a crash course in youth ministry

This weekend I went to Maine for a kickoff quiz retreat with the Wollaston quiz team. To describe the weekend in a nutshell, I think I'd have to call it "a crash course in youth ministry."

First off, I was immediately thrown into my role as "district liasion" or whatever you want to call it. Prof had me start collecting registration money, and I had to also figure out who had already given me money. Next time around, I'm making a checklist.

When we stopped for dinner at Wendy's, we discovered that Pudge (the van) had an issue with a radiator hose. Post-dinner we practiced In Christ Alone and Prince of Peace out in the parking lot, trying to get the notes the best we could, trying to organize the parts the best way. We ended up staying there for quite a while as Prof made calls to decide on the best course of action. Mostly I helped maintain order, and as well bonded with the quizzers so that I was no longer, "Who are you again?" We did some crazy stuff, like dancing to Switchfoot, singing random camp-type songs, and going in out of Wendy's a lot. This kid Drew hung out with us while his dad tried to help us out. Sweetness. The quizzers connected with him and let him join in on the fun. That was really cool.

We did make it to Maine, thanks to a Nashua van. Speaking of Nashua, I need to go find a thankyou card. We got to bed pretty late, almost 1:30, and then got about 5ish hours of sleep.

During the day, I "scorekept" (kept tally is what I figured was best for their King of the Hill type quizzing) in one room. At lunch Lori recruited me to quizmaster in a different area. Though I wasn't too sure about doing it, I went ahead, and was able to trade off a few times and get a break. I thought at times I was being too strict with my calls on the answers, but Prof said I was doing fine. I added little study/quiz tips here and there, like making up your own questions in your head. This one kid from "Skow" (Skowhegan?) said that actually helped him move up a room. Wow. Quizmastering wasn't as bad as I'd thought, because I was doing what seemed to be a mid-JV level. I was also really tired. :)

Part of the afternoon I was with the quizzers studying, as they waited for the other team. One was getting antsy, so I kept trying to give him new ways of studying. I also had one quizzer mention "Akel-damia" (like macadamia) instead of Akeldama, as well as say that the men that appeared to the apostles were "two white men" and not "two men dressed in white."

Worship was really good, and I was thinking during the day about this: I was absolutely exhausted but yet God was still using me, and keeping me going.

Last night in one of our Wolly girls' rooms, a few of us stayed up late talking about anything and everything. Mostly dating, God's beginning, mysteries that we can only come up with more questions for, the da Vinci Code, and reaching out. Amazing.

After breakfast, we headed out to the Brunswick church: a very small congregation with about 40 people (yes I counted as we sang). Prof had us mingling with the congregation, and the people I met included the father of a pastor in Delaware, as well as the uncle of a girl from Second Willy last year. At lunch I sat with this elderly couple. Dick was so funny. I said something about pepperoni, and he called it snakemeat, saying rattlesnakes were around. Jennie was like, "Really!?"

On our way home, we stopped in Freeport at the LLBean place. That was pretty cool, and I returned my backpack (with a broken zipper) and got a giftcard to order another online. Now I'm back at ENC, hopefully going to bed in a little bit since I'm so exhausted.

So would you youth-ministry types say I got a good glimpse into what it is like being involved in youth ministry?