Weekend Away

Over the weekend of Friday 28^th to Sunday 30^th September 2012, a group of 8 young people and 5 adults spent the weekend away to Clacton.  The young people came from youth groups connected to Maldon Methodist Church (Pioneers and RAWR), South Woodham Ferrers and Springfield park Baptist churches.



The Weekend Gang

Friday evening was a relaxed time, getting to know each other as this was the first time the whole group had meet for the first time.  We had a take-a-way supper of fish and chips, burger and chips or something and chips, eating these as we headed down to the Pier.  When we got back to base, we spent time playing board games or UNO, getting to know each other and setting up beds.

Saturday morning was spent looking at the story Jesus told about the rich farmer who had to build bigger barns to store his crops, but died before he could reap the reward of selling it off.  The message is about storing up worldly riches which you cannot take with you when you died, so it is better to use the wealth to help others.

To help make the point, we made a bunch of cakes, decorated them and sold them on Sunday morning after the Harvest Service.  Thanks to the congregation, we raised £30 points.  One part of the session was deciding which charity to send the money too.  We looked at several recent adverts for some and finally chose UNICEF.  Another craft activity was to decorate a money box for home use to raise money for other charities of our own choosing.

 

After lunch we looked at two other stories of Jesus, both looking at how people dealt with money.  The first was the dishonest manager who misused his master money for his own gain and another rich man who threw a party to which the invited guests did not come to.

The dishonest manager was cleaver in trying to secure another job after he was sacked and we wondered how much Christians work in spreading the Good News?  Do they spend as much effort as the dishonest manager did in secure a new job?

The rich man’s party was eventually attended by those he did not know, the people off the streets and the down and outs.  Here we looked at sharing our wealth with those who have little to nothing.  During this time, the young people decorated a small box to contain a list of their abilities to serve God, a cake shaped invitation and painted a cup coaster.

 

The late afternoon and early evening was spent on the Pier and a great time was had by the young people.  We had a great evening meal and then played more games, some learning new ones.  Bed time came and sleep soon followed.

 

Sunday morning came and we all helped tidy up.  We joined with the congregation for Harvest Celebration and a Baptism service, after which we sold all the cakes made on Saturday.  We also joined with them for a bring-and-share lunch.  To finish off the weekend, we all (young people and leaders) made a small Owl to remind us about the wisdom (or lack of it) from the characters in Jesus’ stories.  The rich farmer was un-wise in trying to keep all his money, the dishonesty manager was un-wise to use his master money, but wise to try and secure a job in the future.  The rich man wisely invited anyone to his party, to share his money with others.