TheSource4YM.com
	Jonathan's Resource Ezine

• FEAR FACTOR/GROSS GAME ADDITIONS. New Gross Games that people send in . . . that don't necessarily get added (but are sure fun to read!)
  
  
• OUTREACH MODELS THAT WORK. Ministries Reaching the Unchurched.
  
  

FEAR FACTOR/GROSS GAME ADDITIONS
New Gross Games that people send in . . . that don't
necessarily get added (but are sure fun to read!)

If you missed WORLD Magazine's article that irresponsibly thrashed today's youth worker and gross games . . . then you really didn't miss much. (But you can catch up on the hype by
CLICKING HERE!)

But in memory of World Magazine's article, and in the spirit of FEAR FACTOR, I thought I'd let you look at the type of games that are being submitted to this web site each week. I won't be adding a lot of these . . . but they are amusing to read. I thought I'd let you in on some of the fun!

Fear Factor Box

Dear Jonathan,

We just got done with our No Fear Factor camp and let me share one of the games we did. I had a guy in my youth group make a box out of plexi-glass with a clear lid. The bottom is made so you can put your head through it. We had our final contestants face this last challenge. They put their head in and were told to put as many bolts and nuts together in 2 minutes while we dumped 300 roaches and 300 crickets in the box with their head! The roaches made the crickets jump all over the place. It was great. We bring this game out for our big events or the beginning of the school year.

-Sterling-

Worm Fest

Dear Jonathan

Have the "contestants" put one hand in a pot of real "fishing worms" and moist dirt, while eating gummy worms with the other hand. The first one to eat 10 gummy worms without taking their other hand out of the real worm pot is the winner.

Sheep Poo Playoff

Dear Jonathan,

This was the 'Grand Finale' of our month long Fear Factor competition. I think it'd be difficult to find students who would do this if they weren't competing for a $200 cash prize...but it's worth a shot. You'll want to start by laying out a few plastic tarps for floor protection. Then take a plastic molded kiddie pool and fill it a third of the way with pine bark mulch. Next, fill the pool with sheep (or cow) manure until it's half full. Add water to it and mix it all around. Be careful not to fill it too high with water because it will splash out. Now comes the game...drop golf balls in the water and let them sink to the bottom (we used 32). Each contestant gets one minute to fish out as many golf balls as possible. The twist is that they have to get in the pool on their knees and lock their hands behind their necks. They have to remove the golf balls with their elbows. This is great because the poo water gets all in their face (and everywhere else for that matter). Talk about a way to get a couple hundred teenagers pumped about a youth service. That was one of the best services we've ever had because it immediately focused the entire audience on the front of the room.

-Lance-

Chicken Pox Epidemic

Dear Jonathan,

Have the "contestants" "break-out" in chicken pox by covering their arms in washable red marker dots. Give each child a wad of band-aids, and the one who covers the most chicken pox spots in 3 minutes is the winner.

-Brooke-

Fowl Ball

Dear Jonathan,

This game is played just like baseball only substitute a baseball with a frozen rock cornish hen or other small frozen bird from your grocery store freezer.

Trout Smash

Jonathan,

We played a game at our camp this year that I call Trout Smash. I cant remember if I got it from somewhere or it was a hybrid game I smashed together, but it was so hilarious to behold I thought I would send it your way in honor of World magazine appreciation month.

Rules:

2 people teams.
One person on piggy back holding a trout.
Person carrying trout wielder has an egg taped to the top of their head.
"Horse" can't use hands, must only carry rider.
"Rider" must only use trout to hit opponents.

Object: Last team standing with an unsmashed egg wins.

Tips:

*Use fish that have not been gutted, they will last longer.
*Place a paper towel on head then wrap with masking tape to limit hair pain.
*Prepare to laugh your butt off!

Game addition: We stuffed the Trout's mouth with a grape and players had to bite the grape out of the fishes mouth and eat it.

Ohhh what great pictures!
(see them here: www.gzyouthchurch.com)

Thanks for all the great work you do!

-Eric-

Ultimate Octopus

Jonathan,

My kids are dying to play the ultimate frisbee with the octopus like on your games page. I really want to get it together before winter hits. My question is, should the octopus be dead or alive? Do you buy a frozen one and let it thaw? Please let me know? Thanks so much!

-Rebecca-

MY RESPONSE

Dear Rebecca,

No- I assure you- it's not alive when you play. You can find them in the fish sections in many grocery stores, usually cold, not frozen.

Jonathan

HER RESPONSE

Jonathan,

Thanks for the reply. This is the last question, I promise. Does it die during the game?

-Rebecca, MO-

TAKING THE FIFTH AMENDMENT, I'M OMITTING MY SECOND RESPONSE.

I taught a seminar at the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention called UNDERSTANDING AND REACHING THE UNCHURCHED TEEN   In this seminar, I wanted to give more than just good statistics and proven methods, I wanted to give some examples of some ministries who are actually doing it!  So before this convention, I wrote a list of some ministries that I had seen who I had seen reaching "unchurched teens" for Christ.  I contacted the individuals who ran these ministries and interviewed them about their ministry to the "unchurched teen."

The ministries I contacted were:

• Kurt Johnston's jr. high ministry at Saddleback Church
  

• Full Throttle, an offsite teen center ministry at a church in central California.
  

• Insight, a church ministry in a small, one high school town, that brings out hundreds
  

• Crossover, an inner-city basketball ministry reaching hundreds
  

• Campus Life, a para-church on campus outreach

N E X T W E E K
IN THE "EZINE" FROM THE SOURCE

UNDERSTANDING AND REACHING
THE UNCHURCHED TEEN

Helpful hints from the training seminar
Jonathan taught at the West Coast Youth Specialties
National Youth Workers Convention

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
If you have any other youth ministry ideas you want to share, please email meat jon@thesource4ym.com

God Bless!
Jonathan R. McKee