Small Group Icebreaker Games

Making Getting to Know Each Having small groups or discipleship teams is a wonderful way for your leaders to connect with students. However, with new students coming in all the time, games are a great way for those teams to develop and get to know each other. The key to these icebreaker games, though, is to make them quick, friendly, and fun. Periodically, your youth group can play some of these games to make things fun and friendly.

Six Degrees
Based on the book Six Degrees of Separation, it is said that any person is connected to another person via six people. Choose pairs of famous people, whether it is biblical figures, actors, musicians, leaders, or more, and have small groups compete against one another to see who can come up with the connections fastest.

Hey, Youre Like Me!

This game demonstrates how people are alike and different. Have all the students stand along one wall. The leader stands in the middle of the room. The leader then asks the students which of them has a certain trait, like, dislike, etc. The students that fit the characteristic cross the room to the other side. If there is time, the students can then describe what it is like to be a part of that group. For instance, one of the traits could be Plays on a Sports Team, and a couple students can discuss what it is like to be a part of that team.

Scavenger Hunt
This is an oldie, but definitely a goodie, because it can be twisted and turned into just about any fun scavenger hunt. Maybe you are doing a youth activity in the city, so your students can go on a scavenger hunt to find certain landmarks that fit cryptic clues. You can also go on a spiritual scavenger hunt or a personal scavenger hunt where people are trying to find other people that fit certain personality or spiritual traits.

Toilet Paper Get-to-Know You

Have each person tear off squares of toilet paper. They can take as many pieces as they want. After everyone has some of the toilet paper, each person has to tell one thing about themselves for each piece of toilet paper they have in front of them. This game can also be done with pretzels, M&Ms, and more.

Truth, Truth, Lie

Each person has to tell at least one lie and two truths about him or herself. Then the group has to guess which statement was a lie.

Would You Rather?

Give your group cards that contain questions like Would you rather eat flies or eat caterpillars? All of the questions should be tough choices.

I Never!
Give each student 10 M&Ms or pennies as tokens. Each student tells the others something that he or she has never done. Whoever else has done it has to put one of their tokens in a bowl in the center. The last person holding tokens wins the game.

11 Awesome Outreach Ideas Ways Christian Teens Can Make a Difference

By Kelli Mahoney, About.com Guide Christians are called to reach out to the world they live in. Volunteering some of your time to outreach activities can be very rewarding both for you and the people you help. Sometimes actions speak louder than words when you are trying to witness to people. Participating in outreach activities can help show the world around you Christs love. Here are some outreach activities you can get started in your youth group:

Nursing Home Ministry

People in nursing homes tend to be lonely and disconnected from the world. You can contact various nursing homes in your area to see what types of activities you can do with the residents there. You can get your group together to read stories, write letters, just talk, put on skits, and more.

Homeless Ministry

There are so many homeless people roaming the streets. Whether you live in a small, rural town or a big city, there are always things your youth group can do to help out the homeless. You can contact a local homeless shelter to see what you can do to participate.

Tutoring
You dont have to be a genius to help out young kids with their homework. Some kids just dont get the attention or help they need. You can contact social services in your area to see what they are doing in certain neighborhoods for kids. Work with the neighborhood centers to set up tutoring in low-income neighborhoods.

Craft Donation
Are there some students in your youth group that like to sew, knit, paint, etc. There are programs that knit hats and scarves for the needy, sick, or even military troops overseas. There are also organizations that need blankets and clothing. See if your fellow craftminded teens would like to get involved.

Prom Dress Exchange

Prom season can be rough on teens that don't have a lot of money to buy new dresses. You can start a prom dress exchange so that people who need a new dress can get one for free. You can also do a donation to teens that need a dress and cannot buy one. It is also a great activity for Christian teen girls to get involved.

Christmas Tree Delivery

Sometimes families cannot afford a tree or they cannot transport trees on their own. Your youth group can get together to deliver Christmas trees to local families.

Turkey Delivery
See if you can get families in your church to donate turkeys or money to buy turkeys and then offer to deliver them to needy families. Just be sure if you are delivering items to dangerous areas that you go with a leader, or even ask for police support. You always want to be safe.

Missions Meals
Missions are an integral part of spreading Christianity around the world. While you may hear a lot about missions giving in main services, it does not mean your youth group cannot do something to help missionaries. You can set up a buffet night where your group cooks foods from different countries to support missionaries from those countries. Then you can sell tickets for people to come eat the food from that country, donating the money to those missionaries.

Paint the Town Clean

Volunteer to cover graffiti, paint the playground, murals at schools, etc. If you see an area that needs some work, you can contact an official there to see if there is something you can do about it. Contact your police or public works department to see about cleaning up playgrounds, painting over graffiti, etc. Talk to you elementary schools to check into painting a mural. Make your town more colorful and clean. People will notice your efforts.

Reading Program
Little kids love when people read to them. Pre-schoolers will crawl in your lap and just eat it up. It also helps to promote literacy. Check with local pre-schools, neighborhood centers, and libraries to see if there is a time your youth group can come in to read to the children. Your group can read both Christian and Non-Christian books and act out skits to entertain the kids.

