You get out of bed and quickly rush to take a shower.  Everyone else in the camp is rushing to do the same, as they don’t want to be late themselves to the mess hall.  It doesn’t take you long to shower and get dressed.  You soon find yourself walking up the hill to the mess hall.  As you approach, someone from the militia opens the door as you walk to it.

"Find a table and sit down!" your informed.  You quickly scan the tables and find an empty seat.  One of the other militia is wandering the mess hall.  "Put your head on your plate" you hear him yell.  It takes a second, but then you realize he’s yelling/talking to you. 

"What part of head on plate don’t you understand?" 

You comply with your captors request, and your forehead is now on your plate.  Everyone finishes entering the mess hall…and the noise has only just begun.

"I understand…" one of the militia starts to say "that some of you were out of your cabin last night.  You attended a church service.  Who here left their cabin last night?"

The question echoes in the air.  Slowly, as if a wave crossing the room, people stand up from their chairs.  No other noise is heard other than that of the chairs moving everyone stands up.  You find yourself unsure what to do at first, but find solace in the fact that together, you all are standing.  Either you will live together, or die together.  That has yet to be seen.

"Well, well.  Can’t even follow directions" you hear echo in the room

"Guess your only getting cold cereal then…."

You watch as the militia talks to the kitchen staff.  You don’t hear everything, but you know that they are instructing the staff to prepare cereal for everyone and hot food for them.

"The youngest person at your table….you come up and get the cereal.  The lower even number….you come up and get the milk"

You watch as people around you start to compare ages and numbers and as they slowly walk up to the front to collect the cereal and milk for the morning meal.  There is a hushed silence in the cafeteria as people begin to eat their cereal.  Breakfast lasts only a few minutes altogether.  After cleaning up, you are all lined up against the wall, youngest to oldest, in two lines.  One for the males, one for the females.  As you stand in line, the militia number you off.  "your number 5" they say pointing to you.  You look at the tables in the center and find your number.  Sitting down, others slowly join you.  You don’t know what’s happening, you just know that if the militia are dividing you, it can’t be good.  After your in your groups, you are then ushered into the "court room".  In the "court room" there is one judge who is acting like a referee.  There is also the militia who are acting as both prosecutors and jury in the room.  One by one, the militia present an argument against Christianity to each group.  Each group is then tasked with pleading either guilty, or not guilty to each charge and then answering for each of their "crimes" that they are being charged with.  To one group, the militia gives the argument that there is no God, that God is just a made up character created by man(#) to satisfy something.  But God, does not exist.  Another argument is that man is not sinful by nature(#) and that sin was created by man to make people feel guilty and therefore believe in God.  Anotherargument presented was that the bible is full of mistakes and that Evolution(#) is the tried, true, and proven method. Another argument presented by the militia is that there is no right or wrong, and that everyone, in the end, is good and right(#).

One by one the groups presented their cases to the militia.  One by one, the groups arguments were challenged.  Finally its your groups turn.  As your representatives stand up and present their arguments, you begin to have a sinking feeling.  You are really, for the first time, having to defend you faith for your(in as real as it can get) life.  With each case presented, the group is allowed to answer the charges presented by the militia as a group witness type of setup.  After all the cases have been presented, the groups are then given new charges.  As you hear them read off, you understand that these are more personal now. 

The previous charges were against the religion of Christianity as a religion.  These new charges, however, are against the people of Christianity.  Most of them were the typical charges that people will use to argue against people.  One, however, stood out.  The one was this.  Christian leaders are falling by what seems likes hundreds to sexual sin.  How can they, as Christians, do this and what does this mean for the leadership of the church as a whole(#).  At least, that’s how the question sounded.

Again the groups are brought up one at a time to defend their case and the militia is allowed to question them over this.

It is now time for lunch.  Your mouth waters for lunch as you sit with your group.

The man in the orange vest stands up in the middle of the room.  After showing which side he has chosen and favored during the trials, it is now time for him to switch sides and play the role of the impartial neutral character again.

