Light Party 2014

On the 31^st October 2014 8 young people from the CUBB and WWWYC clubs held a light party as an alternative to Halloween.  The party included some fun and games and a more serious look at how Halloween has been altered beyond the original meaning.  The overall theme was “Jesus is the Light of the World”.

The first activity was to butter and jam a slice of break in the dark.  Several interesting results including: -

Buttered bread with a side order of jam

The “I’m on a diet” version

The “there is butter, somewhere!

Having attempted to make one on the dark, they were given an opportunity to make another in the light.  Much better results!

They next activity was to guess the object, again, in the dark.  Most of these were correct.  One banana was described as an orange, but I think he was just fooling around.  The tomato was called a plum!

Having been advised to wear something white, our bouncy castle was light up using UV light.  One of the girls’ trousers and top were brilliant.  Sorry about the “poor” quality pictures, but the web cam struggled a bit.

Having used up just a tiny fraction of their energy, we had a supper of jacket potatoes.

Then outside to play with some sparklers, being challenged to write the initial of their first name.  I’m quite pleased with the pictures this time.

Our Minister then spoke to them about the real origins of Halloween and how it precedes All Saints Day.  One of the ideas was to chase away the ghosts of the past by dressing up as one.  It is also a time to remember those who have gone before us.  Unfortunately, nearly all the origins have been lost in the commercialisation of Halloween.

For Christians, Jesus is the light by which they live, no need to chase away ghosts and he provides and protects us.

Our last activity before hot chocolate, marshmallows, squirty cream and yummy cake (one was a “light and dark” Jaffa Cake) was to launch some sky lanterns.  One the lanterns were some messages the young people wrote reminding the finders that “Jesus is the Light to All”.

The party concluded with a sleep over; all quite by at least half past midnight.  That was a nice surprise! Saturday morning breakfast was cereals and pancakes!

Here are some comment from the young people about the party: -

From H:  What I liked was the activities and how they were related to the topic of the party.  There was nothing bad about the party in my opinion. I would happily come again.

From J:  Pancakes were good. Seven hours of sleep isn’t bad.

From SB:  I liked the sparklers and going down to the field to launch the lanterns, I also liked eating the pancakes and going to sleep late. If I was to make any improvements I would say have some Jaffacakes as a snack and maybe we could have used the bouncy castle a bit more. Overall it was a good night and I would definitely come to it again and recommend it to other people.

From L:  I enjoyed the sparklers and launching the lanterns, I also liked eating the pancakes. If I was to make any improvements I would say we could have the bouncy castle a bit more. But overall it was a good Halloween sleepover. Thank you!

From S:  I loved walking down to the doctors and letting the lanterns go. I also enjoyed the sparklers outside. If I was to improve anything I would have the bouncy castle up for a little bit longer and maybe have some time where we can all play what we want. But overall it was a brilliant Halloween sleepover. Thanks!

From C:  This has been the best sleepover that I have had so far out of all of the sleepovers that I have been to. As well as that I have now faced my fear of holding sparklers, and they were really quite fun. In the dark I managed to make my butter and jam sandwich and it was very tasty to. The hot chocolate soothed me to sleep and the marshmallows were delicious. I hope we have another sleepover soon because this one was fantastic and I shouldn’t forget my bedtime story of the 3 bananas and the pig!  Thanks!!!

From J:  I really enjoyed this sleepover, I couldn’t choose a best bit because I enjoyed all of it. I hope we can do it again next year! J

From Leader M: Another fantastic sleepover.  It is so lovely seeing the young people coming together and enjoying themselves.  Looking forward to the next one. Xxxxxxx

From Leader L:  Fab time at sleepover, young people great, looking forward to the next one, xxxxx