YL – Blacklight Club

YL – Blacklight Night

So last night was pretty awesome. We had club at my home church in the youth room. I was given a couple cans of black light spray paint and I sprayed the kid’s hair and clothes as they walked in. Blacklights filled the room and set the tone for the evening.

We played a game with vaseline and glow in the dark cotton balls on our noses (running around trying to blow the cotton off of other’s noses), black light dodge ball, a ‘mosh – pit’ type game where students in reflective tape on glowing pool rafts were passed down rows of kids on the floor. Later ‘dancers’ in all black with glowing strands taped to their clothes like glow-in-the-dark skeletons came out and danced and threw glow-in-the-dark necklaces at the crowd. The band played a few songs to pump up the kids even more, and then the director asked me to come on stage and tell a little about myself as a new leader. After 30 seconds of “uh, well, let’s see, and then, so, and…” – I’m usually a pretty good speaker, but wow - he finally relieved me (or so I thought). He handed the kids cans of silly string, more black light spray paint and bottles of glow-in-the-dark liquid paint that was really more like cold snot. All the leaders sat in a row of chairs and the kids covered us in a mountain of the stuff, then they took pictures.

At the end, “Phat Matt” (leader) had a kid volunteer to drink a glass of a really hot thick substance and talked about when he was little his parents tried to warn him not to eat the hot sauce at restaurants, but he felt like they were just out to ‘jip’ him. He talked about how he used to think that God was a “cosmic kill-joy” and that even though he loved God, he followed his friends and led his life for worldly things, like drinking and girls. After conviction consumed him, and a close friend of his in college passed unexpectedly in the night, he started to change. He said, “Yesterday is gone, tomorrow isn’t promised, all you have in this world is today.” He came to realize that a relationship with Christ is not restricting; it’s amazing, just like they show the kids every Monday at Club. It’s freeing and fulfilling, instead of empty and full of temporary thrills that leave you feeling guilty, wasted up and lost.

He referenced John 10:10: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. He went on to say that the 'thief' is the world (and the sin in it), but God has sent his son Jesus, so that we may have life to the full.

Then he paraphrased his talk with a rap (he was actually really good!) I'm still SO amazed at how the kids are attentive and supportive of hearing the message put before them, and how well the messages are relatable (is that a word?) to the kids!

All in all, it was yet another successful Club night, and SO much fun. I didn’t go to sleep until after 1 am!

Verse to ponder: John 10:10 (NIV) “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”