“Finder, Keepers”—usually a childish phrase—was used by a group of middle school students to talk about how God’s love is seen in Luke 15.
Lost and Found, the Virginia Synod youth event for 7th and 8th graders, was held Nov 21-23 at Eagle Eyrie Baptist Convention Center in Lynchburg. This year there were 300 participants at the event, representing 49 congregations from across the Virginia Synod.
“Our theme this year was ‘Finders, Keepers’ because when you get lost or drawn away from God, he will find you and he always wants to keep you,” explained Emily Weeks, a member from First Lutheran Church in Norfolk and an 8th grader on this year’s planning team.
Lost and Found 2014 planning group. From Left to Right: Emily Weeks, Turner Barger, and Karl Gabb
Emily was joined by two other 8th graders on the planning group, Turner Barger from Epiphany Lutheran in Richmond and Karl Gabb from First Lutheran in Norfolk. For months before the event, the three 8th graders met with Dave Delany, the director for youth and young adult ministries and assistant to the Bishop.
The students planned the theme, helped design the bright coral-colored t-shirts, and wrote skits that would help tell the parables of the lost sheep, lost coin and prodigal son from Luke 15.
Bryan “Hep” Hepner and Tori Smith acted as the planning group advisors and helped the 8th graders prepare to get up on stage in front of 300 people.
During the weekend the crowd broke out in laughter during every planning group skit (Watch one here). Turner’s character was the sheep who had wandered away from his master after he saw a Twizzler tree (yes, Twizzlers, as in the red licorice candy). Emily used two large hula hoops to dress up as a coin who had been dropped into a well. The part of the stubborn prodigal son was played by Karl.
“The reason the skits go over so well is because the kids brainstorm the ideas. Who knows better than they do?” said Pastor Anne Jones who acted as the event chaplain.
After each skit was performed Pastor Jones stood in front of the crowd and offered ways that these stories could relate to the lives of middle schoolers. Pastor Jones’ Saturday night sermon was filled with messages of how God relentlessly pursues each of us.
“We live in such a throw away culture where people are popular one day and then they are cast aside the next day,” Jones said.
“To hear that there is someone, God, who will never throw you away, where you will always have the same status, that is huge in this culture.”
An offering was taken up on Saturday night that will be used to bring one student from our partner synod in Papua New Guinea to the National Youth Gathering in Detroit. Over $1000 was collected.
Throughout the weekend, the 7th and 8th graders are always given several opportunities to verbally process what they were hearing through conversations with their peers.
One of the 33 small groups getting together for the first time
“After small group it’s easier to understand symbolic stories and relate them to God and my faith.” Said Madeleine Etheridge, an 8th grader from Gloria Dei.
Each small group is led by an adult volunteer. Many of the leaders of these small groups are college students or young adult that have experienced this event for themselves.
Dave Delaney says that oftentimes, coming back to Lost and Found as a small group leader becomes part of the faith formation story of the young adults in the Virginia Synod.
This is true of Alex Cox, a member of Our Saviour Lutheran in Christiansburg, who just graduated from Floyd County High School and calls herself one of her youth leader’s “perfect attendance angels.” She has been coming to Virginia Synod youth events for the last 8 years. Lost and Found 2014 was the first event where she was able to come back as a small group leader.
“I really enjoyed being part of the event,” she said. “I wanted to give back to the community that gave so much to me. I think I like being a leader more than a youth participant.”
Lost and Found also provides an opportunity for vocational discernment. During the two hours of free time in the afternoon, college students and young adults gathered together to talk with Chris Bowen, chaplain of Roanoke College. Bowen had the young leaders break into small groups and talk about where their passions intersected with their talents.
For others, like Joseph Yucha, discernment didn’t come directly from conversations, but indirectly through working with the kids and seeing pastor from around the Synod participate in the event.
“Coming to these youth events and watching people like Pastor James Armentrout and Pastor David Derrick being in skits up on stage showed me that not all pastors are stuffy guys in collars,” said Yucha.
Yucha is now in his 3rd year of seminary at Chicago Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
Miranda Venable and Madeleine Etheridge from Gloria Dei
No matter who you ask, the sentiment is clear. Lost and found is not only a great time to learn more about God and your personal faith, it’s a time to experience the joyful life that Jesus was talking about in John 10:10.
“We get to have a lot of fun, we don’t just sit around and do nothing; we are active 24/7,” said Miranda Venable, an 8th grader from Gloria Dei.
At every turn students are doing something new and exciting like building a balloon tower, playing Moose Spaz, singing “Your Everlasting Love” (aka the Bounce song), or sitting down to have a conversation about what God means to them.
Every activity is intended to point participants towards God and help them understand, particularly through this theme, God’s unfailing love.
“The God who created us and formed us, the God that came to us in Jesus Christ and promises that absolutely nothing can separate us from his love, that God has found you in the waters of baptism and that God will keep you in his Grace,” said Pastor Jones during her sermon. “We belong to God and that is something worth celebrating.”
