Last night at youth group we gave our students a service project that beautifully partnered with the mission of our congregation and the needs of our community, and then we made it fun enough for the kids to enjoy: It was great!
Our church has a unique partnership with a nearby middle school through which we provide mentors, volunteers, and resources to an otherwise disadvantaged school. One resource that our church provides is a care package for students as they take their Iowa Basic Skills Tests. I remember from my own days of taking the MMAT (the Missouri equivalent) that these were long days of filling in bubble sheets. So the care package provides a few sharp pencils, bookmark, mints, gum, sticker and pencil grip - enough treat and practical supplies to make the test hopefully more bearable.
I introduced this project to our students last year. It doesn't take long - many hands make light work - but is a really nice thing to do. Last night though we really took it to the next level by adding purpose to our service. We began the evening by talking about the middle school in need, reminding our students that in this school there are many students who don't have positive role models, parents to help with homework, safe places to play, and for many, probably not a whole lot of enthusiasm about school work. So our mission was to show these students that we loved them with this small gift. Then to put our affection into words by writing notes on the outside of the care packages.
I really wanted this to make a big impact on the students we served, so the first thing that students did before assembling the envelope-care packages was to gather in groups of 6-8 at the tables. Then they each took an envelope and wrote an encouraging phrase on it and passed it around their table.
The result was incredible. Thank God I resisted the urge to pre-write some ideas on white paper and hang them around the room. Our kids were more creative that I would have been. among my favorites included: Nailed it, You've got swag, and numerous quotes from Harry Potter. Envelopes became decorated with lots of phrases - super encouraging pep talks for the students taking tests. And though each student was only writing one phrase several times, the envelopes became uniquely hand written love notes.
We wrapped up this service project by gathering in the youth room to pray over the envelopes before settling into our seats for a Senior Faith Story. Easily one of my favorite traditions that we've begun this year, the last Sunday of month has become a holy space for our seniors to share their story of God with our group. This week a student shared about her experience with a house fire and the love and outpouring of friendship that affected her life post-fire. She connected the disorientation of the fire with the reality of what she really needed in life and how much luxury she has in life. It softened her to people who go without and opened her eyes about her own friendships. I prefaced her story by reading from Luke 12:22-34 and then we split into small groups to reflect. 20 minutes was enough time, but it definitely could have been more.
The evening concluded with worship - during which we remember our baptism by reminding students that we often try to fill our lives with stuff, not realizing what is really important is our relationships. So as we played music students made the sign of the cross on each other's foreheads while they said, "you are worth it, you are a child of God, Jesus loves you and so do I". Though this baptismal tradition is becoming a sweet spot for me, one of my leaders is pushing me to consider how else to frame the final moments so that kids who are acne-conscious won't feel strange about the experience... I'm still thinking about that, but for now, the baptismal reminder is an excuse for us to look at each other and remember God's connection to us - and I don't want to give that up.
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