20 Days Later -- Scavenger Haunt's "Morning After."

{{note: the date and time have been changed
to reflect the day and time that I started this,
because it took me longer than a day to do!
Prepare to stay here for a little while,
while I tell you a story... -brian}}

It's been 20 days after the RLCs conclusion, and
I kinda find it hard to believe that i actually
used the stuff i learned from it... ALL of it.

To the Service Team:
We all know that we only got as far as we did
in our Scavenger Haunt because of God's grace...
But here's the stuff that I've learned over the days, about
putting into practice what i've learned from the RLC.

SEEING BEYOND -- VISION AND CONFIDENCE BUILDING:
Every event -- big or small -- begins with a vision.
Everything that YFC does (or CFC does for that matter)
begins with a God-given vision.
(Well, it should begin, anyway.)
When the idea was first brought to light,
I began to envision it almost immediately, and
confidence in the vision grew as the days got closer.

WATCH THE CLOCK -- TIME MANAGEMENT:
Well, c'mon -- how else could *any of us
do as much as we did about 2 weeks time?
Especially that last week!
I know that everyone had some kind of
craziness from their original schedule --
extra-curricular stuff,
work and/or homework,
EQAO testing,
midterms and ISUs,
plans to go out with friends...
You guys weren't the only ones to make sacrifices --
-- a sacrifice like giving up your free time
is one of the the biggest ones you can make.

HOW TO BUILD A TEAM THAT WORKS:
How could anything for this event be possible
without having the right people for the job?
There are two kinds of people:
the people who envision, and
the people who carry out that vision.
What good are all the plans,
if there's no one there to act on them?
To the service team -- know this:
if there was ever a plan to save my very life,
if there was ever a time when my very survival depended on you,
I would trust each and every one of you to
do your part to save me. Know that
you would be able to depend on me
to do my part to save yours.

LOVING CORRECTION:
Someone has to bring me down to earth
when things get a little crazy,
when i start to get a little antsy and worrisome,
when my emotions start to define my faith,
when my actions no longer seem 'of God'...
Today, I honour Chico for being
the one brave soul to tell me
when I act a little crazy,
when I'm acting as i shouldn't,
when I'm doing something hurtful.
You've known me for a long time --
-- it takes guts to challenge my actions
when my mind is set, but...
You still treat me as a person --
even if it seems like i'm not doing
the same for others (as i should be)...

Oh, you wanted a day-by-day replay?

Starting from Sunday, October 12th --
-- the Leader's Assembly at Charmaine's house,
only a week after the RLC...
Remember that, guys? That was already 2 weeks ago!
4 hours of non-stop family talk and RLC lessons!

We didn't even get to the service-half of our meeting that day!
But still, most of us had time to chill at that chinese restaurant --
-- remember that, too?
All the indecisiveness,
the we-should've-went-to's, and
the why-didn't-we-go-to's, but
by the end of the meal...
we shared so many laughs --
-- and realized that it wasn't such a bad desicion after all...

Continuing on to Wednesday, October 15th --
that service meeting at Larizza's house...
Remember that, guys?
Remember how much we actually did at that meeting,
in the span of 2 hours?
Strategic Committee Planning...
Believe me when i say this --
the next year will be BIG, because
these committees are now in place.
Scavenger Haunt Planning...
"Traffic Control..." Could we have found
a better name for that committee, other than that?
It just......fits so well!

I talked to Chico after our meeting was done,
"How did we get so much done in such a short time span?" and
he said something like,
"It's because I took the time to
sit down with it, and plan everything that
I wanted to talk about."
I remebered that (obviously) for
all days that followed,
beginning with our next meeting...

Continuing on to Sunday, October 19th --
the Chapter Household Assembly at the CFC office...
Remember that guys? You put your faith in Charmaine and me,
to lead the Time Management workshop.
After you guys had prayed over us for the day,
I knew that there would be at least one person
who would really take something away from the workshop.
From everyone's willingness to participate, and
people's willingness to talk about it within their discussion groups,
I know that most of East 2 membership is beginning to see
that YFC isn't all about fun and socializing --
it's about building your own character,
in the context of God's plans for us and
Christian behaviour (that being:
behaving like and emulating Christ as best we can,
as each Christian is called to do --
-- no matter how tough it may seem).
Life can really feel like a juggling act.

Scavenger Haunt was fast approaching, but...
Knowing that we understood ourselves and eachother
(as far managing our time was concerned)
gave me confidence that the Scavenger Haunt
would be a success, no matter how little time we had.

