Games/Activities:
1)The Handshake Game-
- Have everyone make a circle. Choose one person, or start by turning to face the person to your left. Shake their hand while both of you say your names. Then you repeat their name, and they repeat yours back to you. So, for instance, if the first person was named Kylie, the conversation would go like this:
- “Wes.” “Kylie.” “Kylie.” “Wes.”
2)Two Truths and a Lie-
- Hand out index cards or notecards to everyone, as well as pens or pencils. Have everyone write two truths about themselves, and then also a lie. Then, go around and guess who all said what.
3)The Toilet Paper Game-
- Have a roll of toilet paper. Hand it to each person and say, “Take whatever you need to get the job done.” Depending on how many sheets they take, they then have to say that number of facts about themselves to the group.
4)Take a Hike!-
- Have everyone sit in a circle. You should have enough chairs for every person except for one. This odd-man-out stands in the middle and thinks of something they have never done before. They then say, “Take a hike if you’ve ever ______.” Then those in the circle who have done this get up, and find another seat. The person in the middle then takes a seat as well. The game continues.
Devotional: Meeting One Another
Something that has really stood out to me lately is the idea of all the many opportunities that we have every day to meet other people. Think about it for a second- how many people do you pass by that you could talk to, if even for a minute. I think about my day today, and although it was a rather unusual day for me, I had at least 5 opportunities to meet people and chat with them. Then, I arrived here and came to Columbus for a weekend full of opportunities to meet you all, and for you to meet me. Now, you know I am here as a potential candidate for the youth ministry position at this church. In all reality, I know that I may not get this position or end up here. Nonetheless, I am here this weekend, and I am getting the opportunity to meet y’all and get to you if just a little bit.
I think one of the reasons why it has been on mind so much lately is because the week before last, I was down in Houston, TX helping a church I have worked with for the past three summers with a local in-town mission trip. We call this week Impact Week, and the whole purpose of the week is to get outside of the church building and meet the neighbors around the building itself. We go around and knock on people’s doors and ask them first of all if there is anything they have or know of that we could be praying for throughout that week. Then, we ask if there is anyway we could serve them that week. We have gotten some rather ridiculous requests, but the majority of our service is yard work.
One other thing that every group gets to participate in throughout the week is what we call Reverse Offering. Each group gets to go out one of the days, with a $50 bill, and find someone, or multiple people to bless with this money. This has taken many different forms- some groups choose to buy groceries for a family or multiple families; some buy water and snacks and give them to construction workers working out in the heat; some have even bought a bunch of children’s book for a local ministry that was in need. However, each group finds someone or someones that they can bless, and in the process, they usually get an opportunity to talk to and know this person or persons. And let me tell you- it is incredible what some people would tell you if you give them the time, and if you ask.
Our group this past year found two people that were good candidates for the $50. After discussing as a group, we decided to give the $50 bill to a lady named Melinda, who had cancer and was struggling with her bills. The other lady was named Maria and she was trying to raise two kids alone while her husband was stuck in Guatemala. My co-leader Jenna saw this lady sitting on a bench at the park we were at, and decided that she wanted to, or maybe needed to talk to her. She sat down, and after a 15-minute conversation full of broken Spanish on Jenna’s part and broken English on Maria’s part, Jenna was able to hear this lady’s life. At one point, she motioned for me to come over and meet her, which I did. Then, as the lady was telling more of her story to us both, she paused and said, “I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this.” She didn’t know we had money that we could potentially bless us with. We were complete strangers who decided to sit down with her and ask her about herself. After our group decided to bless Melinda with our $50, some of our group decided that we needed to help Maria as well, so they pulled together $30, and ran over, gave it to her, and prayed with her.
It is amazing what people will tell you if you simply ask and give them the opportunity to talk with you- if you simply meet them. When I was thinking about this, I was reminded of the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Are you all familiar with this story?
Read Acts 8:26-40.
Often times we hear this story and we praise the eunuch for getting baptized, and for searching for God. But I love that Philip was able to reach out to this stranger and ask him what he was reading. (Granted, it says that the Spirit led him to do this, but Philip still followed this calling and this leading and reached out and met this individual.
So what I want to leave with you tonight is the encouragement to make time for others; an encouragement to be bold in your lives. What if we lived every day and treated every moment like an open opportunity? What if we treated every opportunity to meet others like we would if we had a $50 bill to give them? Because we do have something to give to them, don’t we? We have the story of Jesus and the love of God in our back pockets everyday. So I encourage you all as you go out tonight or tomorrow or this next week, to live everyday like you have $50 to give to someone, and to welcome and embrace opportunities to meet those who you would otherwise pass without paying attention to.
Pray it out.