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.