All About Me! Moving Parts It's Your Move All gather in the center of the gym, welcome, and introduction of guests, make announcements. For Sponsors: Which way are we moving? 1. We are all here for each other. 2. Building bonds with others is good practice. 3.Building bonds with Christ is good livin'. Which Way Are We Moving Work Zone & High Way All of us are different and have different Ideas. Fear of being different is a great hurdle to overcome when we are young. To night we are going to explore a little bit about the things that make us different and the one thing that makes us the same. Does anyone have an idea about what make us the same? Basically we all need Christ! When we come to know Christ, is up to us as individuals. One of the things said at the in the Sr. breakfast reminded me again about "Fair and Equal" and how Christ is always there for us weather it's fair or equal or not. One example would be a criminal on death row coming to know Christ in the last hours of his life. Is that fair? (Share the word picture about baseball and pizza)           Break into Journey Groups   Moving Up  Work Zone & High Way Feelings Needed: plain paper napkins, tape, and ballpoint pens. Give each person a napkin. Set out the pens, and have each person draw a picture or symbol that illustrates how he or she feels right now. As the youth finish have them tape the drawing to the front of his or her shirt. Work Zone When everyone finishes have youth form two groups and take turns sharing with each other the expiation of his or her napkin to the other members. High Way When everyone finishes have youth take turns sharing with each other the expiation of his or her napkin to the other members. Discuss: · What was difficult about drawing on a napkin?  · How is the delicate nature of the napkin similar to our feelings? · What can we do on a regular basis to help protect each other's feelings?    Moving In Work Zone & High Way I'm Not Alone Needed: paper and a pencil.  (Road Work: stay in two smaller groups)  Say: Write one fact that no one else in this room knows about you. Make sure it's something you don't mind others knowing. For example, you could write, "I once had ten stitches in my chin." (When everyone has finished, collect and shuffle the papers. Have students sit in a circle and each take a paper, preferably not his or her own.) Say: Now let's play a game. Each of you will read aloud the paper you now hold. Then everyone will try to guess who wrote it. Go around the circle until the group identifies who wrote each statement. · What was difficult about this game? · How did you feel when others figured out which statement you wrote? · Does this game change how you feel about others in the room? Why or why not? · How is this activity like the way God knows you? How is it different? · Do you think God is with you and wants to know you? Why or why not? · How does it affect you to realize that God knows everything about you? · Why is it important to God to know you so well?  Moving On Work Zone & High Way The Masks of Me Needed: copy of the poem Faces of Me  for each person.  (Road Work: stay in two smaller groups) Distribute the copies of the poem Faces of Me by Verne Becker. Have the students take turns reading the poem out loud to the group. Faces of Me I am not really myself.  I am someone else.  When others see me to talk to me  They are talking to a stranger,  Not me.  I am kept hidden away, Safe from discovery or attack,  Behind the cover of my masks. Each day.  Sometimes knowingly, sometimes not.  As I sift through my closet,  Choosing which clothes to wear,  I also search my mental mask menagerie,  Carefully selecting the image I want to project. Like an actor, I have learned to portray many roles, Many faces, Many moods. And I use a different mask for each. Each mask represents something about me, The me I would like to be. I put on a mask of happiness because I sincerely want to be happy, I wear the socialite mask because I want friends to have fun with, The self-sufficiency mask because I truly want to take charge of my life. I know these goals are worthwhile. And I view the masks as a way To help me reach those goals By putting my best foot forward. Something peculiar happens, however,  As I continue wearing these masks.  They begin to feel too comfortable. Natural.  Necessary. I can go for weeks without removing them. As if they were extended-wear contact lenses  That only require an occasional cleaning. As I get used to my masks, I begin to believe they might really be me  Rather than merely a facade. Yet meanwhile, My true self lies dormant with me. Isolated. Forgotten. So rather than bringing me closer to my goals, The masks alienate me from them.  Like a brick wall, the masks confine me. Isolate me. Hide me from other people. And before long I realize I'm not what my mask says I am, But exactly the opposite. When I don the mask of conformity, Identifying me with a certain group, I'm really broadcasting my own lack of identity, My own uncertainty of who I am. Or when I wear the mask of confidence, Refusing to admit weakness, mistakes or hurt, I'm telegraphing my own insecurity. I have other masks that I maintain For use at the proper time: The mask of superiority To stare down inferior feelings I detect in others And in myself; The mask of appearance ; To enhance my attractiveness to others So I'll forget how ugly I think I am; The clown or the rowdy masks To gain the attention I can't obtain otherwise; The "totally together" mask To hide all my rough edges; The mask of love To disguise an overly selfish relationship; Even the mask of sptrituality  To silence all questions about my status before God. What should I do with all these masks? I realize they have insulated me Not only from other people. But also from myself. If indeed I want to be myself Rather than someone else. I must remove the masks, Peel them off, Cut them away like a plaster cast. Some of the worthless masks I will trample to pieces. Others I will display on my bedroom wall To remind me of the person I'd like to be, But am not yet. I can openly walk toward the goals Those good masks represent, Because being real doesn't mean giving up On areas I need to change. Nor does it mean I'm satisfied With everything about myself. It simply means accepting the way I am now, And honestly admitting I'm still working on my problems. Ultimately, I won't need masks;  Instead,  I'll show others the living person behind them:  Not a stranger, but  A special, unique,  Authentic human being-  Someone who's not perfect, but who wants to grow.  Only when I open myself to other people  Will I see myself clearly.  And only when I take off the masks  Will I be truly free.   After the reading, start by asking each individual to answer questions 1and 2. Ask the group 3,4,5 and 6 of the following questions. · In what specific ways does this poem describe your life?  · What masks do you have a tendency to hide behind?  · Why do your masks feel nice and secure to you?  · What does being "real" mean?  · After reading and discussing this poem, to what extent do you want to take off your masks? Why? · What specific things can you do this week to begin removing your masks? Moving Out Work Zone & High Way Masks (Road Work: stay in two smaller groups) Needed: heavy-duty aluminum foil. Form pairs, and give each person a large square of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Say: With your foil, create a mask of your partner's face by molding the foil to his or her face. Make sure to gently poke holes where your partner's nose and mouth are so he or she can breathe while you work! Once the masks are complete, form a circle, and have youth display their creations. Then say: Let's go around the circle, and when we come to you, hold up your mask to your face and remind us about the most common mask you wear in real life. For example, you might pretend to be happy even when you're sad. After everyone has shared, have the youth discuss the following questions: · What's one thing this group can do to help you trust more?  · What's one thing you can do to help the group understand you better? · By not hiding behind masks will it be easier to know Jesus? · Can this group help you to know Christ? How?   Closing is in the Youth Center Today!   High Way When finished , have them hang their masks on a wall of the youth center and wait for Road Work to join.   Work Zone When finished , go to the youth center and have the youth hang their masks on a wall. Form a large group in the youth center for closing. Kris Says: These masks will stay on the wall to remind you to leave your "masks" at the door when you come to our group meetings or events. You don't have to pretend with us because we all love you for who you really are. Christ loves you no matter who you are and what you've done. All you need to do now is accept Him in your everyday life without the masks!   Prayer and Concerns  Work Zone & High Way Big Circle, join hands, right over left, and say the UMYF benediction.