RAWR Comes To An End

After two years of RAWR, the decision has been taken to close the group.  Whilst it served a need within Maldon two years ago (another group had to close) it is felt that this need has now been fulfilled.

RAWR has had a regular and dedicated membership, but with three leaving at the end of the school year, those left do not give a number that makes RAWR sustainable.  Coupled with changes to leaders family and work commitments, the decision was made and RAWR met for the last time on 19th July 2013.

However, the Methodist Church is making a number of changes to it's work with children and young people.  As a result, a new club is to be formed on a Wednesday evening from 7:30 to 9:00 pm.

It will have a different format and as such the Tuck Shop and God Slot aspects will not be included.  However, the club will be run by Christians, with informal opportunities to talk about life, faith and other issues as and when the young people feel comfortable in doing so.  Squash and biscuits will be provided each week.

The club will be open to young people in school years 7 to 11, with subs remaining at £1 a week for the foreseeable future.  Opportunities for other events will be made to members, like the Weekend Away.

Weekend Away 2013

Plans are now underway for a Weekend Away in Spetember.  To register your interest and request a Consent Form, please send me an e-mail.

Friday 15th Feb 2013

Well, with Shrove Tuesday having been earlier in the week, this was not used to stop pancakes from being cooked. So, armed with eggs, flour, milk, frying pans and cooking oil, RAWR members were let loose (well supervised) in the kitchen and cooked pancakes. Looks like they had a good time.

 

Meeting 23rd Nov 2012

On Friday 23rd Nov 2012, one of the ladies from the Methodist Church kindly came along with her card making kit.  She has a lot of items, but they seem to fit in a small case.

The members of RAWR were then invited to make their own Christmas Cards.  This has proved to be an activity where the creative nature comes out.

Below are some pictures: -

One of the nearly finished cards

 

Weekend Away 2012

Over the weekend of Friday 28^th to Sunday 30^th September 2012, a group of 8 young people and 5 adults spent the weekend away to Clacton.  The young people came from youth groups connected to Maldon Methodist Church (Pioneers and RAWR), South Woodham Ferrers and Springfield Park Baptist churches.

 

The Weekend Gang

 

 

Friday evening was a relaxed time, getting to know each other as this was the first time the whole group had meet for the first time.  We had a take-a-way supper of fish and chips, burger and chips or something and chips, eating these as we headed down to the Pier.  When we got back to base, we spent time playing board games or UNO, getting to know each other and setting up beds.

Saturday morning was spent looking at the story Jesus told about the rich farmer who had to build bigger barns to store his crops, but died before he could reap the reward of selling it off.  The message is about storing up worldly riches which you cannot take with you when you died, so it is better to use the wealth to help others.

To help make the point, we made a bunch of cakes, decorated them and sold them on Sunday morning after the Harvest Service.  Thanks to the congregation, we raised £30 points.  One part of the session was deciding which charity to send the money too.  We looked at several recent adverts for some and finally chose UNICEF.  Another craft activity was to decorate a money box for home use to raise money for other charities of our own choosing. 

After lunch we looked at two other stories of Jesus, both looking at how people dealt with money.  The first was the dishonest manager who misused his master money for his own gain and another rich man who threw a party to which the invited guests did not come to.

The dishonest manager was cleaver in trying to secure another job after he was sacked and we wondered how much Christians work in spreading the Good News?  Do they spend as much effort as the dishonest manager did in secure a new job?

The rich man’s party was eventually attended by those he did not know, the people off the streets and the down and outs.  Here we looked at sharing our wealth with those who have little to nothing.  During this time, the young people decorated a small box to contain a list of their abilities to serve God, a cake shaped invitation and painted a cup coaster.

 

The late afternoon and early evening was spent on the Pier and a great time was had by the young people.  We had a great evening meal and then played more games, some learning new ones.  Bed time came and sleep soon followed.

 

Sunday morning came and we all helped tidy up.  We joined with the congregation for Harvest Celebration and a Baptism service, after which we sold all the cakes made on Saturday.  We also joined with them for a bring-and-share lunch.  To finish off the weekend, we all (young people and leaders) made a small Owl to remind us about the wisdom (or lack of it) from the characters in Jesus’ stories.  The rich farmer was un-wise in trying to keep all his money, the dishonesty manager was un-wise to use his master money, but wise to try and secure a job in the future.  The rich man wisely invited anyone to his party, to share his money with others

Friday 22nd June 2012

We had planned to go to the "Prom" but as the weather was not exactly worm (windy and had rained earlier) we stayed at our usual meeting place.

It was a pleasure to welcome a new member to the youth group and we hope he felt welcomed and could join in.

As well as the usual games, the young people had an opportunity to make two badges of their own design, with interesting results.

The "God Slot" was a bit different this week as we looked at the question "If RAWR had £50 or £200 or £500 or £1000 to spend, what would they spend it on.  The answers ranged from Craft Stuff, a RAWR Pet, trip to Adventure Island, trip to a Zoo, WII, X-BOX, trip to Rio or Japan and Bouncy Castle.

Having done that, we remembered one episode of the TV program "The Vicar of Dibly".  The church window had been destroyed by a tree and they raised the thousands of pounds to replace it.  However, the Vicar gave the money to a charity to help third world flood victims and just put plan glass in the church.

We then finished off the badges (the machine only does one at a time), played some games and finished of with dodge ball.

Friday 1st June 2012 - Party Time

Following a request from one of the RAWR young people, we spent the evening celebrating a birthday.  As it was also close the Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, we had a bit of a "red, white and blue" feel to the evening.

Food was provided by all the young people at RAWR and a contribution from RAWR Funds

It was good to see that some of the "old"party games are still enjoyed by young people today.  So "musical chairs" was played first.

This was followed by "musical statues" with some persuasion of the lads to actually move to the music!

We then all played "pass the parcel" and a short God slot based on Jesus saying that if you are not for him (a follower and believer) then you are against him.  Another way of saying this is that there is no option for "sitting on the fence" and trying to keep out of it.  Those who do not follow Jesus are just as much against him as those who are actively trying to prove it is a waste of time.

This lead in to food time!

After food, limboing was the order of the day, allowing time to clear up the food.

We then joined in a new game for RAWR, called "duck, duck, goose".  I'm sure you know how to play it, but it you're not, the pop along to RAWR on evening.  I'd never played it before!

The evening ended with the cutting of the Birthday Cake and the giving out of this in a party bag.  The "tuck shop" lady who helped out received a bag, her first ever!