Scavenger hunt

Anyone walking the streets of central Carterton would have been in danger of bumping into the youth of DropZone, who were running around town in teams of 4 or 5 with a list and a bag of stuff.

To get 18 items in a time span of 45 minutes has proven to be a mission and a half. Creativity was needed to get all the items as soon as possible, with the least amount of money spent and in an original way.

Points were given for the most original story, items collected, time spend and money spent.

Two teams shared the first place and could celebrate that with a bag of goodies for each team. This night introduced the youth of DropZone to the Carterton community and they both loved it!

Visiting the RSA, the Police, the local New World supermarket, Video Ezy and of course many Carterton residents was part of the challenge and methods used to get all the items together.

We are hoping to see all the youth back in the coming (last) two weeks of the DropZone year, with the last night (Friday the 4th of December) being a challenge night where you all challenge each other and the challenges challenge you! There will also be a barbecue and dessert provided to close off this fantastic year! You are all invited !!!

Love,

Your DropZone leaders

Daniel

Welcome to DropZone tonight , we are going to learn about a character from the Bible tonight called DANIEL ....

When Judah fell to Babylon in the sixth century BC, most of the ruling families were taken captive along with King Jehoiakim. Daniel and his three friends likely were in their teen years when taken to Babylon as exiles from Judah. Nebuchadnezzar ordered Ashpenaz, a court official, to choose promising young men from the Israelite royal family and nobility for service in his court. They were to be selected because of their appearance, intelligence, and ability to learn. Daniel and his three friends(Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego )were among those chosen by the king’s officials to be thoroughly indoctrinated into the language, customs, and literature of the Babylonians. They would eat the same fine food as the king. For three years they would be trained to enter the king’s service Nebuchadnezzar wanted to change the young men’s ways of thinking, worshiping, and living. One thing he could not change was Daniel’s heart.

Daniel and his friends faced a real dilemma when the royal food and drink were set before them. These godly young men were faced with an issue of obedience and faith. Daniel demonstrated his faith when he made up his mind not to defile himself and asked permission not to eat the food. His request to be exempt from eating the king’s food was based on his deep religious conviction. Daniel remembered the dietary laws he had been taught. He knew that many of the foods eaten at the Babylonian court would have been considered unclean according to the Mosaic Law (see Leviticus 11:47). The royal food may have included forbidden meats. Daniel was afraid that he might unknowingly violate the commandment of God. He also knew that the food was first offered to idols before it was eaten. Eating the food would mean he acknowledged pagan gods.

At the end of ten days, their appearance would be compared with those who ate the king’s royal food and drank his wine. The experiment proved to be successful. Physically they were healthier and better nourished than the others. Mentally, they had superior knowledge and skill in wisdom and literature.
From then on, the daily diet of the four continued to be vegetables and water. Daniel and his friends responded to what was right and won a victory for their health and for their faith. They had faced the pressure to compromise and had remained loyal to God.
Do you ever find it embarrassing to make a choice that is different from your peers? Point out
that Daniel and his three friends were faced with a situation that caused them to be set apart.
( read Daniel 1:8-14) . So why was Daniel refusing to eat the royal food? (Refer Lev. 11:47) . Daniel remembered the dietary laws he was taught, and he also knew that the food may have first been offered to idols.) Daniel’s refusal to eat the king’s food showed obedience and self-control. Self-control helps an individual resist the urge to make choices that lead to harmful outcomes.

During the night we played some fun games ...

first a game with some decisions to make about how to balance matters in life ... handful relay

all action as the teams try to be the first finished ... go go go ..

next for a popcorn challenge. Well done you were too good !

hop a bit faster please :)

and last for the staring game... wow some of you were good at this .

thanks to all of you for coming down to DropZone and welcome to our new friends. Great to see you and we hope to see you back again soon.

have a good week and see you again this week for another interesting story...

Love Your DropZone Leaders

Naaman Gets Healed

On Friday we learned about Naaman. He was the top commander of the army of Syria. But Naaman had a problem. He had a bad disease called leprosy. When someone has that disease they will eventually die.

We first played Hockey:The story continues: Naaman found out that in Israel, a neighbouring country, there was a prophet called Elisha who might be able to help him. Naaman gathered gifts of silver, gold, and fine clothes, and set off for Israel.

We then played Donkey Race:

The story continues: When he finally reached Elisha's house, Elisha sent a messengerr to Naaman. "Go and wash in the Jordan River seven times, and then you will be healed." But Naaman didn't like this message. This was much too humiliating for him! “I expected something much more special from this prophet.”

We then played Face Wash:

The story continues: But Naaman's servants convinced him to give it a try. “If the prophet had asked you to do something special you would have done it.” And so he did. When Naaman came out of the water the seventh time, he was completely healed! Naaman was of course very happy and went back to Elisha.

We then played Happy Chappy:

The story continues: Naaman said to Elisha, "Your God is the only true God. Please accept this silver, gold and these fine clothes as my thanks." But Elisha refused. Elisha did not want to be paid for what God had done. And so Naaman went back home completely healed and continued worshiping the true God the rest of his life.
We then played Jelly Bean Trade:

Linking the Story to a Life Lesson:

Naaman was very sick. He needed to be healed. Even though we might feel perfectly healthy, God calls us ‘sick’, or even ‘dead’. This means that we have sinned against God. The relationship between God and us is then ‘sick’ or ‘dead’. God also gives us a method to get better. He says: “Repent and believe”. Repenting means telling God what sins you have done, asking God for forgiveness and trying to never do sin again. God promises that he will forgive your sins. God calls this: “washing away of sin”. The same way as Naaman’s leprosy was washed away. The reason this is possible is because Jesus has taken the punishment for sin on him. When we ask God to forgive all our sins, we then can believe that Jesus has also died for our sins and they are indeed forgiven.

God has given us a method to be healed. Do we believe it, like the servants of Naaman and later Naaman himself? Or do we not believe it? Either decision we make has huge consequences for our life and after-life.

Joseph

This Friday we learnt about a man named Joseph. He lived in the times of the Ancient Egyptians. As a boy, Joseph was very loved by his Dad, who spoiled him more than his other brothers. Because of this his brothers really hated Joseph, and did some terrible things to him.

As a result of what his brothers did Joseph ended up as a slave in Egypt. Later he was sent to prison in Egypt. His life seemed hopeless. Nothing went well for Joseph and really he had every reason to hate God, but Joseph did not hate God, but instead he loved God. He believed that God had a purpose for everything that was happening in his life.

Joseph was right. While Joseph was in prison the Pharaoh had two dreams. No one could tell him what the meaning of these dreams were, until someone remembered that Joseph was able to interpret his dream while in prison. Joseph was called for and through remarkable happenings he became the second in charge over th land of Egypt. It was his task to collect food for the next seven years, as after those seven years there was going to be seven years of famine where there would not be enough food.

During the years that nothing grew, people came from everywhere to buy food from the Egyptians, and Joseph was in charge of this. One day his brothers also came to buy food. Through these things Joseph was reunited with his family.

At times in our life we can't see any purpose for what is happening. We begin to wonder if there is really any God. But if we have a true relationship with God, we can be sure that no matter what happens to us, there is a good purpose for it.

Let's all remember the verse in the Bible that says:
"And we know that all things work together to good, to them that love God." Rom 8:28


Love from
YOur DropZone leaders.