On Friday, September 30, 2022, the MYP held their Opening Day event at Holy Trinity Church in Whitestone, NY. Our teens signed in, provided their Guess answers, and walked around the room to answer questions on posters like, “What Was the Best Gift You Ever Received?” “What Gift Did You Receive That You Didn’t Like?” “What’s the Best Gift You Ever Gave Someone?” This led them into our theme – identifying the gifts they have, the gifts that other people have, and recognizing that God asks us to use these gifts. The event theme came from the MYP Theme for 2022-2023: “I long to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by one another’s faith, yours & mine.” (Romans 1:11-12)
The event consisted of an icebreaker, two talks (from Team Members Eileen Haggerty & Diana Roach), Small Group discussions, and the construction of personal boxes that teens decorated & labeled with their gifts. Later on, the teens were asked to complete two slips = one to be read aloud during our concluding Prayer Service and one for themselves (to be enclosed in their boxes). They needed to answer: “Holy Spirit, help me to open my heart and to use my gift of _______________ as God intended me to.”
The ending Prayer Service had the teens read from a prepared handout that included dialog with the Holy Spirit: “I am not perfect, yet I pray the Spirit can form me into the new creation you want me to be. Walk with me now, Lord. I am ready to take your hand. We can do far more things together than I could ever do alone.”
We hope to continue to remind our teens of this theme throughout this MYP season!