Tonight, we had our Mystery Dinner Theater: The Price is Wrong. Ten teenagers and three adults successfully pulled off a four act play and serving dinner for 90 people in less than two hours. It was a rush. We all worked our butts off, and we all had a blast. We also exposed our Parish, and the Youth Group to a local news caster. He is excited to put together a story on the history of our Parish now!
It is truly amazing how God works through the most unsuspecting suspects:
Angel, she played the lead detective Sgt. Joe Good Friday. Just last year she was a cynical hard head who knew it all. She did not want to be in the Confirmation Class, and frankly I can not blame her. She has been raised in a solidly Catholic family with a solidly Catholic education. What she was being taught in her Confirmation Class was something that she had known since about sixth grade. She could have been teaching it, and the class was an utter waste of her time. Now she has blossomed in to a leader of young people. Our middle schoolers love her, and she returns that unquestioningly.
Garret, who played Agent 0012 was similar. He came at us more from the logical side of things. He can write things in ASCII code (the code that a computer interprets when you type), binary, hexadecimal and octal. He truly is an amazingly smart young man. His focus is more on the technical side of things, and doing things "correctly". Recently though, he has balanced is need for head knowledge with a faith activated from the heart. He is here to provide a service to the Church that it did not offer when he was younger. He sees the value in what we are trying to do, and bends over backwards to make it happen.
DJay, is a stubborn chap. He reminds me of St. Peter; open mouth and insert foot. His faith is deep though, and he would make several steps farther out of the boat than I would. He has had a harder life than a lot of the kids, losing his mother when he was in his early pre-teens. He has the heart of a servant though, and just wants some positive attention. He likes practical jokes, like locking us out of the kitchen when we need to start serving, but underneath it all he is just a good kid, with a deep faith. I still am not sure why he is here, but I think it has something to do with....
Kate, who just last year was a shy wall flower, disinterested and did not want to do anything. Like Angel, our middle schoolers just love her. She has an outward confidence about her, and she wants to be involved in her Church. Her mother said to me, or my boss, that Katie now wants to be at Church, that something happened to her on retreat with us. She is quickly turning into on of our better leaders. She is willing to make herself look silly as long as it leads someone closer to Christ.
Becca, is a weirdo... she played Cindy Lou Hoo tonight, and was just a natural. BTW, when I call someone a weirdo, it is a good thing. Christ was a weirdo underneath it all, and fortunately for youth workers it is a name that will always be attached to us. Becca though is really coming out of her shell. She is smiling again, and happy to be involved in something positive. Sure she does the school sports, but there is just something special about doing something for your Church. She knows it, and wants to be there for her peers.
Cassie is the only freshman of the bunch. She is an artist, and loves to draw. She did our fliers and played the power squad with her sister Jessie. The two of them were hilarious together saying that Jesus was their only steroid, and that He could take us all from spiritual zeros to spiritual heroes. What a pair.
Then, there were our two newbies, Jessica and Henry. Henry played Eminem, and Jessica was a stage hand. They were new to the Parish this year, and just simply happy that someone noticed them and got them involved. Otherwise, they were just faces in their Catechism class. I knew there was something special about the both of them, and they proved me right. Jessica ran our floor and greeted and seated people like she had been doing it for years. Henry was a perfect fit for Eminem and he had those who knew who he was in tears. I am sorry that they were only here for a year.
Finally there was Logan. I met him tonight. He has been working in Restaurants since he was... well... walking. He is dating one of the girls, but he needed community service hours for school. He kicked our butts into gear whipping out plates of food and getting them to the tables faster than I have ever seen at a fundraiser. I truly hope that he will stay involved with us. He has a ton of potential.
All in all the night was amazing. They really stepped up, and did what our Knights of Columbus do, but more efficiently and with a Mystery Dinner going on as well. We made about half what we would need to have a decent for the rest of the high schoolers in the fall. Hopefully I can get some young adults I know in Denver to help me facilitate that one.
I hope that this was little more interesting for you than some of my more recent posts. I have gone away from my candid commentary, but will be getting back into it soon...
Prayers,
Pisio
1 comment:
"They actually are beautiful people. They are still naive enough to believe that they can change the world, and they have not yet been corrupted to the point where they are set in their ways. They truly are amazing."
well said! you seem to know them very well. They're blessed to have you.
I have a friend who also ministers to teen-agers and it hasn't been easy for her. She's just learning to look beyond their rebellious defenses and just love them like what you're doing =)
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