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As a leader you'll want to make the most of the opportunity and all of the hard work/prayer ! Here is an overview from some veteran youth workers on the value of residential trips.....

A version of this article first appeared in the June 2005 issue of Youthwork magazine

No parents. No shops. No sleep. Is that all there is to residential youth holidays? They can be exhilarating, fun, educational, spiritual, relational and topical. But enough of the buzz words - how can you use those four days in a hut on top of a hill to maximum effect?

Before you start..

Veteran youth worker and Birmingham Diocesan Youth Adviser Robin Rolls is keen on all the fun stuff, but makes it clear that it's a wise move to set your own goals before you start planning. 'There's all the aims and objectives stuff,' he says. 'Ask yourself, "Why am I doing this residential?" "What do I want from this piece of work?" "How does it fit into the overall plan, my aims for the year, the job, the church's aims?" "Where do I want the young people to be after this residential?"'

Keep lines of communication clear right from the start. What do parents need to know? What is the best way of getting them involved with the planning? Make sure you have the full backing of your church leaders. I know of one leader who failed miserably to get a youth holiday off the ground simply because she was left to organise the whole thing with very little support (and didn't want to bug the vicar). This only led to exhaustion and stress on her part, and immense disappointment for the youth.

It's worth thinking up a few key aims for your holiday and sharing them with your Church leader, the parents, and the young people right from the word go. Clearly and accountably evaluating the holiday before, during and afterwards means that the experience will be seen in a far more positive light by everyone involved in and impacted by it.

After all, residentials aren't about continually ramming Bible verses down their throats, or shouting at them to shut up every five seconds. It's about giving them space to be themselves, room to mature and learn, and time to discover who they are. Okay, I'm getting a little bit idealistic, so here, collated from a range of practitioners and Youthwork readers, are 10 practical points to think through before taking them away, and 9 ideas for what to do with them when you reach your destination. Book the mini-bus, buy a week's supply of earplugs, and don't forget the tea towels...

Ten Steps to Residential Heaven

If you get the practicalities and the format right, the stage is set for a fun and meaningful time. Here are ten ideas from experience, to help you on your way.

 

Nine Great Residential Activities

With a little creative input, a holiday can stick in the memory for a very long time, so here are ten ideas to help make that happen. The first six I've tried myself; the others come from various residential veterans.

Campfire testimonies: It's an oldie but a goody. Campfire testimonies can be a real eye-opener for everyone, especially those in your group who are unsure whether to commit their life to Christ. The Frontier Centre which we visited had a bonfire with logs surrounding it to sit on. This meant everyone could see each other. The more intimate and comfortable you can make it, the better. Use blankets, hot chocolate; anything to make it cosy. You could combine testimonies from older members of your group with leaders' stories, or just stick to leaders. Testimonies can be incredibly powerful, even more so when you are far from home and a bit less worried about image. Used simply, this could be a great way of introducing a new leader to the group, or letting your young people see your human side. For a deeper time, use the testimony as a vault point to touch on a deeper message. End with an open time of prayer, if appropriate.

Mega treasure hunt: This may work best if you are staying somewhere with a staff team on site who can help you set up the clues. If you are feeling brave, place the clues up trees, in ditches and down holes. This way they get truly grubby, bond straight away, get some fresh air, and earn their supper!

Talent contest: A good source of embarrassment for youth leaders, both during and after the event. Images of you dressed as Mr T singing 'Kumbuyah' will be passed round the church for months afterwards. Don't worry, at least the kids had a good time, and now you know that Kevin can balance teapots on his head and Martha can rip 18 phone directories in an hour, club nights will never be the same again. On a more serious note, if one or two young people really do not want to be in the spotlight, give them helpful jobs such as 'camcorder manager', 'contest judge', or even 'props manager'.

Building game: Making something HUGE together is a great way to get your team pulling together and appreciating each other's strengths and weaknesses. Building a massive tepee with twigs, or a raft with plastic bottles is just good clean fun.

Free worship: With more space and time your group can really use the holiday for a more diverse and personal worship time. Don't just stick with guitar-led worship. Get them painting, writing... whatever they want. Ask them to bring musical instruments and favourite worship tracks.

Themes: 'I think it's important to have a good theme for the weekend. The last one I did was on Mission Impossible and we started the weekend by kidnapping the leaders and tying them up in the forest. The young people had to find them by following clues with torches. The teaching sessions were also based on missions in the way they were phrased; 'Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to...' (Emma B, viaYouthwork Community forum)

Time out: 'One of the most laid-back residential weekends I've ever done involved taking all the group's watches, clocks etc. off them at the very beginning. I claimed I needed them for a game. Over the weekend we went to bed when we were tired, got up when we woke, ate when hungry and finished the discussion sessions when we felt we had covered the subject. Among other benefits, we had no problems getting the young people to go to bed because they had no idea how late it was (or not - they went at about 11pm each night!). It also took a lot of pressure off having to stretch a session or curtail it depending on how it went.' (Andy, via Youthwork Community forum)

In the dark: 'Why not bend the rules a bit and do a nocturnal residential? Set breakfast at 11:30am, and lights out at 4am?' (Robin Rolls, Birmingham DYA). On a similar theme, if you can't afford to travel far or even to have a residential away, organise a (sponsored?) 'wakeathon' from 8am-8pm. Even though they can all fall back into their own beds at 10am the next morning, God may provide some 'magical midnight moments' while you are all prodding each other to stay awake. A Bible study, a midnight feast and a dawn hike are all potential wide-awake ideas.

Awards: 'Announce a 'non-moaner of the week' award at the beginning of the holiday. This works well as it turns moaning into a joke and you can pick them up on it without sounding like a teacher. Provide decent prizes too.' Other award ideas include 'best sibling award', 'most helpful person award', and 'greatest achievement award'. (Jane)

Remember…

If you've sorted all this, says Robin Rolls, then everything else should follow smoothly...

UK Centres and Organisations:

Adapted from: www.youthwork.co.uk/magazine/features/goaway.html