Youth Group Lock-in 2018

Each summer our youth group likes to get together for an overnight lock-in.  We had 14 youth group members and 4 guests join us.  We played manhunt (aka hide and seek for teens), Bingo, watched movies and enjoyed pizza and other snacks.  What a great opportunity for our youth to hang out with one another in a Christian environment.  Lock-ins also provide a chance for our youth to continue to mature more and more each year.  It is rewarding to see the older kids take the younger kids under their wings, engage with them and even treat them like newly acquired younger siblings.

 

 

Dreams of Hope Service Project

This year we were given a special opportunity to help Dreams of Hope Foundation of Newport News with a wonderful service project.  After a quick ice breaker to help us get to know our guests, we got ready to fill backpacks with school supplies.  Families from the peninsula turned in applications of their specific needs, the age of their child and if the child was  boy or girl to Dreams of Hope.  Each youth member picked a child, selected an age and gender appropriate backpack and filled it with the supplies the parents requested.  Dreams of Hope Foundation accepted over 200 applications for assistance with back to school supplies and even had to start a waitlist for more families in need.  We packed almost 100 book bags that night. At first you could tell the kids had no idea what they were getting themselves into.  But after a few minutes they started taking a personal interest in the child they picked, the supplies they choose for that child and the bigger picture of how this would really help a child in need.  It is great seeing our kids work as a team when they were getting down to the bottom of supply box to help each other find just the right supply for their student.

 

Blessing of the Backpacks

Invitations have been sent to each of these children and their families to our August 26th Blessing of the Backpacks service.  Hoping this brings new faces to our church and allowing us to minister and serve to others in our community.

Evening Activities

After all the hard work was done the kids were ready to get down to some serious business — manhunt! The adults provided the kids a real challenge.  The kids  were so sure they would find them right away but the adults showed them  a thing or two about hiding. They didn’t let size or age get in the way!  There were a couple spirited games of Bingo and the youth group thought it would be fun to plan a future Bingo game with the Senior Moments group, so we will look to organize that in the near future. Once everyone started winding down they enjoyed movies and “face painting” for the rest of the time.

 

Morning never seems to come quick enough for our chaperones! Our sleepyheads were given a wake up call then they started to clean up and packing up got underway.  By 8 AM most of the kids were ready to go home and get some much needed rest while others looked forward to the plans they still had for the day.

A great time was had by all and they are looking forward to the next lock-in event.