YP - Chili Dinner F.R. & Games Night

Youth Ministry seems like it's always a multifaceted animal that is hard to grab by the tail and control. There's always more that can be done, should be done, and even shouldn't be done. Youth Pastors (and volunteer Youth Leaders in churches that have no paid staff) are at times viewed as the Expert in all things, but Master of none. : ) I'm OK with that in my job description because I get to do things that I thoroughly enjoy. I have GREAT, AWESOME, GIVING Youth Leaders that help me in the ministries that we do here at Calvin. They make my life easier. One area that happens in is the one we call "Youth Group Fundraisers." I actually love fund raising events, but I know that other Youth Pastors loath them. I like them because I find that fund raising is about much more than just raising $$. Raising money is a means to a greater end. Here are the real benefits of doing a fund raising activity: 1. The fellowship that comes with the planning of the activity helps relationships grow between adults and young people. All important! 2. The fellowship that flows through the congregation as the event is going on helps a congregation build relationships in many and varied ways. All important! 3. A congregation gets to see it's youth doing positive things in a world that doesn't always see them that way. 4. Young people learn the value of hard work (something else that isn't always taught well in today's society), and that it can be fun to do. 5. I get to watch different young people react in different ways during a fund raising event. I enjoy that because there are at least 3 kinds of YP at a fund raising event: a. Those that have come to work hard and contribute. b . Those that have come to work, but not necessarily that hard. c. Those who have come to watch other people work. I enjoy watching that dynamic play itself out at each and every fundraiser that I've held in my 14 years of ministry. Well, enough pontification about Fund raising. On to the topic at hand. Our latest fund raising event - A combination Chili F.R. and games night. We held it on March 21st, the tail end of March Break. Several YP were gone, but enough hung around to make a go of it. We decided to combine a games night with the Fundraiser to give people a chance to socialize longer, or simply linger. Below is a chronological explanation of the event using pictures.

Different Fundraisers rely on different experts in our church : ) For Pancakes is John B, for Chili it's Chad and Janine (for sure!!!) We arrived at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. I was greeted to cans and cans of beans, tomato paste, and more beans......

My son Christopher got to work opening all those cans.....after a brief class in how to operate the can opener....again !

Rosalynn came shortly on and was put to work peeling potatoes. Apparently she doesn't do well with a knife in her hand. We have her a potato peeler instead.

Hannah B. Well, let's just say that she came to this F.R. with a couple of strikes against her already. Seems she was at a "partey" (yes the spelling is on purpose for phonetic sounding) all night, and only got 2 - 3 hours sleep. As you can see, she's hurting already, and she just got started. : (

David and Megan had the fun task of peeling LOTS of onions. It was sad to see David cry....well, not really : )

Lots and Lots of cans for 5 different chili recipes. 1 Vegetarian, 1 with only beans, 2 mild, and 1 really hot.

Katherine and Makusi get to work once they arrive. LOTS of potatoes to peel.

Christopher and David sample the buns as they cut them (no, they didn't sample them ALL.....I knew you were thinking that : ) )

We began preparing the Chili at 10 am. We were done at about 1:oo pm. The rest of the time the Chili fermented in several crock pots, and the YP settled down to watch some movies to pass the time until 4:30 pm.

David and Chris at 5:00 am, "So, like, where are all the people, eh?"

Shawn and Ben make sure that all who attend give generously to a good cause. They did. We ended up making just over $800 clear. THANKS TO ALL WHO CAME OUT!

Eric, "So, what's in that chili? Is it hot? I have sensitive taste buds you know...." or something like that: )

Evert, Annet and Linda out for a GREAT meal. I think Annet is wondering how she's going to use a knife and fork to eat her chili....ask her about it sometime. : )

Soon the masses of people began to fill the fellowship hall. Chili and buns galore.

Now, we operate our fundraisers on a donation only basis, with a portion taken off / plate, the rest being tax deductible. Here is John with his family, well, actually some are missing. Good thing we made ALLOT of chili : ) . Thought I was going to say something else, eh John (tee, hee).

Here is my wife and two kids enjoying dinner. Katrina just loved our chili.

More Calvin"ites" enjoying an evening out.

The burning question of the afternoon was, are we going to be able to eat as well? This happens often in F.R.'s. My motto is that no one of the YP eats until we feel that the paying patrons have had their fill. That time couldn't have come soon enough for Mike, Chris and David.

With everyone's stomachs full, it was time to enter into clean up mode. It seems that the boys have really taken to the dishwasher in our kitchen. Hey, I'm good with that. They did a GREAT job of washing ALOT of dishes.

As clean up got under way, many people settled down to play games together.

A popular game played often at Calvin is something called, "Settlers of Catan." I'm not much of a games player, so I leave that to those who are. : ) Many spent hours playing this game.

Seems that John and Peter and his son decided to play boggle. Apparently John's vocabulary is lacking.......alot! He lost by a landslide.

Others decided to simply sit around and fellowship together.

The evening ended around 9:00 pm. Thanks again for all who came out. Thanks Chad and Janine for you skill once again, and your enthusiasm. Thanks to the YP who came to be part of the day. It was good working with you. Another successful fundraiser under our belts. Whew.....each one is fun, but each one causes me some stress.........but it's all good now, really : )