With just over 20 folks piling into St. Michael’s Belser Building Friday evening, many had no idea what was in store. 5th and 6th graders brought their sleeping gear, Bibles, journals, and suitcases in for this annual event where we aim to familiarize the 5th graders with the youth ministry. This year did not disappoint!

We started a bit slowly with just Chick-fil-a and some of my favorite hilarious Youtube clips, just to get everyone used to each other, but then the action started to pick up as we played some “get to know you” games downstairs. I think the mark of a healthy group of young folks is the ability to at one second play a bunch of intense games, and then in the other second, have a sense of reverence over the big questions in life such as “Who is God?” “How can I have purpose and meaning in my life?” and “What does God want from me?” This certainly characterized this Lock-In!

Though many highlights of the night, perhaps my favorite was the glow in the dark game of man-hunt we played. Nothing like being in the dark trying to find a bunch of pre-teens a lot smaller than you! We are so excited to have this next year’s class join the youth ministry this summer and continue on with us pursuing after Jesus for the transformation of our Hearts and Homes, the Holy City, the Hurting Coast, and the Hungering World!
~ Justin Hare