Marko & Tic take their Youth Group to Creation

On a sunny June day, Tic and Marko pack up their youth group for an amazing week at Creation Music Festival in Mt. Union, PA. Known as one of the largest Christian music festivals they would join ~100,00 people in worshipping God.

While they thought this would be a relaxing week, they thought wrong. The youth are hyped up on Fun Dip (who bought that???) and don’t listen to them at all. 20 kids, and two adults, what are they to do? (Can we say “safe sanctuary”, child safe policy rule breaking?).

When they asked the youth to have quiet time and journal they REVOLTED. They had enough of the buddy system, check ins, going to bed and listening to speakers.

The youth grabbed the rope that the ever prepared leaders brought and tied them up to a huge water tower and almost chopped their heads off.

Marko and Tic begged for their lives, ”anything but cutting off their heads” they pleaded. Since they had brought them this far, the teens decided to be nice and just use a medieval torment of dunking them in boiling water.

At their wits end and VERY scared, Marko and Tic looked for help in their “Have you Ever?” book.

Not finding help there, what else to do but look to Yac for guidance? Ah, the answer was there, take em’ fishing. It’s relaxing and cigars are illegal for minors.

Grabbing all the youth and piling them in 15 passenger vans (SHUSH, don’t tell the insurance company) they headed to the local state park to see what they could catch.
Oh no! The youth are calm and behaving but are really bored.

Time for the hula hoop contest!

While Toby Mac blasts over their stereo Marko lost it, lost the hoop and the contest.

Competiveness got a hold of him (hasn’t he learned anything from the numbers game?). “Tic, I challenge you to a jump roping contest”, Marko yelled.

Marko was so good that he could get the rope under his feet 3 times before he touched the ground. Oops, but he accidentally tripped and failed at the contest. “I’m a failure” he cried with a red face from embarrassment and ran to hide in a large weird tube.

Tic was so happy that he won both that he took a dip in the coolest pool around.

Seeking to reconcile Tic invited Marko for a dip in the pool. Tic decided to play a little joke on Marko and pushed him in, but he doesn’t mind and just laughed along with him.

The youth join Marko and Tic in the pool and start chicken fights and getting rowdy again. Marko decides to take them to Mount Sleepmore. He thought that it might make them….. sleepy. He poses for a picture, and soon gets sleepy himself, falling asleep right there on Mt. Sleepmore.

Marko suddenly awoke and realized how late they were and drug them all back to the campsite for a healthy dinner of peanut butter sandwiches.

From his earlier dip in the pool Marko got the blues (he turned BLUE) and in order to try to look normal so they stayed at the campsite while the kids headed to the concerts in hopes of recovering.

Knowing that the youth were occupied and not expecting them, the guys snuck away to the Youth Leader Hideout (aka: Interlinc’s YLO Tent).

There they got drinks.

AHHHH~ uninterrupted sleep, what a luxury.

They arrived at the concerts just in time to hear the amazing strings of Phil Keaggy and hang with their buddy. The older (non youth) guys gotta stick together.

What a treat! They got to see the most famous dance of the year from the big winner at the MTV VMA’s Napoleon Dynamite.

Convicted by the speaker to love as Christ did the youth apologize and buy Marko and Tic popcorn to make up for everything they put them through. Yea! They get it!

After the drive home, which always seems shorter than the drive there, Marko and Tic get on their knees and praise God for how He used the trip, for the commitments the youth made, for the bonding that happened (even through tormenting them), and for no hospitals visits and speeding tickets.

Finally they crashed for a much needed rest, since just next week it’s off to camp and then to the shore, youth ministry never ends.