Retrospective Charades

This evening, we had a semester review as Deb and Scott led the 17 youth present through re-enacting the various activities and programs "charades" style. It was a good chance to see where we've been and what we've done this semester. We also discussed some of our plans for the upcoming Spring programs and got some good ideas from the youth regarding service projects they would like to do.

Upcoming Events:
Christmas Party next Sunday night @ the Keith's 6-8pm. Bring your "creative" appetizers! Also, don't forget your gift for the "White Elephant" gift exchange ($5 max).

Ski Trip Jan. 18-20th. Sign-up forms went home tonight. Only 18 youth slots are available. Please contact Brandon or Gair if you have not yet completed your service hours and intend to do so in order to go on this trip. To qualify, service projects must be pre-approved by the advisors. Get deposits in ASAP to reserve your slot, full payment due at the Jan. 6th meeting.

A "Most Excellent" Lock-In

We had a "triumphant" turnout of 17 "gnarly" youth and 5 "old dude" advisors in attendance for lock-in last night. The night started off with our tradition of putting together care packages for our college freshmen. After that, we had a few rounds of Guitar Hero (thanks to Daniel for bringing it!) on the big screen in the Fellowship Hall. Before we would drive them to the bowling alley, first the guys had to do their chores, and so they flexed their "bodacious" muscles and lifted the huge Christmas tree in the sanctuary up onto a platform. After a couple "heinous" games bowled (don't worry, according to Rufus, the scores get much better by the year 2688!) and some much needed Diet Coke caffeine boost for the advisors, we were back to the church for our movie of the night, "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure." While most of the group "partied on" with the movie, a handful of our youth who thought the movie was "bogus" went downstairs to channel their inner "Eddie Van Halen" instead, and ended up playing a Guitar Hero marathon until around 6am that would have made the "Wyld Stallyns" proud!

Sunday, November 18, 2007

It was a full house on Sunday evening, with 20 youth and 4 advisors, plus Pastor Katherine (a.k.a. Bleacher Preacher). In preparation for Thanksgiving, our program was "Giving Thanks for Life's Ups and Downs." We started with a d-licious dinner (thank you, chefs!) and then played a Thanksgiving version of "Four on a Couch." We practiced giving and receiving thanks, and the ladies prevailed over the gents in this game of memory and manners. One thing we learned, in the words of Dan Bula was, "Giving compliments is easy. I wonder why we don't do it more often." Amen to that.

Then we thought about "gifts" from God that might be hard to receive. Things like being very shy or prone to jealousy in relationships...or having an inherited disease or a relative in a coma. Volunteers acted out the scenarios, and then the group came up with things to be thankful for, even in these difficult circumstances. Youth showed their ability to find the silver lining in almost any situation!

Harold and Cara Weinbrecht shared their own story of being thankful in tragedy, when their house was hit by lightning and burned to the ground. They told us about the generosity of others and how they were reminded of what's really important.

We wrapped up with a quick look at the Jesuit (Catholic) prayer practice of Examen, in which a person reviews the day and gives thanks for all its ups and downs. This Thursday, we'll thank God for friends, family, and all our great "stuff," and also for the things that are harder to receive.

No program this coming Sunday (11/25). Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Twelve senior highs at church at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning? Impossible you say? NOT!

Many thanks to the dozen youth and 4 advisors who volunteered at the NC Food Bank in Durham on 11/17. We had a good time and learned a bit about what hungry folks in our community go through. First, we took part in a simulation game--6 characters, 6 small budgets, lots of tough decisions to make. Do we buy food...or medicine this month? Should we walk to work so we can have a little more in our bellies? What if your family could only afford "real" foods--no cookies, candy, or chips? Most of us don't have to make these decisions, but it was eye-opening to see how people who are "nutritionally uncertain" get by week by week.

After a snack, we got to work cleaning and restocking shelves with food donated by others. We learned that peanut butter is one of the "hot items" at the Food Bank--it's a popular and relatively inexpensive source of protein. We also saw that a LOT of macaroni and cheese gets donated. We filled a HUGE box with canned goods...we're talking HUGE! And Nora learned first-hand why they ask people NOT to donate food in glass jars.

After our 3-hour shift, we went home knowing we had made a difference, and we took away a bunch of empty boxes for our own CPC food drive. Way to go, y'all!

Where In The World Is Lynn?

We found out all about Malawi, the 2nd poorest country in Africa, this past Sunday night, as Lynn told us about her trip there in 2006. Her mission was assisting with the setup of new wells to provide clean water to villages. She shared some wonderful stories and pictures with us and even explained why pop-singer Madonna's adoption of a child from there caused such an uproar. It was because in their culture, all children including orphaned ones, belong to and are taken care of, by the people of their village, and removing a child from their home village is likened to kidnapping. It was frightful to see the conditions that these incredibly loving, beautiful people live in. In their entire lives, many of them had never seen clean, clear water before. Seeing Lynn's presentation was also a good wake-up call to make us all realize how serious our drought situation is here in our own community, and just how precious our water sources are.

