October 27, 2012

Faith Building Event with Mountview Church - Youth Lock-in


The middle and high school students group had an all night lock in. I saw an opportunity to practice and so I volunteered for ice breakers and other games at the wee hours in the morning.


Wrist ropes is a interesting activity, but does not work well as an energizer. As for a Group Sit, it is somewhat invigorating, but the high-touch requirement does not bode well with the middle and high school students desired image of coolness. Chalk it up to experience.

Most of the Eureka Games require some level of thinking and strategy. When it was time to break out the gear, most of the students had already spent their reserves energy on broom hockey and dodge ball. 

I wrangled a some friends into a round of a Group Juggle and Rope Polygon, but it fizzled out when I blindfolded someone for letting go of the rope. This was a experiential learning event for me, chalk it up to experience, again.

One thing I learned is that you have to match the energy and mind set of your group. I was not ready. I'm glad my audience was (and still is) small.

Rope Polygon is tough enough, but try it at 4:30am and it adds a whole new degree of "Argggh."

Shout out to all the folks who played Eureka Games with me. 

October 16, 2012

Faith Building Event with Mountview Church - Cleverley Group

Mountview Church has been an amazing place to grow my faith. This past week I was asked to fill in as the teacher for our home study group, I brought Eureka Games.



The metaphor of sheep and a shepherd are used throughout the Bible to describe the role of the Christian disciple. Other scriptures instruct Christians to live their life as an example to all. The obligation to fulfill both roles can be difficult.

To illustrate the lesson, the group played Blind Polygon. Half the group members were dubbed coaches. The other half of group members were dubbed players, and were muted or blindfolded. The coaches (at the left), had a hard time accepting that the furniture was not part of the challenge.

After the game, we discussed their roles of a leader and a follower and how both sides carried benefits and burdens. The parallel to the life of a Christian was brought to the forefront and we discussed the how following Christ and leading others holds similar dynamics.

(Photo of the game, after the jump)