Service Day
You can set up a service outreach group at your church for Service Days. On those days you can help a specific population like seniors, veterans, single moms, etc. You can cook, clean, do the shopping, etc. for those people who need it. Have people sign up for services or contact members of the church to help out.

How To Planning a Long-Term Outreach Activity for Christian Teens

Giving back to your community is a great experience for most Christian teens. However, many youth groups do not have the opportunity for long-term outreach activities simply because people do not know how to plan an ongoing activity in their communities. Rather than having a one-time outreach event, there are some activities that can be done week after week to reach out to the people around you while allowing students to be an example of Christ. Here are some steps to planning an effective and long-lasting outreach activity: Time Required: Varies Here's How: 1. What Activity? Before you start any major planning, you need to figure out what activity you want to do. Do you want to read to school children? Maybe do some tutoring? How about bringing meals or doing the grocery shopping for elderly people? Create a list of potential and interesting outreach activities. See where needs exist in your area. 2. Check with Local Organizations. Once you have a list of potential activities, try to hook up with local organizations that will help you in fulfilling your tasks. For

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instance, if you want to deliver meals to local elderly or disabled individuals, you may want to connect with Meals on Wheels. If you want to do tutoring to highrisk children, you may want to contact your local community center or police department to offer your services. Dates and Times. You then need to organize dates and times the outreach will take place. Obviously after school is necessary, but so is taking into consideration safety. If you are going into high-risk areas, most law-enforcement would recommend that you do your activity before dark. Also, elderly people will often go to bed early or not open their doors after dark, so time does need to be taken into consideration. Also, you may want to limit the activity to one or two days per week so Christian teens can also focus on other things like school, church, and family activities. Promotion. Advertising your activity is important. Put out flyers and sign-up sheets. Sign-up sheets are very useful, because Christian teens will feel more obligated to show up if they have to put their names and phone numbers down on a sheet of paper. Make sure that you promote the outreach in your service announcements. Include a description of the activity, where it will be located, how students will get there, and a contact person. Rules. Before you head out for an outreach activity, you should always go over the rules. Whether this is the fiftieth outing or the first outing there are often new people or Christian teens that forget rules and requirements. Also, make sure you spend some time in prayer before you head out. Remember, you are doing this activity for the Glory of the Lord, so be sure that He is a part of it. Stay Connected. Stay connected to your contact person with the organization with which you are participating. Be open to feedback and willing to change as needed. Even though some of the students are Christian teens, they may not all behave as well as you would like. Therefore, as a leader of the outreach activity, you may have to confront some of the students about following rules and meeting requirements. Encourage New Participants. Keep the students engaged and invested in the outreach activity. While you may be tempted to just "go with the group you have," eventually those Christian teens grow up and move on to other groups in the church. Therefore, while you need to keep encouraging the group you have, you also need to bring in new students throughout the year. Continuing promotion of your outreach activities and encouragement of the students that participate will go a long way to developing a long-term and successful outreach program.

The LORMA COLLEGES INTEGRATED OUTREACH PROGRAM hopes to attain the following objectives by the end of five (5) years:

To promote a nationalistic education vis a vis Christian values and social realities; To support the realization of the LORMA COLLEGES Mission statement through the integration of the outreach activities, the curricular and co-curricular activities of the school;

To promote a Christian atmosphere where all Lormanians including administrators, teachers, personnel and students treat each other in a spirit of brotherhood; To witness the Christian active concerns through exposure to the realities of life of the poor, depressed and less privileged as part of the learning process; To develop skills for the identification of priority areas and effective implementation of the integrated outreach community activities; To promote active solidarity with the poor through relevant outreach activities; To develop prospective student leaders for the Integrated Community Outreach; To enrich the students with life and reality thematic through actual involvement in the targeted communities which can serve as context to situate, understand and connect the theories, fundamentals and knowledge taught to them; To come up with a printed Souvenir Performance Manual properly documented; To provide opportunities for actual involvement in the community development programs and activities that will help the people attain their fullest potentials as self-reliant individuals and communities and To attain commitment to serve the poor through feedback/ evaluation mechanisms.

Community Extension Services Program I. Introduction The ultimate basin of human educational formation is the community. We believe that the school, being a product of the community, has the social responsibility to reach out to it so that the symbiosis of developmental education is not hampered. Students come from different family backgrounds and are formed in different schools. They also interact daily with other people in the community. Whether the students or pupils understand their community or not remains to be a question nonetheless. And so, it is the rationale of this program to provide a venue for them by which they are given the opportunity to know the reality and the dynamics of our basic sectors of society. This encounter with the poor in our society will eventually instill in them the value of patrimony and love of God. With a clear perception of whats going on in the community, they will be guided towards a course that will help uplift of their countrymen and redeem the environment. Imbued by the Assumption spirit of service, the CES also supports the fine-tuning of personnels energy towards purposive and Spirit-filled services within and outside the school campus. II. Program Objectives

1. General The CES Program of ACD aims to:

provide opportunities to personnel and students enhancing socialization and integration with the members of the adopted communities; instill among them the value of social responsibility through Christian stewardship embodying the characteristics of an Assumptionist; create an atmosphere conducive for collaboration between the school community and the adopted communities; establish strategic partnerships with professional organizations (Pros), academic institutions (AIs), peoples organizations (POs), government organizations (GOs) and non-government organizations (NGOs) for effective and efficient implementation of the extension program and resource mobilization.

