Well, I think we're gonna have to chalk this morning up to experience and learn a few things from it.
It seemed like a good idea to get the kids who went to CHIC (The big youth conference this past summer) up in front of the church to share some of their stories through an "Interview with the pastor" thing. Well, no thanks to the interviewer (ME) but what seemed to come out most was; the guys were hot, the bands were a rush, they mostly slept in and didn't attend the sessions so they could sleep, and they gave a chunk of money to missions.
Sigh.
Like I said, we've learned allot about CHIC and sending kids, so next time it will be better. If there is a next time.
A good thing was that right after that interview, we got Greg up there to share his story. He had been to the last CHIC and that's where God had called him into missions. In a few weeks he's off to Africa for a year. I don't remember him returning from CHIC saying "God had called him to missions." So, just maybe, the stuff will continue to come out in the lives of the kids. That's what I'm prayin for anyway.
Hey, always a chance to learn something.
Hey Randall,
ReplyDeleteWhen I went to Chic, my story was; there was a hot girl; people from our group started to fight; I saw Mount Rushmore. However, since then God has taken over more of my life, and my story now is nothing like my story then.
So, was CHIC a good, bad, or indifferent thing for you?
ReplyDeleteI went to CHIC in 1972. We rode the bus for 22 hours to get there. I didn't sleep on the bus. It rained a lot. We slept in a giant dorm with at least 100 other guys (imagine the odor). They served green scrambled eggs (not on purpose). I got sick. And I had a great time.
ReplyDeleteChic was an indifferent thing for me. I just saw it as another "Christian Retreat". I would also say that my relationship with God at that time was elemental and so I was not really open to God playing a larger role in my life. I know it had an impact on one person who went with us though, and I only found out about that several years later. I think these types of events can be really good if your focus is on God and you are looking for more. However, if you're just there for a vacation it won't be much more than that to you.
ReplyDeleteI think some of the kids may have learned more than they let on. For some it was not a great experience and maybe we were putting too much stock in this one event to change things for them - we are always full of great hope that way aren't we.
ReplyDeleteG didn't express some of the stuff she learned in that seminar but I think she learned that the color of your skin does not dictate who you are culturally. She had more in common with her Canadian peers than with the black kids from the States. And that was a good thing for her to learn. And I see a change in her - maybe not all of that happened from the CHIC experience but coming when it did, I think it may have helped to solidify some faith issues for her. Time will tell. I think we have to be careful to build on whatever may have happened however little it may have been.
And Greg - he did great. I found out stuff about him I had never known.
It's often hard to know if aything real happens on these trips. Ben went to 'Exe 2003' and was quite non-commital about the spiritual side of his time there on the trip back. Yet a couple of weeks after he asked if we could go to 'Days of Destiny' (the UK salt and light bibleweek) next year. Something had changed, and he'd been touched while he was away.
ReplyDeleteWe were also away this Sunday at an Oxfordshire Community Church celebration (in the centre of Oxford). He went out with the youth and was prophesied over. Could I get him to talk about it afterward?
You just never know what has gone in until they want to show you.
Just another learning experience in speaking in front of others. Seems like the spiritual stuff never really comes out when you're 15, so, we'll give them a few years. They were real though. Told it like it was. We'll just encourage them as they go. Bless Greg. There's MUCH more to that fellow than meets the eye - it's wonderful to see him maturing in his faith! Praise God for our youth!!
ReplyDeleteYou didn't ask the right questions. Almost all of us had more to say, and were a little grouchy after cuz u didn't ask the right questions. You didn't ask any deep questions, and we all didn't want to just start talking about something you didn't suggest. Next time, ask deeper questions. Like, did God reach you there, and if so, what did he get accross? or stuff like that. we're not going to just give you information.
ReplyDeleteK, Johanna
ReplyDelete:-)
(She's standing right here so I know it's her!!)
Sorry about that. I gave you two weeks notice with some warning of the questions. I wanted to ask lead up questions that would allow us to go deeper, but it never got going.
I don't think I've ever asked a teenager "did God reach you there," without a blank stare facing me!!
Major deer in the headlights time.
PS. I like your new Zellers uniform!!
I don't know if the question and answer thing is the way to go. At least the kids were honest. But it isn't it always hard to tell what's really going on in there? (Their heads I mean). I think we must continue to offer these types of events. Even the smallest seed planted in the toughest kid's heart is enough for me to keep supporting it. Take it from one of the tough to reach kids - it's worth every cent.
ReplyDelete