A middle school ministry for every kid at HIES. It's an extremely fun, unintimidating, and safe place where kids have the chance to hear about God's love for them with no strings attached.
Our first Wyldlife club was a blast! Thanks to all the parents who helped drive and who stayed at the barn to run the event. Here is a summary of what we did and what we discussed.
WL club is a "party with a purpose". On this particular evening we grilled out and then did some group games. One hope of these games is for students to relax a little. Their lives are so structured and full or pressures to perform - we want to provide an environment where there is no such stress. Let loose a little! Sometimes that's all that's need to refocus for a challenging week of academics or sports. Another hope of these group mixers is to connect middle school students to volunteer helpers, all of whom are upper school students this year. We have some incredible guys and girls who love sharing their time with middle school students. How cool is that? All of these helpers are going through our student leader training and many of them will be in cabins with us at our trip to Windy Gap over Presidents' Day weekend in February. Here are some pictures from the games...
Here's a short clip of the "controlled chaos" that is WL club. In this games teams were racing to carry the high school helpers around field. It was fun to watch names be learned and stories to be shared all while having an amazing time!
Finally WL club always includes, and typically concludes, with a talk that connects the life of Jesus to a middle school context. The leader will share a story from their life to help relate...we did all live through middle school at one time! Our leaders' lives have been touched in incredible ways by the life of Jesus so that's what we talk about however we have no expectation or condition regarding a studet's views on faith to come to Wyldlife. Everyone is welcome!
Here is a made-for-the-internet summary of the talk I (Dave) gave at WL club on August 28th...
YOLO - "You Only Live Once". If you are a middle school student...or if you live with one, undoubtedly you've heard this phrase! YOLO is a mentality...a state of mind that drives us to squeeze every last ounce out of what life has to offer. It's why I love being around middle school students. The excitement for life keep me energized (as well as extremely exhausted!).
When I was in middle school I had some incredible experiences. As a 7th and 8th grader I had the awesome opportunity to go to Kanakuk sports camps in Missouri. For three of the days there they loaded a bus full of guys onto old school busses and sent us out with our college leaders into the Ozarks. We spent the time sleeping in caves, eating oreos (the only food provided on the busses - an ENOURMOUS box), jumping off rocks into freezing lakes, and basically being Huck Finn for a while. We were so full of clay from caving diving and dirty from not showering that when we stoped at a pizza place they made us sit on the curb out side and brought the food to us...us who were down to a pair of dirty soccer shorts as our only clothes!
It was crazy, it was dirty, and it was definitely a YOLO experience!
note: before the talk students got in groups with the high school helpers and answered the question "what was the craziest thing you did this summer?" People shared YOLO experiences! Each week we break up into groups and have questions to either lead into the talk or to process it afterward.
When you think YOLO experience what comes to mind? I heard some crazy stories just a minute ago. Some of you went to new countries, some of you landed a flip on a wake board, and some of you learned something new for the first time. These are the things that usually come to mind.
How many of you though would have this thought, "life with God = YOLO experience"? I'm guessing not many of us and I don't blame you! When I was your age my image of God was someone keeping score in my life - if I did something wrong it was "boom, lightning bolt!" That's why this short passage is so interesting. Check it out. This is from the book of John. John was a friend of Jesus, they were bros. Anywhere Jesus went, John went with him. Many people think John was actually a teenager when he experienced the things he wrote about - not much older than you! Here it is...
"The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. But I have come that they (i.e. Y'ALL) might have life and HAVE IT TO THE FULL" ~ John 10:10
Pretty wild huh? Did you know that Jesus came so that you could experience life lived fully?! Is that the idea of God that you have? Again, I know why most of you wouldn't equate YOLO with Jesus. People back then had questions and you have questions too:
If you only life once why... ...did I get a concussion ...are my parents fighting ...is there drama with my friends ...do people I know have cancer ...are my grades terrible ...do I feel like life is amazing one minute but feel totally helpless the next
I hear you. I love that Jesus doesn't pretend life is perfect - there are all sorts of "thieves" in your lives, right? But what He does say is that in spite of those, life can still be fully experienced.
This year at Wyldlife we will be exploring the life of Jesus, a guy who came for you and me to experience life to the full - he was had a YOLO mentality long before twitter! Of course there are questions and we'll look at those too. Thanks for coming out and thanks for reading - see you next time!
