doors for the gospel. When we have events like this where students can spend time with leaders outside of regular youth group, it further demonstrates to the students how much we love them and want to spend time with them. I’m really looking forward to how God will use this time we spent with the students going forward. I’m so excited for what God is doing in this group, to Him be the glory!
Cameron Walley
Racine Bible Church Intern