I live in the DC Metro area. I am also a die-hard Dallas Cowboys game which is counter to most of the rest of the area. So, if you follow the NFL, you know that the Redskins played the Cowboys yesterday in a win-or-go-home regular season finale. The winner went the playoffs, the loser went home. Added to this pressure was the long history of the Redskins vs. Cowboys rivalry – one of the most storied ones of all-time. All this being said, I, like so many others in this area, was really looking forward to watching this game.
Well, our youth program had our traditional 2 weeks off over Christmas and New Years as so many people travel and it’s a good family time together. But, when I saw this game was on and it was being shown at 8:30 pm on Sunday night, I had to put together an impromptu gathering for our students to watch it. I did this because the reality was, they were gonna watch it somewhere so why not watch it with their peers and volunteer youth leaders.
So I set up a Facebook event and started spreading the word. It would be informal, just a simple come and “watch the game with us” event. And, as luck turned out, between the middle and high school viewings, we had around 37 students come out.
Here is why I had a lot of fun with this…
- It was an easy win. Redskin football is important here. This rivalry is important and the playoffs are important. That meant, people were gonna watch it. And since I was gonna watch the game anyways with my girls, I figured, why not have some of our friends join us.
- Students got to connect with each other. We are trying to build community in our group – especially community with high schoolers interacting with high schoolers and middle schoolers interacting with middle schoolers. This provided that opportunity for friendships to be built and developed more. With around 20 high schoolers hanging together for 4 hours and 17 middle schoolers doing the same, relationships evolve. They played games together, slapped high-fives when teams scored, joked around. This wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t do this event.
- It was an outreach opportunity. Students that normally wouldn’t come to Church definitely came to my house and began to build friendships with people who do go to Church. That is a bridge into our program and into a relationship with Christ.
- Leaders got another opportunity to interact with students and further those relationships. My leaders are busy with work, their own social lives and other things so to provide this opportunity for them was a winner as well.