String thing

I ran a session for my Friday night youth group on identity in God. As a response at the end I gave them all a piece of string, and asked them to think of three things that people had said about them or that they believed about themselves that was different to how God saw them. For each thing they identified I asked them to tie a knot in the string. They then swapped the string with someone else in the group who prayed for them as they untied the knots.

One of the young people said that she wanted to untie the string herself rather than giving it to someone else to do. I let her do this, but she had tied the last knot too tight. In the end after trying for quite a while she asked me to help her. I eventually loosened the knot, and gave it back to her to untie the rest of the way.

I found this experience really profound. The girls struggle with the knot was a perfect illustration that issues to do with identity can be so deep rooted that they sometimes take years of wrestling with, and a lot of effort and determination to overcome. And when it's difficult to see how that knot can ever be undone, the experience stood as a reminder that all the sheer determination and will power in the world may not be enough to be able to budge it. We need God, and God working through others to be able to undo those toughies.

[This creative prayer response was adapted from Jenny Baker's book on Creative Worship]

Using creativity for reflection...

Having arty materials on hand so people can respond to, or reflect on sessions is a great way for people to express what's being going on inside their heads. People all learn in different way, so it's not always good for everyone, but I've found that there are always some people within each group who really value having space to respond creatively.

Our church recently had an away day, where we were looking at the 'centrifugal kingdom' - in a nutshell, not being inwardly focused but instead looking to how we can engage with people outside of the church. For the last session of the day people had the option of how they wanted to respond, including in an arty way, or through discussion, or just going for a walk either with a group or on their own.

I had been asked to run the arty thing, so I just brought along a load of different paints and materials. I didn't direct people much, but instead let them respond in whatever way they wanted to. One lady wasn't arty in a painting and drawing way, so I suggested that she collected different things from the grounds, and did something with them. We also had a couple of children who wanted to do the arty stuff, which was great.

Overall I guess my reflections were:

- An arty response can be so simple to facilitate, and if left really loose can enable people to be as creative as possible.

- It engages all ages.

- It's not only for people who can draw or paint. Everyone is creative because we were made in the image of a creative God.

World Prayer

I have decided to use this blog as a sort of database for any creative ideas I use in youth work and general life. This is partly for my own benefit (I have quite a lot of ideas, but usually forget about them by the time I get to use them), but also for anyone who can make use of it. So here goes.

World Prayer

As part of our once a month alternative service I drew out a map of the world on the floor using masking tape. I then placed copies of news articles from various countries and some of the prayer requests from theTearfund website alongside newsletters from our church's missionaries. You could also include some articles from the Newsround website as theses are short and easy to read. I then asked people to spend some time praying for these different areas (or any other areas/situations they knew of), and when they had done this to place a stone on that area. Simple but effective.