To those who could make it, we continued on
to the Duque's house on that same evening...
Remember that, guys? Sitting around the table,
in a mostly-empty basement...
Envisioning the way things would look -- and feel.
Turning off the lights,
telling scary stories,
hiding in the dark to freak the *heck* out of eachother
(i can't believe i fit into that small fridge!) --
-- all of it to see if we could create (and re-create)
the atmosphere we were looking for.
No more Old Finch stories for a while, okay?

Seeing us bond in the way we did
gave me even greater confidence in the vision
that I had once had, when
the Haunt committees were first created.

To the five of us who rode home in Jesse's van --
-- i knew it then, when Tito Ron
gave us our "talk," but in case you didn't know it:
It was God's way of telling us -- reminding us --
-- not to fool around with this event, and
to be serious about our service. To paraphrase,
" We're responsible for their souls... This party
and other YFC events better not be
just to chill with your 'barcada.' "
I understood it then, as he was saying it --
-- and I wanted to defend you guys,
to try to make his words not sound so......'scolding'
(because i know that's what it sounded like),
but I was too near to my house by the time I had realized.
I got into my house, and prayed that -- in time --
-- you four would understand that lesson as I did.
I carried that lesson into the next meeting...

Continuing on to Monday, October 20th --
-- the Scavenger Haunt planning session at Larizza's...
Remember that, guys? When Larizza and Jesse
decided to start (when Chico's finally
graced us with his presence, haha) that's when
the real work had started.

I felt that God had blessed me with
a greater sense of confidence in the vision of this event --
moreso than I had before... and
an even greater sense that you would share in the same vision.
Each of us would contribute our God-given skills, ideas, and work ethic
to make the vision a reality.

As I was typing out our plans we were making,
I realized that we all began to share in the vision --
-- we were too deep into planning
to turn our backs on this now.

Continuing throughout the rest of the week, till
Thursday, October 23rd... Receiving an e-mail just about every day
(every 10-12 hours in some inboxes!)
Remember that, guys?

Believe me when i say this:
I never would have opened up so many notepads for school.

Up until the morning of the 24th,
I would wake up with the daylight (as I normally do), and
go straight to the laptop and start typing...
God only gave me a short time to pray in the morning,
because my mind was racing with thoughts and ideas
that just had to be written down and shared.

There were a couple of times when I thought,
"Why am I working so hard? So much?"
"Will these ideas really work?"
I couldn't answer that question --
-- there was just no time to waste to go looking for it.
To paraphrase something I remember Chico praying once in a worship:
"If we do our best, God will do the rest."
In retrospect, that's all I tried to do -- while at the same time
knowing that God would take us through the rest.

Every e-mail that was prepared was sent with a prayer --
-- and a brace-for-impact feeling in my heart.
It surprised me (actually, it still astounds me) that
no one had any complaints about the assignments,
the suggestions, and the ideas that I put forward.
My heart "braced for impact" because I was
kind of expecting someone to butt heads with me --
-- to make sure that the vision truly was from God...

Perhaps He knew that there was just no time for that.

By Thursday night, I remembered
how successful Chico was when he
"Sat down and planned the meeting"
that we had the week before.
So I brought that idea into the next meeting...

Continuing on to Friday October 24th --
the final meeting at Trina's...
Remember that, guys? Having as many as
three separate meetings all at once?
I remember mentioning
to Chico and to Charmaine,
"Do you have any idea how much work
is being done, all at once? I can feel us being productive!"

Feeling group productivity all around you as an amazing feeling.
It's like being in the middle of a huge factory;
the feeling of gigantic gears turning
rumbles in your chest.
Except that this factory makes ideas become reality;
the feeling of gigantic ideas moving and taking shape
rumbles in your heart.

I went to Charmaine's house to pick up some money.
I don't know why, but I began to feel worried --
-- being away from the project for only 45 minutes.
I think it was just 'something' trying to
distract me away from the fun of working on it.

I felt antsy for a while,
and acted a little crazy,
because i was left in the dark for those 45 minutes.

Doubts started to creep up on me.
"Do they really understand the vision --
-- the importance that this event will hold
to the members, and to our guests?"
"Are they willing to work, or
are they gonna sit back and do a half-ass job while I'm gone?"
"Did God pick the people that He needed for this job?"
That last one -- it's kind of a silly question, isn't it?
My resolution to that was simply --
-- "God, take these doubts away from me;
there's no time for me to doubt right now,
we all need to get to work,
and you need me to get back into the loop of things."

