New Center; Same Youth (That's a good thing)
At the end of the 2007/08 school year, our Youth Group learned that it would need to find a new location for the current school year. Our former landlord's daughter graduated from university last May and is now living in the apartment where our group used to meet. So much of last Spring was spent seeking out a new venue for our weekly meetings. As one might guess, location is key, not just so it is near enough (as possible) to all the you who would like to attend, but also so we will not be bothering too many local people.
You see, Youth Group can be a bit raucous. We play music with small scale sound system hooked up to a keyboard and electric guitars. We also have a trap set with a number of different size drums and cymbals. When we sing, it can be rather loud. Plus, these are youth; they can be loud just living from moment to moment. So we needed just the right place, an our Father provided beautifully.
The above photo is taken from the window of our new Youth Center on the twenty-fourth floor of a building about twenty minutes (brisk walk) from where I live. It overlooks the city and reminds us all why praise Him. It also reminds us of the Great Commission. From this perch we can see DianChi, the large lake south of Kunming. This particular view faces downtown (upper left portion of the photo). As one can tell from the photo, Kunming, even though it is small by comparisson with other Chinese cities, its four-million people do cover some area.
However, a youth center is nothing without youth. The above photo was actually taken in the newly painted "Paradise Tent" on KIA's campus, but all of the students attend youth center meetings. From left to right are Marie (Austria/Germany), Daniel (Australia), Daniel (hidden behind the other Daniel, USA), Sinai (Korea), Grace (USA), and Andrew (USA). Andrew is one of the boys who recently lost his mother, a teacher at KIA. This picture was taken during a back-to-school fun night held on the school's campus. The students created flags for their teams. This team--the team I was a part of--was known as "Spirit Pigs."
Here is a shot of the inside of our Youth center. This is the main meeting area. The apartment also has two bathrooms, a kitchen, and three smaller rooms. This picture was taken the night of our Jr. and Sr. High, joint, back-to-school bash. Jr. High youth group normally meets on Thursday evenings, with Sr. High usually meeting on Friday evenings. Up front speaking is Kenny, one of our youth center's head leaders. He is from Memphis, TN, and joined us last year at the start of the second semester. Along with Amber (from New Mexico), who joined us at the beginning of last school year, Kenny helps organize the direction of the youth center.
Youth would not be youth without opportunities to do bizarre things. In this photo, one team (like Spirit Pigs) performs an interpretive dance. Their efforts earned them first place in the team dance event of our Olympic themed welcome-back party. Tony, from Korea, displays his unique "Tummy rub" dance. Honestly, it looked a little like the guitar strumming tribute to Bill and Ted in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure crossed with the Grecian Urn scene from The Music Man.
The goal of teaching and of youth center is to help students find their unique purpose, which often revolves around his or her unique skills. Well, this is one of Daniel's (USA) unique skills. This boy can dance, but his primary physical skills involve flexibility and balance, both of which he displays in navigating the limbo stick. If you are wondering how high that bar really is, it was about the height of my knees, about eighteen to twenty inches off the surface. I do not know about any of you, but that is low in my book.
Well, that is our youth center and our youth. We do teach them the Word, but we also let them be youths. Through this formula we hope to raise the next generation of world leaders
You see, Youth Group can be a bit raucous. We play music with small scale sound system hooked up to a keyboard and electric guitars. We also have a trap set with a number of different size drums and cymbals. When we sing, it can be rather loud. Plus, these are youth; they can be loud just living from moment to moment. So we needed just the right place, an our Father provided beautifully.
The above photo is taken from the window of our new Youth Center on the twenty-fourth floor of a building about twenty minutes (brisk walk) from where I live. It overlooks the city and reminds us all why praise Him. It also reminds us of the Great Commission. From this perch we can see DianChi, the large lake south of Kunming. This particular view faces downtown (upper left portion of the photo). As one can tell from the photo, Kunming, even though it is small by comparisson with other Chinese cities, its four-million people do cover some area.
However, a youth center is nothing without youth. The above photo was actually taken in the newly painted "Paradise Tent" on KIA's campus, but all of the students attend youth center meetings. From left to right are Marie (Austria/Germany), Daniel (Australia), Daniel (hidden behind the other Daniel, USA), Sinai (Korea), Grace (USA), and Andrew (USA). Andrew is one of the boys who recently lost his mother, a teacher at KIA. This picture was taken during a back-to-school fun night held on the school's campus. The students created flags for their teams. This team--the team I was a part of--was known as "Spirit Pigs."
Here is a shot of the inside of our Youth center. This is the main meeting area. The apartment also has two bathrooms, a kitchen, and three smaller rooms. This picture was taken the night of our Jr. and Sr. High, joint, back-to-school bash. Jr. High youth group normally meets on Thursday evenings, with Sr. High usually meeting on Friday evenings. Up front speaking is Kenny, one of our youth center's head leaders. He is from Memphis, TN, and joined us last year at the start of the second semester. Along with Amber (from New Mexico), who joined us at the beginning of last school year, Kenny helps organize the direction of the youth center.
Youth would not be youth without opportunities to do bizarre things. In this photo, one team (like Spirit Pigs) performs an interpretive dance. Their efforts earned them first place in the team dance event of our Olympic themed welcome-back party. Tony, from Korea, displays his unique "Tummy rub" dance. Honestly, it looked a little like the guitar strumming tribute to Bill and Ted in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure crossed with the Grecian Urn scene from The Music Man.
The goal of teaching and of youth center is to help students find their unique purpose, which often revolves around his or her unique skills. Well, this is one of Daniel's (USA) unique skills. This boy can dance, but his primary physical skills involve flexibility and balance, both of which he displays in navigating the limbo stick. If you are wondering how high that bar really is, it was about the height of my knees, about eighteen to twenty inches off the surface. I do not know about any of you, but that is low in my book.
Well, that is our youth center and our youth. We do teach them the Word, but we also let them be youths. Through this formula we hope to raise the next generation of world leaders
posted by Roland at 7:53 AM
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