"For lunch, we are going to do what a lot of Christians around the world do.  Find it."

Your heart sinks.  Find lunch in a snow covered camp?  What?  Bark?

………….to be continued……..

Categories: Youth Group
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If you ….

1. Were not at snow camp
2. Have not read parts I or II

Please go back and read parts one and two, otherwise the following will not make sense.  With that said…lets continue…

As you lay there in your bed, the militia yelling outside you start to be able to distinguish the words that they are yelling.  “Number 17, oh Number 17″  They continued yelling this until you see some movement in the cabin.  One of your fellow cabin mates walks to the door and stands in the doorway.  “I’m right here” he yells to the militia.  The cold flowing into the dark cabin as one of your own sits there proclaiming where they are to the militia.  Wondering why they were calling for him, you start to look around at him standing in the doorway.  Then  you see it.  In his hand, holding it while proclaiming to the militia where he was was his Bible.  Well one of the of them anyway….

Earlier that night after the bibles had been taken away and the command to return to the cabins were given as you were sitting down in the cabin, another one of your cabin mates pulls out a small bible.  He starts to read from it as the cabin starts to settle down for the evening.  As he finishes reading you don’t know that his big bible is still in his possession, but he does.  And he knew, somehow, what was happening and what was to come.  He did, however, have the hope that the small bible would not be known about and taken away.  Due to this, and the fact that all bibles were now banned, he decide to give the small book his own nickname.  That way, if anyone in the cabin wanted to read/borrow the bible they would just ask if they could grab the “glow ball.”  Glow ball.  What an interesting name for a small bible, but it stuck.

As the militia came up to the cabin, the large bible was taken away and he returned to his own bed.  For whatever reason, they didn’t shoot him.  If they, however, knew of or discovered the small “glow ball”, it would be all over for him.  As he returned to his bed, the cabin started to settle down.  Usually on a typical snow camp trip, there would be a lights out, but the noise and celebration in the cabin would continue late into the night and early the next morning resulting in a tired bunch of campers.  This evening though, as soon as the one deemed number 17 returned to bed, there was a quietness and stillness that swept across the cabin.  The race was on to try and get some sleep.  Only about a half hour you were informed that there was a meeting organized for later that night at 2am.  As it was already after eleven in the evening, that meant less than three hours until we were to meet.  You lay there in your bed, fully clothed so you can jump out of bed and get to the location as soon as possible.  You know that you need to be quite when going to the location, as you never know if the militia is there or not.  You lay down and slowly fall into a deep slumber.

In what seems what like a few seconds after finally getting to sleep, you are awoken.  The cabin is stirring as everyone is getting up and finishing getting dressed and getting ready to go to the meeting.  Everyone, while getting ready, is quite and the lights are off.  You pull as much on you as you can.  Making sure to wear your gloves and boots as you have been informed that the meeting will be held in an unheated barn.  You exit the cabin and you meet others who are traveling to the same location as you from the other cabins.  There is an understood silence between all of you as you walk together to the location that you have been instructed to go to.  Across the camp you walk to an unite and unheated barn. 

You walk to the barn and up the steps.  The steps are covered in deep snow and with some ice and the door, as a result of the snow, barely opens.  You squeeze into the barn and see others in there sitting around on chairs.  There is one light in the barn as you take a seat.  Adrian(the speaker for the week) stands up and, although cold, begins to ask questions for you to think about.  Questions to reflect on, and think about during the course of the weekend.  After what seems like a long time, one worn and old bible is produced.  They take a knife to the bible and kneel down in front of the bible as they take the knife to it and cut sections out.  As the sections are cut out they are then passed out among those who are sitting in the barn.  Each of you receiving about two to three pages of the Bible.  This is what you have for the weekend to read from and commit to memory.  Because these are only a few pages, you never know how long they will last because of the lack of thickness of each of the pages.  You fold the pages up and put them in your pocket as you are warned by the speaker that the militia can not find the pages as this would be a problem if they found the pages.  Carry them with you, but don’t let the militia see them.  With that, the speaker sits down as after a few seconds, all of the voices of all those in the cabin combine in a chorus of music.  No instruments, just voices as there is a time of worship. 