Upcoming Events:

Food Bank service opportunity this Saturday (11/17). Meet at CPC @ 8am. We'll work at the Durham location from 9-12 and be back at CPC by around 1pm.

This Sunday (11/18) the program will be led by Gair and is entitled "Giving Thanks for Ups & Downs".

Tarzans and Janes

We had a blast swinging from tree to tree this Sunday at the Bond Park Ropes Course. We had 6 Tarzans and 2 Janes. The adventure started off with us playing some wacky games such as, "Have You Ever?" and "Blob Tag". We were then led blindfolded through the woods (and between some narrow trees) to the ropes course. First we swung over a (figurative) lake of crocodiles (where Ben had to repeatedly sing "This is the song that never ends..."). Brian deftly swung on a rope while blindfolded and Casra demonstrated how to swing on a rope while laughing uncontrollably.

After many attempts at balancing on a massive seesaw. We then traversed a (figurative) lake of acid. Unfortunately, Mick lost a leg after stepping in the acid, Andy temporarily lost an arm after unknowingly leaning on an acid tree, and Dan decided to make the trip extra challenging by dropping our boards in the lake. We managed to pursuade our facilitators (Chris and Chris) to give us new boards by singing other annoying songs and then doing the Macarena. We made it (Mick hopped) to safety on the other shore.

The last part of the adventure was strapping on some less-than-flattering harnesses and climbing 40 feet up in the air. From atop a tiny platform we lept out to slap a rope suspended in mid air and were safely lowered to the ground. This nerve-wracking experience humbled most of us. The Janes of the bunch proved their mettle. Caroline scaled the tree in record time and Lynn showed us it's not the fear of heights that will get you as much as the fatigue.

Thanks to all who participated. We'll definitely need an even more challenging course next year. To repeat what we yelled before scaling the tree, "Trust on!"

Presbytery Retreat

We had a great time this weekend at Camp Don-Lee, despite the rain, on the Senior High Presbytery retreat. 15 youth and 3 adults attended the retreat, which was themed "On the Way." It was focused on the story of God calling Moses to lead his people out of Egypt, and broadly related that story to how God calls us and leads us down different paths and experiences in our lives. The keynote speaker, Rev. Peter Hausmann, a former pastor, now a builder doing commercial contruction in Durham, related his unique life calling into the ministry, and then from there into his childhood passion of building. From "Cars" to "Lord of the Rings" he used interesting movie clips, as well as various skits, performed by the awesome Youth Council, to relate his message to the youth.

Upcoming Events:

• This weekend, Nov. 4th is Ropes Course. Bring your money ($25) and forms and wear appropriate clothing. Andy should have already heard from you if you are going.
• Next regular meeting is Nov. 11th, with a program led by Lynn.
• Nov. 17th is our next service opportunity (and last chance to qualify for ski trip!) at the NC Food Bank of Durham. Youth will need to fill out the volunteer form (which will be sent via email and handed out at the Nov 11th meeting), have parents sign them, and bring them with them.

Ken's Corn Maze 2007

We had 18 youth and 4 advisors go on this year's trip to Ken's Corn Maze in Garner. The weather was perfect, the corn was tall, and everyone made it out safely. We enjoyed the fun and fellowship, and the Creator painted an amazingly beautiful sunset! See the pictures here--> http://picasaweb.google.com/appstate95/KenSCornMaze2007.

Next week:
Senior High Presbytery Retreat at Camp Don Lee.

Personal Finance - Part 2

This week we had 24 youth present for the second part of the Personal Finance program. Gair led us in a discussion about how "Ordinary Millionaires" live their lives. We found out that 3.5 percent of the U.S. population are millionaires, and of them, 95% have a net worth of between 1-10 million dollars (these are our "Ordinary Millionaires"). She gave each of the kids an imaginary $100 dollars and led them through a quiz in which they answered questions about these "Ordinary Millionaires" in succession, and either doubled their money for correct answers, or halved it for incorrect answers. We learned that the lifestyles these successful folks live can best be described as "thrifty" and in most cases conforms with what we think of as Christian living, ie. married to one person their whole lives, not driving extravagant cars, and not living in huge mansions.

Next up, Corn Maze on Oct 21st. Meet at CPC at 4pm in the SH room. Bring $10 and a bag dinner.

Big Sweep and Personal Finance Part 1

On Saturday, Oct 6th, we had 13 youth and 4 adults take part in NC Big Sweep at Black Creek Greenway. We were able to tackle 4 different sections of the watershed and found many interesting items, including one, this statue of the Hindu god Ganesh, that received mention in Sunday's News and Observer Big Sweep article.