After all, if you feed your faith,
your doubts starve to death.

To my pleasant and unexpected surprise,
the first three simultaneous meetings
were already done. Station Design -- the one meeting that
I thought would run the longest and
have the most difficulty getting through --
was already done: complete with notes
ready to be recorded into the laptop.

Continuing to pray for strength and protection
with the co-ordinators, and
feeling us bond more
brought me back to sanity.

Sharing a meal with the team, and
feeling us bond more
brought me back to sanity.

Going out to Woodside to shop for stuff, and
feeling us bond more
brought me back to sanity.

By the time I got home,
I was mostly sane.

I got a half-night's rest.

Continuing on to the big night -- YFC T.O.
East 2's Scavenger Haunt, Saturday October 25th...
Remember that guys? At Woodside,
remember how worried we were
about how the day would run?
Remember how worried we were about
getting all the food supplies we needed?
Remember how worried we were about
people being late to help set up everything?
Remember how worried we were about
the participants having fun?
Of course you don't --
-- no one really felt that except for me.
Then again, I was probably too absorbed in doubt
to notice whether you guys were or not.

I wonder if anyone saw it in my demeanor, or
heard it in my voice, but
the doubts were beginning to return.
I was feeding my doubts --
-- my faith was beginning to starve.

Remember when I ran out to meet Chico for his guitar?
Among other things, he reminded me
to stay calm, to be humble, and to pray.

I suddenly became attuned to my faith again --
the doubts slowly vanishing.
That prayer in the van to the Duque's house
calmed me down -- for the few hours that
God needed me to be calm.

We had so much fun setting up, didn't we?
Because we prayed for it!

Going to mass at 4:30pm, and being away
from the project for more than twice as long
this time... I started to get antsy again.
As if our last-minute stuff for the mass wasn't already enough...
(heheh -- to those who sang at the mass,
learning "humility" is almost never fun, but
necessary to build character. It's easier to give and accept
loving correction, if it comes from ourselves.)

Returning from mass, though... I felt even
more worried than I did earlier.
Was it nervous excitedness?
Or was it those same doubts again?
"I hope my instuctions were clear enough."
"What if they haven't done what I asked?"
"Time may be our enemy now."
"What if everything isn't set up?"
"What if they didn't stay productive?"
"What if they feel just as much doubt as I do?"

It felt it so strongly now; It was so bad that
I tried to talk myself out of it.
"We prayed that it would be fun,
we prayed that everything would turn out good,
so it'll happen...... right? Right!"

Chico talked me through it one last time, (to paraphrase)
"You've done enough already.
When it comes to it,
just let them do the work --
just let them run things.
You'll see the results."

I look back now and I know that I had no reason to be worried --
-- there was a team back there who had accepted
what they had been asked to do,
accepted it willingly,
and accepted it knowing the work that was involved.

There was a team back there who saw the vision
understood it, and
made it their own.

There was a team back there who
has God as the driving force in their lives.

There was a team back there that God had put together --
-- how could anyone go wrong with that?

When I walked in the house, and I saw
so many people already there
(thinking, "Thank you LORD for Maria handling the registration!")...
The doubts weren't so strong anymore.
I became just as excited as they did --
-- the fun of anticipating of what
was down there was killing me!

Walking into the basement, though --
-- the darkness, and the atmosphere,
the cobwebs and spiders in my hair,
the sight of all the stations mostly set up,
the feeling of nervous excitedness and
the confidence of the whole team around me...
"Tonight is gonna work;
all the plans are gonna work.
and everyone is gonna have FUN!
Praise God!"

When it came down to the event itself, though...
Many of you didn't see me for
the whole Haunt portion of the evening.
Me: I was upstairs mostly, expressing
my elation to the parents --
-- expressing how smooothly everything was running.

Hearing Larizza and Jesse co-ordinate things over the two-ways,
ensuring that stations were ready to receive people,
asking for group leader confirmations...
Even seeing Larizza, Jesse and the group leaders
using those little tables and checklists that were printed...

The one thing that really pleased me was --
hearing Jesse and Larizza order the
rotation into the second set of shifts,
without my help...
seeing groups move between stations
when the rotations were ordered,
without my help...
(upstairs, anyway)...