After a few songs, everyone is dismissed and walks quietly back to the cabins.  Down the snowy/icy steps and across the camp.  The cabins are still warm as you return and lay down in bed.  Finally you are able to sleep.  Your head hits the pillow.  A few hours later, you hear yelling outside.  Its the militia.  As they walk by they hit the sides of the cabin.  “Time to wake up!  Be at the mess hall in a half hour” is what you hear.  You turn on your side.  Another day has begun.  Another chance to learn, and another opportunity to stand for what you know is right.  The question is though, will you return to the cabin that night or will you be the third one to loose their life for standing up for what they believe.  Its only 8:00am, and there is a lot of day left to see what is going to occur.

…..continued tomorrow………..

Categories: General, Youth Group
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"debrief"  the word echoes in the mess hall as the militia quiet down.

You are then welcomed, introduced to simulation, given your code words to follow and told to praise—ok not praise—but notice the "pretty orange vest"(I honestly was thinking he was going to burst out into a chorus of "I feel pretty.." you know what im talking about)  The militia, for all intents and purposes are now in control of the camp.  The judge, who sits outside the game, just watches and(at the times he deems necessary) shows his bias towards his rulings….

The code word to start the simulation is given, and you return back to the scene that you left for those brief few seconds while the rules were explained.  Still divided, the men on one side of the room the women on the other, you start to hear the insults, jests, and cruelty in voice come out through the hall.  The small hall seems to amplify the words around you, meshing together to create a large shouting voice able to drown out your own mind.  They are trying to rattle you, to make you break down..and they are willing to do anything to do it.  They want to make you nervous..to get under your skin just a little is their goal.  The group next to you is the ones who are the current point of amusement for the militia.  One comes by and gives them and their group one order.  A few seconds later, another comes round and gives the group a completely different order. Both times the group complies, and just as they finish complying with the seconds soldiers demands, the first one comes back and yells at them for not following his orders. Anything to break you down.

A few at a time, you are told to take your possessions over to a table on one side of the building.  You head over there with everything you have.  Your bible is taken away from you, and placed in a bag.  You are then numbered, a piece of duct tape attached to you with a number.  You loose the number….your just told you don’t want to know what happens when you loose your number.  Your moved to another area of the hall where you are instructed to sit down, face facing the floor.  Once in a while, they will find something, so they will instruct everyone to look at them while they try to figure out who it belongs to.  All the while all of this is going on, there are still people on the other side being told to stand, sit, face the fall, and whatever else the militia feels to do at that time.  This entire time, they are pacing around giving you orders, asking questions, and making statements.  Shouting at the top of their lungs, the make sure that you hear statements such as "Christianity is simple.  Your weak" and you can guess the drill from there.  As they number your peers, they find names for them.  You laugh, your a joker.  You are therefore named Joker.  You have a honeybun, and guess what your named…..

This continues for an extended period of time.  As you sit there on the floor you realize that even though this is a simulation, it should be and will be taken at face value.  And then it happens.  From one side you hear the resistance of one person refusing to give up their Bible.  They are carried over to the other side, and shot.  Now one person from the group is dead.  Reality starts to sink in.  You can’t just go through this simulation knowing that it will end.  You go through it knowing that you have to think every second of it.  Keep your mind, and your heart, sharp.  Re-enforcing your faith by depending on God.  You will be challenged, you won’t leave the weekend the same person that stepped foot onto that white snowy ground.  How much maturing can happen in only a few days.  The next few days will show you just how much you can do just that.

The sounds continue to surround you for a few seconds and then you hear some yelling.  More challenges to your faith are thrown at you.  And then, it happens.  Lights out are being ordered.  You are instructed that you have a half hour until the lights in your cabin are to be out. Your lights are on, and your will be paying the price.  Standing outside in the cold, while it seems like small punishment, could easily be made worse by the militia.  With this last warning of standing outside in the cold, you are dismissed to your cabin to prepare for bed and be in bed by the time the militia makes their rounds.

