Since Young Life goes to where kids are and in many of our states kids are having to do school from home, we decided to visit kids at their homes. We have done this with WyldLife, Capernaum, and our Young Life clubs. All told, we have visited kids’ homes almost 1000 times this past fall semester.
We divided our club roster amongst the leadership team and the same leader kept going to the same homes. We did sidewalk graduation ceremonies, we delivered Easter candy baskets, back to school care packages, giant sized otter pops, frozen yogurt, lunches from their favorite fast food place, birthday/half-birthday greetings, and finally this fall started to do what we called “club on the porch.”
“Club on the Porch” is where we would come up with a club game that they could do on their porch or driveway. We came up with games that an overall winner could easily be identified by who did the game the fastest, furthest, or most in the allotted time. Then we would come back with a surprise sidewalk award ceremony that we plotted with the parents to get their kid to walk outside and not suspect us hiding around the corner, behind the bushes, or the car in the driveway. We’d play “We are the Champions,” explode confetti cannons, present an award certificate or trophy and bringa free lunch to be enjoyed on the back patio with their YL leader. We’ve done all this with leaders showing up wearing masks, bringing a bottle of hand sanitizer, and other good practices to keep leaders and families safe.
What happened after almost 1000 home visits?
Leaders got to know kids so much better through their conversations. Kids really look forward to their leader showing up. Leaders got to know parents better than ever! I can confidently say that I got to know more parents in six months than the past three years! Parents loved that we consistently showed up 1-2 times a month. They enjoyed talking to another adult face to face.
Towards the end of the fall semester we started bringing high school campaigners and student leaders with us. We invited these students along so that they could introduce us to their friends who we didn’t yet know, those friends' of theirs homes that don’t come to club. We plan to continue this moving forward. This spring we are going to take Young Life leaders and high school student leaders along with our WyldLife leaders to meet all of the graduating 8th graders.
This has been such a win for our area that we will continue to do this when Covid restrictions are long gone. Showing up in their world for some one on one time with a splash of Young Life fun has made the past nine months some of the best ministry we have ever done in our area.
Looking for some ideas and inspiration? Check out some of these ideas:
Back to School video Compilation video
Photo Albums Ping Pong Game, Capernaum Porch Club, Teddy Bear Club, TB Club 2, Back to school, Graduation Pics, Graduation Pics 2, Award Ceremony Video
By Robb Schreiber and Brad Scandrett from San Diego North Young Life