It could only mean that God allowed me to be clear in my explaining,
it could only mean that God used me to help bring the vision forward,
it could only mean that God is working through the whole team
to see that the vision is fully realized,
that all the planning was paying off,
that the plans made sense to everyone, and
that the plans were working.

By that time...the doubts were gone --
all the doubts were gone.

"People are following the guidelines that were set,
stations and station crews have no complaints,
crews and group leaders are following Jesse and Larizza's leadership...

Most importantly, people are having fun --
-- they're getting so into the storyline,
they're impressed with all the work we've put into it.
To the participants, the whole team
looks very professional, and knowledgeable about their jobs
(especially the up-front jobs like station crew and group leading)...

It's all working. Praise God that it works!"

Knowing that God had blessed each of you
to ensure that the night was a success,
let's praise God for the things He let you accomplish.
(Most of you will be here more than once, I assure you):

Traffic Control [Abbey, Jeff, Trina]:
All of your ideas pushed the vision forward, what else can I say?
Praise God for allowing you to put your faith in
all the ideas that were brought forward.

Special mention to Abbey --
-- the opening story was her idea, so...
Consequently, all the stations were built around her story!

Decor and Atmosphere Design [Karen, Paulo, Jethro, (and Maria!)]:
I'm totally clueless when it comes to decorating --
using your hands to make things look good.
God knew what he was doing when he picked you people.

Special mentions to Karen and Paulo
for putting in money from your own pockets --
-- instead of waiting on budget money!

Food [Jaime, Chico, Charmaine, Angel]
Food can either make or break a party --
-- praise God that He led you to the right food!

Special mentions to Charmaine for the lumpia and the cake,
Jesse for the nacho platters, and
Angel for filling all the loot bags!

Group Leaders [Angel, Maria, Jethro, Jeff]:
Praise God for allowing you to be quick learners,
for blessing you with active and willing participants,
giving you humble hearts to follow Jesse's leadership, and...
for being open to whole group leader idea in the first place!
Groups would have been lost without you.

Special mention to Maria for handling registration and group division!
I had completely forgotten to transcribe
some kind of procedure for it, but
the groups were much better divided
in the way that you did them,
than as I had originally envisioned them.

Station Design and Crews [Abbey, Trina, Jaime, Chico, Karen, Paulo]:
The cream of the crop!
Each of you made your station special,
each of you made it your own,
each of you put your own personal touches.
Without you, there would be no fun stuff for people to do!
Praise God for blessing all you with creative hands and minds,
and allowing you to serve humbly, following Larizza's leadership.

Special mention Trina, for opening her house
for that final, crucial meeting!

Co-Ordinators [Jesse and Larizza]:
Jesse: For accepting the job as Timing Co-ordinator,
for co-ordinating your group leaders' movement,
for running home for the movie, among other things...

Most importantly, for co-ordinating with
CFC for all the rides there!
After all, how could people enjoy the evening,
if they couldn't get there?

Larizza: You put in so many ideas for decor and station design,
and so much work into the project as a whole, that
it would be foolish to try to name them all... but
we don't say "Fool for God" for nothing! So...

For co-ordinating your station crews,
making sure atmostphere decor was up, and
the stations were decorated, pertinent, and fun!
"How to do fun things!" -- heheh, how much fun is that?
We should give you a new job: Fun Police!
Praise God that you made sure everyone involved --
-- participants and service team -- had fun!
Even more mentions, for hosting us
for so many meetings we had at your house, and
the "journal" -- that took days to do!
The ideas in the journal were key
to creating the final touches for all the stations.

Last but not least, special mention to Chico
for... well, all the stuff I mentioned earlier!
I never completely forgot about doing a worship,
(even though it wasn't in the scehdule,) but
Praise God for blessing you with the ability to lead us to Him
in song, in praise, in worship, and in glory to Him.

---

The event on the whole was an accurate picture of what YFC stands for:
The Scavenger Haunt itself showed that YFC isn't just about
"God-talk" or "Bible-talk,"
or helping eachother build a good Christian character --
-- It's about having fun with friends, without having
to resort to worldly pleasures.

The worship at the end showed that YFC isn't just about
socializing, or chilling with your friends,
but about being thankful,
praising, and honouring the One who
is truly deserving of it.

In that worship... even some of our guests had just as much fun
as in the Scavenger Haunt itself. Upon being asked
if they had fun, they now want to join YFC.

That last part right there....
Let that be a testimony to the work that
only God could bring us together to do --
-- to envision, and
to make reality...

All of it: for the greater glory of His name.

May God be praised.