Going to the cabins, its kind of a somber mood.  There is still a joy and happiness, but there is also this thought of "What has become of snow camp".  No one said it, but you could see it and feel it.  A half hour seems like a long time to get ready, but when everyone is competing for the same facilities, it could easily become a game of tug and war.  Instead, one of the most beautiful things occurred.  Even though things were, to be honest, looking not the best for everyone at the time.  They shared.  They respected one another, and everyone was able to get the resources and facilities that they needed.  Even in the cabins, you witness as those who have more blankets or other items share with those who have less.  The idea that they were in this together and had to rely on one another more was already spreading through the camp. As the lights go out, the militia patrols the camp.  They are looking for someone to break their rules to make an example of.  As you peak out the window nervously, you see that not one cabin is giving them reason for recourse.  They are complying.  As you sink back down to go to bed, knowing that no one else, at least for the night is going to be shot you hear the militia start to yell.  Its late at night, but night has just begun…..

Now for someone who knew all of this was coming, it didn’t bother me.  But for those who were surprised by the sudden turn of events.  I can’t help but wonder what they were feeling, or thinking as they started to process all of this….

Continued….within the next few days

Categories: General, Thoughts, Youth Group
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This past weekend I had the privilege of playing bass and joining in the activities of Racine Fellowship’s youth group snow camp.  When most people think of snow camp, they get warm fuzzies inside thinking about tubing, games, teaching times, and most important of all—staying up late and gouging themselves on food.

Well snow camp for Fellowship this past year was anything but that.

With that in mind, come with me to a nice February Friday night.  Locate yourself in the mess hall of a camp.  Not a run down camp, but a fairly nice and well kept mess hall.  Good.  Got that image in your mind?  Your sitting in a chair, you know, the ones that churches across America keep in their basement.  They are cushioned at least.  There are many rows, all filled with students.  Up front is a stage.  There is a drum set, electric guitar, keyboard, and bass guitar as well as a sound system, and a laptop computer.   The speaker for the weekend has just finished speaking when all of a sudden from behind you there is the noise of airhornes, whistles and yelling as masked men storm the building.  They turn off the lights(or maybe they were just dimmed well–can’t remember exactly) and continue to yell for everyone to go to the floor.  You then hear the pastor of camp asking them under what authority they have come on camp grounds.  All the while, your laying on cold concrete, your face staring at cement.  Your heart beating a mile a minute, not knowing what is going to happen next.  You hear some more words exchanged between these new men and the camp pastor when you are told to go face the walls.  Men on one side, women on the other.  As you stand there, you hear the pastor being dragged, all the while yelling at you to stay strong.  You hear him yelling this to those around, encouraging them, even as he’s being dragged away.  As he does this, you then here a gun go off, and his voice fall silent.  That is when it hits you, this is no game.  And that is when you hear the word “debrief”

That is how snow camp for Fellowship Baptist Church in Racine, Wisconsin started this year.  Don’t worry, those weren’t real people there to perform real harm, they were all there for one purpose, to play out a simulation for the teens to live through and work through and to learn from.

Keep in mind the following as I recount the weekend.  The people who were used and were participating in this exercise are all Christians and there desire is to help those kids that were there(and that they were yelling at) to grow and get a small glimpse into the reality that thousands across the world face on a daily basis. Also keep in mind, that this is also written from the point of view of a leader of the group who knew what was going to happen and was actually kinda excited to see how it would play out trying to think like a student who is encountering this for the first time without knowing the plan. With all of that being said, the weekend played out in a very interesting way.  I’ll recount some of the more interesting points, and along the way pause and put in a (#) which indicates a future point that I will expound upon later.  Basically any (#) are thoughts/rants that I already have stored up in my mind/heart but this weekend has just prompted the rapid release of them to the general public to hear/read.

This will be continued…tomorrow…

Categories: Thoughts, Youth Group
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