Youth Weekend Residential



The leaders (except for Clare)

This past weekend, I went on a residential (retreat) to Crawfordsburn Scout Centre with WhY (Whitehouse Youth).  As I have taken part in many lock-ins and youth weekends in the past, I knew the weekend would be filled with a lot of fun games and activities, loads of laughter, junk food galore and very little sleep.  Let me just say that my expectations were not let down!

We took thirteen kids and five leaders, including myself, on the residential.  This was a great opportunity for me to get to know the youth and my fellow leaders better.  We arrived at the scout centre around 19:00 and got the kids settled into their rooms.  We stayed in a chalet that had dorm style rooms with common toilet and shower areas.  After getting settled and unpacked a bit, we played some icebreaker games and then ventured out in the dark on a night hike.  The scout centre is very near Helen's Bay, which has a nice walkway along the beach, so we set out in that direction.  We ended up taking a very long route to get to the beach, but we eventually got there and enjoyed some time running around on the beach in the moonlight.  After returning to the chalet, around 23:00, we fixed a supper of pancakes and soda farls.  We were all very hungry after our very long walk!
By the time we finished our supper, we (and when I say we, I mean the leaders) were ready to get some shut eye.  The youth had other ideas in mind.  The leaders stayed up until about 1:30 a.m. with them and decided to call it a night.  Once the leaders went away to our rooms, all of the kids stayed in the common area and played truth or dare until about 6:00 in the morning!  We were up for breakfast at 8:00 that morning, so the kids got very little sleep.

For the majority of the time on Saturday, we participated in activities ran by the scout centre.  We did an assault course, grass sledding, a climbing wall, and crate climbing.  We had loads of fun, but were quite exhausted by the end.  That being said, we came back to the chalet, put on Avatar and took naps until dinner time.  After dinner, we played minute-to-win it games that Jonny (another WhY leader) and I planned and watched a DVD until everyone fell asleep.

3 Photos of the Assault Course

Grass Sledding

Climbing Wall

Jonny and I ready to climb

Crate Climbing

 
We had a great worship time on Sunday morning with our small group.  Jonny planned a great devotional time for us all to take part in.  We talked about how we are all ordinary individuals, but if we let God work in our lives we have extraordinary potential (using an acorn and oak tree as an example).  We also talked about being comfortable in our own skin - not conforming to our circles of friends and being the people that God created us to be.  The youth were very engaged in our devotional time, which was very nice to see.  A lot of times they get very distracted and disengaged when we do our bible talks.  I think being away in a different place helped them to connect better. 

It is always nice to get away on weekends for retreats with individuals of the church.  I love getting to goof around and participate in games and activities that I normally do not have the chance to do.  Although the weekend was physically tiring, it was rejuvenating spiritually and emotionally.