Mac Olsen
Express Staff
For Youth Leader Jacob Hodgson, teaching young people values of honour and respect are two of the ingredients to make them good and outstanding citizens later in life – which can be found in the teachings of Jesus Christ.
It is therefore his role, along with that of Kolton and Tanaya Hachey, to host a youth night weekly at the Victory Life Church in McLennan, where youth can learn these teachings.
“My biggest thing is to teach about Christ,” says Hodgson. “I want to teach kids identity and joy, and for them to connect with each other. This is a Christian non-profit organization, we volunteer our time to teach the word of God.”
Youth group meetings are held each Friday night, including a gym night at Ecole Providence on the first Friday, with the rest of the meetings at the Victory Life Church. It is open to youth in Grades 7-12.
In the evening of October 12, Hodgson and the Hacheys had the youth participate in a game of “Ga-ga Ball,” which is a variant of dodgeball that is played in a ga-ga “pit.”
The game combines dodging, striking, running, and jumping, with the objective of being the last person standing. Players hit the ball at each other with their hands and are eliminated if the ball strikes them on or below the knee. The game can be played by a group of individual players or with teams, as well as in one-on-one matches. Rules, ball types, pit surfaces, and pit sizes can vary widely at different venues. See Wikipedia.org for more information about this game.
The youth group laid tables on their sides for enclosure and the balls bounced around accordingly.
Later, they played the ‘Noodle Name Game’. As found the website at youthgroupgames.org, players sit in a circle. One player is standing in the middle holding a pool noodle. A player sitting in the circle calls out someone’s name who is also sitting in the circle.
The player with the pool noodle tries to hit (gently) the player whose name has been called. The player who has their name called must call out someone else’s name before they are hit with the pool noodle. The pool noodle holder then goes after that person.
If a player whose name is called gets hit before they can call out another player’s name, the hit player then goes in the middle and has the pool noodle and the prior middle person takes their spot in the circle.
The last game they played was “human bingo.” As found at icebreakers.ws, human bingo (also known as the Autograph Game or Did You Know? Bingo) is an icebreaker that helps people learn interesting facts about each other. People walk around the room and mingle until they find people that match the facts listed on a bingo-style sheet.
The objective of this game is for people to wander around the room and to obtain the signatures of people who have the facts listed on the bingo sheet. Once a person successfully obtains a full row (5 in a row), whether horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, he or she shouts “BINGO!” and wins.
The winners in this youth group received Skittles candy as their rewards.
Once they finished their games, the youth broke into two groups and sat in circles for religious discussion, with Hodgson taking prayer requests and offering prayers in his group.
As Hodgson observes the youth attending, no one is excluded from participation or being welcomed.
“We’re here to support the community,” says Hodgson. “It’s a safe place for youth, it’s a place to make friends. Nobody is rejected here. God love you.”
Hodgson and the Hacheys will host certain events later in the year, such as a “Star Wars” night.
If you would like more information or to register your child, contact Hodgson at (780) 625-6137.