Archives by: Kelly Gifford

Waiting in the Wings Retreat

Last year we had this retreat and everyone had a great time!

“Waiting in the Wings” referred to waiting off stage for our time or our purpose. So, we did all the extra things with a Hollywood Theme.

First, the study for the weekend talked about preparing for the part of a lifetime and waiting for God’s cue to be utilized. For a great story to use with this, email me.

Everything we sent out for registration, was a “casting call” theme. When people arrived we had a “Guard” at the entrance of the retreat location, checking folks in and handing them “VIP – Back Stage Passes” (Name Tags)and then letting them out of the cars at a red carpet entrance (Really a taped down red plastic table cloth).

The red carpet was occasionally had cardboard cut out celebrities and beind them we had hidden Paparazzi who popped out and took photos of them. Quickly, everyone caught on and started playing the part of celebrity.

Later during the retreat they would find their assigned beds each contained an “personalized and autographed” celebrity headshot on their bed. Each room was named for a different movie, ie Kitchen – Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Bathroom – Gone with the Wind, All girls room – Steel Magnolia’s, etc. . . Each prayer group was also named for a TV Show (Gilligan’s Island, Friends, The Beverly Hill Billies, etc.) and on Saturday Night each group sang their “Theme Song” for a Kareoke Contest.

We also had a hallway that was converted to Hollywood’s famous “Walk of Fame” where each person could find their name on a star. Folded down each bed at night with a chocolate mint on their pillow, gave everyone sunglasses and the girls had feather boa’s.

By the end of the weekend, not only did everyone feel pampered and treated to “Star” treatment but they were confident about who Christ had created them to become and were content with “Waiting in the Wings” until God directed them to take the stage.

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Find Your Own Party

Honestly, this idea derived from an overwhelming schedule and lack of planning. Nevertheless, they had a great time and it turned out to be a lot of fun.

We announced a Bar-b-Que and games afternoon for all the youth and told them it would cost $3. When everyone arrived we divided them up into groups and gave them a list of things they had to “scavenger” to find. Knocking on doors, visiting stores, however, they could not spend more than their $3 per person.

The lists that I gave the them were actually the items we needed for the bar-b-que, including charcoal, appetizers, condements, hot dogs, burgers, buns, side dishes, desserts and game gear.

When everyone arrived back to our starting point, we had everything that I had not had time to get together. We then had a great bar-b-que and played some fantastic games that they had come up with!

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