2. Specific In order to facilitate the general objectives, the CES office specifically aims to:

conduct programmatic and regular community extension services in the areas of health, environment, non-formal education, socio-politics, and spirituality to the identified areas of ACD. facilitate the entry of students, pupils and personnel to the identifies areas for community extension; create an effective and efficient system of collaboration with club moderators and department heads in bringing their pupils or students to the CES site; establish culturally sensitive communication structure among other ACD institutional units and agencys of PrOs, Als POs, GOs and NGOs; conduct regular assessment and evaluation on the activities implemented per school year; provide documents regarding the assessment of CES participants to interested CES partners for purposes of evaluation, accountability and greater collaboration.

III. Programs and Services 1. Alternative Medicine

Information Campaign Training

2. Environment/Ecology

Community Greening Clean-up drive Waste Management

Adopt-a-site

3. Non-Formal Education Program

Community Greening Clean-up drive Waste Management Adopt-a-site

4. Livelihood

Hog Dispersal Locally Manufactures Snacks Community Health

5. Advocacy

Radio Program

6. Networking and Linkages

CENRO DENR DSWD BJMP R-11 DACUN Community Extensioners

IV. CES Activities

Forum Symposium Exposure-immersion Clean-up Drives Waste Segregation Fact-finding Mission Radio Guesting/Anchoring Community Health Workers Training Area Visitation and Monitoring Organizing Organizational Meeting and Evaluation Rest and Recreation

V. Scope and Limitation of the CES

The CES in-charge monitors the offices programs and implementation. He/She heads the assessment and evaluation of CES program and services.

The in-charge and/or the staff should attend meeting and personnel development activities pertaining to CES. He/She coordinates with the department heads, club moderators, unit heads and agency heads in terms of implementing the activities of pupils, students, personnel in the adopted communities. The CES in-charge sees to it that staff assigned in each program is given their tasks and functions long enough before the actual activity takes place. He/She prepares and submits the CES performance budget at the beginning of the school year. CES in-charge makes systematic progress report on the CES program taking not of the horizontal and vertical impact of the program to the ACD community. He/She reports to the school president in matters pertaining to the CES program

Brief History
Involvement in development work is not new to Silliman University. It started extension work as early as 1901, the year when it was founded. The University was founded upon the principle of education for total human development to a Christian context, for living in a complex and changing world. Its educational goals are community oriented. Silliman University is one of the few universities in the Philippines, which pioneered in community development programs. It has a vast extension program, probably the most diversified and comprehensive extension program in the Philippines today, geared to helping develop the Province of Negros Oriental and its neighboring provinces with the view of uplifting the standard of living in the rural and remote areas. It is a kind of education, which could be translated as SERVICE TO OTHERS. The concern is expressed concretely in its broad extension program, covering almost all of the municipalities and three cities of the province of Negros Oriental. Back to top

Mission
To facilitate a process of development by addressing the priority needs of disadvantaged communities through multidisciplinary and participatory approaches. Back to top

Vision
A transformed, empowered, and self-reliant community living in harmony with the environment. Back to top

Objectives
1. To provide teaching-learning situation or to create a service-learning environment whereby faculty, student, staff and the community learn from each other;

2. To render service to the larger community, and 3. To promote income-generating and self-help livelihood initiatives

Community extension Services Vision An effective service-oriented, Gospel inspired Community Extension Program of SPCD, committed to forming socially responsible, responsive, dedicated Paulinian leaders and followers of the Community. We commit ourselves to:

Mission: 1. Uphold the importance and unique role of the Community Extension Program in Paulinian Education. 2. Develop collective ownership and responsibility for the Community Extension Program. 3. Provide meaningful educational opportunities for Community Program. 4. Integrate Community Extension Program into the various educational Activities utilizing COPAR as a toll. Values: 1. Human Dignity Consciousness of the basic right of every human being to have respect and to have her/his basic needs met that will allow her/him the opportunity to develop her/his maximum potential. 2. Human Rights/World Social Order Committing one's talent, education, training and resources to creating the means for every person in the world to experience her/his basic right to such lifegiving resources as food, habitat, employment, health and minimal practical education. 3. Service/Vocation To be motivated to use one's unique gifts and skills to contribute to society through one's occupation, business, profession or calling. 4. Transcendence/Global Equality Knowing the practical relationship between human oppression, freedom and creative ecological balance based on a simultaneous awareness of the finite and the infinite so that one can influence changes that promote greater human dignity. 5. Cooperation/Complimentary

The capacity to enable persons in a corporation or institution to work cooperatively with one another such that the unique skills and qualities of one individual supplement, support and enhance the skills and qualities of others in the group.