Dear JSAW friends and family,
I am excited to say that last weekends All Night Lock In event was a tremendous success. We had 16 young riders sign up and attend the all night extravaganza. We played a numerous amount of games, conducted three Bible studies, and thankfully no riders broke any bones.
The night started with a few classic games. The first one was the high ollie contest. In this contest riders have to jump over the tallest stack of skateboards. The rider who completes the largest ollie (jump) over the largest stack of skateboards wins. Zach Shuster ollied over six skateboards and took home a set of brand new Krux trucks as a prize. As the night continued we played a large game of Nerf; Nerf is a company that makes plastic guns that shoot foam bullets. We divided up the group of riders into two teams and built bunkers for each team. This battle lasted for 45 minutes! The floor in the skate park was littered with foam bullets.
The Bible study topic of the night was on sex from a biblical perspective. I used a video series called “The Truth About Sex” by Doug Fields. There was three videos, the first one provided a framework for what sex is and meant for according to the Bible, the second video spoke on the difference between girls and guys, and the last video shown expressed the need for teenagers to develop healthy boundaries when around someone of the opposite sex. Each video was accompanied by a 15-20 minute discussion about the relevance of Doug Fields teaching. The main point teaching the young riders is that as Christians our sex lives are not private, they are personal. Thus, we went around and shared our successes and sins surrounding this topic.
We all were having so much fun going from game to game that when I got a chance to look down at my watch to check the time, it was 4am! Believe it or not energy levels stayed high all the way up to 5:30am, then bodies started dropping down wherever there was not pizza boxes, empty cups, or skateboard equipment. A few riders rode their skateboards through the exhaustion of sleep deprivation. At 7am we woke everyone up who had fallen asleep to conduct the awards ceremony. Each rider received a prize and an award from the night events and games. Then I went home and slept until 4pm. Despite the exhausting nature of this event, I love being apart of it. Not only is it fun, but Bible study always goes deeper and seems to hit harder, and as a staff member my relationships with the riders deepen. Riders always remember the all nighter. If you would like to see videos from the event please visit JSAW’s Instagram page.
Thank you to all of our sponsors that kicked in product and gift cards to help us make this night awesome for the kids we serve. Thank you for the parents that have to deal with moody teenagers the day after the All Night Lock In. Continue to pray and give financially to help us minister to these wonderful but often forgotten people group.
Blessings,
Jake Tastad
Program Director, JSAW
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