Sunday night, Scott led us in the first part of a two part series about personal finance. We had around 20 youth present as we discussed biblical passages that relate to money and also how average monthly incomes in different countries stack up to what we average here in the United States. Stewardship and how we would choose to allocate money to various charities (that the youth had brainstormed and thought of) was an important topic we devoted time to in small groups. Upcoming events! Our annual trip to Ken's Corn Maze (Oct 21st), and the New Hope Presbytery Senior High youth retreat (Oct 26-28th) at Camp Don Lee.

React & Respond

28 Senior High youth! That's the amazing group we had present tonight for Andy's "React and Respond" program. We started tonight with two rounds of a favorite game, "Egg, Chicken, Dinosaur." Our dominating dinosaurs were Katie and Michael. Andy then had us do "human graphs" in which we decided which of two situation choices described how we would most likely react or respond. Next, we "became" different animals and made the animal's sound (ducks who say "Aflac!") in order to find others like us and break into our small groups. In our groups, we discussed the following scriptures and how the biblical figures reacted to their situations:

• Jacob marries Leah and Rachel, Genesis 29:15-30
  
• Moses and the Rock, Numbers 20:1-13
  
• Jesus and the Money Changers, Mark 11:15–19, 11:27–33
  
• Peter denies Christ, John 18: 12-27

We came back together for summary of our group discussions and then wrapped up the evening with Pow's and Wow's. We were relieved to find out Anneka's mole that she was worried about is non-cancerous.

Next Saturday morning is our first service project, "NC Big Sweep." Meet @ CPC at 8:30am. See you there!

Ups, Downs, and Service

Tonight we had an awesome group of 26 youth gathered for fellowship. We started off with a game of "Would You Rather?" led by Brandon, in which we found out that more of us would rather be "new car smell" scented than pine scented, and that quite a lot of us would prefer to have our noses where our belly buttons are, instead of having our ears where our eyebrows are. Luckily, no crutches were broken during the playing of this game! After this game of choices, some silly and some serious, we got right into Laura's program by dividing into 5 groups and discussing 5 different scriptures: Psalm 100, Psalm 20, Romans 12:9-16, Hebrews10:19-25 and Joshua 22:1-5. We also discussed the ups and downs faced by many different Biblical figures, and how we should serve God by serving others, which was a central theme of all of their stories.

We wrapped up our program with Pows & Wows. We give thanks for Abby's friend recovering her memory after a severe concussion, and we pray for Becca's family friend whose cancer has returned for the third time. Anneka will be in our prayers as she has a worrisome mole checked out by a doctor. We'll pray that Dan's friends learn from their mistakes and begin to make better choices, and for all of those who are struggling with their schoolwork. We pray for peace and strength for Andy's friend's family, as they struggle with grief over the loss of a husband who died suddenly from a brain aneurysm, and also the loss of a father-in-law, all of this while anxiously expecting the delivery of a second child. Some seriously tragic "downs", while preparing for the beautiful "up" of welcoming a new child into the world.

No meeting next week, as many folks will be attending the CPC Family Retreat. See you all on Sept. 30th, when Andy will lead our program!

Kick-Off Meeting: Riding Life's Up's and Down's With God

What Energy! What a blast! We were so excited to have 25 senior high youth present tonight at our kick-off meeting. We had a getting to know you segment at the beginning to get us caught up a little on where we went this summer, and found out that several youth participated in ASP and a lot of others went to some fabulous places on vacation, including Italy, Vermont, and Washington, DC, just to name a few. We also found out what type of pets we have or would like to have, and in doing so learned that Mick would like to have a wildebeest that he would name "Chik-Fil-A", and that Andy, one of our new advisors, would have a velociraptor named "Earl".

We discussed some of our trips and events that we will do this year, including our annual Ski Trip, our Beach Trip, as well as our service commitment that requires participation in at least one project per semester to qualify for attending that semester's big trip. Several youth expressed interest in participating in the "Food for the Journey" service project with First Pres again, which the advisors will look into.

Scott led us in a game that I'll call "Off to the Races with Shoeless Joe/Josephine" or "Stinky Footrace." We then had a timeless battle of the Davids in a game of "Human Checkers." There were some high-flying and strategic plays, as evidenced by Checker Dan's move pictured above, but, in the end, and as luck would have it, the game was won by, you guessed it...David's team.

We handed out our "Getting To Know Your Senior High Advisors" packets and then Gair closed us with prayer in our usual "Amoebic"circle, but we used a new "Being Uplifted and Lifting Other's Up" handholding technique.

David LaMotte Concert @ NRPC

Last night we took 2 buses of MS and HS youth and advisors to the David LaMotte concert at NRPC. It was an awesome experience! The most incredible song he did, I thought, was an instrumental at the end of the first set where he used an echo effect and tapped on the side of the guitar and it sounded like he was being accompanied by someone playing bongo drums...it was wild! In the second set, he used another "new toy" as he described it and sang acapella and was able to play it back and create a "round" of his own voice. He is an amazing musician and lyricist. Thanks to NRPC for inviting us! We were also glad to have one last chance to see Katy and Megan before they leave for college next weekend. There were some teary-eyed goodbyes as we left to head back to CPC.