Edible Racers

Last night at youth group we hosted our second annual burrito car races, though to be fair, they were actually edible racers because we used corn dogs and taquitos instead of actual burritos. In my estimation it was one of hte best packaged evenings I've had in a long time. it seemed that everything that was planned went over well and that the theme of the evening came out crystal clear. That theme was how we grow and change our faith to adapt to life. call it spiritual maturity, or living in righteousness, encouraging each other, it was about having a faith that lasts.

We started the evening unconventionally. The room was setup in a circle rather than auditorium style, and we didn't do an ice breaker. The circle setup made the group feel small because they were separated into two halves, even with 45 people, it still felt smaller. The lack of ice breaker didn't really hurt anything, but we did do an warm up question (sharing how our parents were crazy) telling to our neighbors and then sharing with the large group.

Instead of our normal ice breaker game, we began with a small talk from me about training wheels and growing up. That led into the schedule for the evening beautifully as I described how each part of the evening played off the theme (making care packages for college students would help others when they needed it, the modifications of the burrito cars would be turned into analogies later).

The college care packages were brilliant. We tested a few of these ideas in weeks leading up to the evening, and here's what we found. First, we wanted to do it cheaply. there were 68 college students to send to, we couldn't be spending $10 each to stuff and mail a box of candy. So we contacted to post office and found out that some candy can be shipped in envelopes and mailed quite inexpensively. Smarties, peppermints, lifesavers, pop rocks, butterscotch, jolly rancher sticks, and star bursts are all good for the mail. Second, we wanted to tell our college students something important. So we stuffed each envelope with a half sheet flyer inviting them to two gatherings around the holidays. Third, we wanted them to be personal. Each envelop was stuffed with a card as well upon which we glued (with glue dots) the candy to and then students wrote notes on the card to each person and hand addressed each envelope. It didn't take more than 30 minutes to get through all the care envelopes, licked and sealed with special notes. Many students wrote lengthy notes to big brothers and sisters or friends, and many also mentioned their excitement to receive one while they are at college.

Next we gave students 20 minutes to construct, test, decorate and engineer their race cars. We provided supplies and a sample, then let the kids go to work with one special request: while they worked they needed to think of some analogies for how this race car or this experience is like faith. Last year when we did this event we used screws, nuts and washers to construct the cars and used tea-light candles as wheels. this year we've improved the process and made it considerably cheaper and more edible. we used the cheap walmart oreo cookies for wheels by drilling a hole in the center (they have an impression in the middle, which made it easy. We also used wooden skewers for the axles, breaking each in half for before inserting in the race car (which was pre-drilled with two holes for the axles). and finally, we used spice drops as hub caps. They don't even need to be drilled, but adjusted once skewered so that they keep the car running straight.

Before the race, students gathered in the youth room to share their favorite analogies, here is some of what they came up with:

1. God keeps us rolling
2. you can have help from your friends, but ultimately your faith is your responsibility and you have to own it
3. The freezer is like God, the more time you spend away from God the weaker you are
4. ingredients are sticky like faith is stuck to us even when we try to ignore it, it stays with you
5. each car was unique and specially hand crafted just like us
6. if we fall of the course, someone (like God) will catch us before we are destroyed
7. our faith is never complete, hard to say that it's ever really final or perfect
8. It doesn't matter if you finish the race first, at least you're trying
9. a leader might help you create your car, or give you inspiration for a better design or understanding

After our tournament style race, we sung and prayed. I read Hebrews 5:11-14 and recapped the theme. it was a great night!