Good Things

At your next bazaar, carnival or booth at a fair have a big bowl of fresh water for any dogs who may be walking their owners that day. (The owners will appreciate the thought too!)

Get a big brown shopping bag and attach it to the wall in view of everyone. Pre-decorate the front with Christian symbols of Lent or the appropriate season in which you are having your meeting. Place pencils and index cards on a small table close to the bag. As each youth enters have them write their name on a piece of paper and place it in a bowl. After EVERYONE has placed his/her name have them pick out a name from the bowl. If they pick their own name have them put it back and re-draw a name. The purpose is to have all students write something nice about someone in the room for that day. It can be a word of encouragement, praise or other good thought of how they can help each other during their Lenten journey or any other time and that they will be there for that person. Make sure the name of the Receiver is on the front of the card and the Giver’s is at the bottom of the message.

Then an hour or two before the meeting/retreat is over have an adult helper take down the bag and go over the cards to see if every one has a card. Have the Adult helper use a low temp glue gun and have them glue a candy bar or a “Hug or Kiss candy to the card. Then have the students pick up their cards and give a them few moments to read and feel the encouragement of their peers and have them talk out their feelings.

Word of caution: Make sure EVERONE has a card!

Have the youth in grades 5-12 meet at the church on a Wednesday night. Have the youth bring in soaps, lotions, and shampoos to give to the elderly. Then go to a local nursing home. All the elderly really appriciate this act of kindness. It really makes the youth feel good about themselves while helping others.

Our youth group got together and baked heart shaped sugar cookies and then we delivered a dozen cookies each to each person over 80 in our church with a nice Valentine card. This can be done anytime.

As students come into the youth facility everyone receives a numbered ticket. During our service we have everyone stand up and get their ticket out. We draw a ticket stub and announce the number slowly. When the students realize they don’t have the winning ticket, they sit down. The student left standing wins. I take a large Pizza Hut pizza to the winning student during lunch on Friday to be enjoyed with his or her friends. This is a great way to get to know some of the friends of my youth.

To do this you need to work with a Christian organization in a local public school such as FCA or First Priority Club, it also helps if the school has a family atmosphere… such as small size and Christian faculty…

The concept is to reach kids where they are, without fear of embarassment. What I was allowed to do at school as FCA President, was put up a “prayer request box”. This is a metal box that is on wall, where anyone can drop in prayer requests on small slips of paper, and drop them in a locked metal box.

At the end of each day, myself or one of our FCA Leaders takes out all slips. Then we have a weekly meeting to pray specifically for each person on the slips of paper. It has worked awesome so far!

People probably won’t disrespect it, cuz they have an automatic respect for what it is… prayer.

When in the grocery store, gas station, or other store, buy the cashier a pop or candy bar. You’ll shock em, especially during very busy hours.

We were looking for something to do for our Christian group at school, when we had the idea to go and visit some of the kids at our local hospital. So, as a group we are busy collecting fun little gifts for the kids, including candies, glow-in-the-dark stars, funky cups, etc. Then, we’ll all go over to the hospital and deliver the gifts to the kids. We will also take along a bag of smiley-face balloons, and then the kids can pick their fav. colour, and we’ll blow them up for them and stick them in their rooms :o) Definitely an afternoon (or morning!) filled with tons of fun! And an AWESOME way to develop servant hearts!

All Pastors need encouragment. Have the teens write letters to their pastor with a word of encouragement, praise or appreciation. Have them present the letters during your church announcements and have the kids encourage members of the church to do something special for the pastor that week.

If you are asked to buy a candy bar, sucker, etc, for a fundraiser, either give the kid more $ than the product cost, and tell them to keep the change, or, if you’re on a diet, ask them how much they cost, then hand them that and tell them to keep the candy.