Pre-Service Trip Meetings

Before we write the covenants (see previous post) but after the youth have discussed and agreed on their service interests for the year and projects have been secured, I plan a variety of meetings intended to build awareness and generate discussion. WUSYG just happens to be a group of die-hard “Tatters” – our term for anyone who is ridiculously dedicated to probing and searching for the root causes of poverty and homelessness in this country, and, in turn, to building houses with Habitat for Humanity. Here’s one example of the kind of games we’ve used to focus our pre-service trip meetings and discussions:

Have one delicious aromatic piping hot delectable pizza, cut into 6 pieces (or, not enough for everyone), in the middle of your circle.

Divide youth into 4 groups:

Group 1 are those who will die if they don’t get a piece of pizza

Group 2 are the people who will hand out the pieces of pizza

Group 3 are the people who paid for the pizza. Make them give you enough money to cover the cost.

Group 4 are the ones who get to make the rules

Allow each group 10 minutes to decide how they would distribute the pizza. Bring the groups together and let each group make its case. Let groups negotiate if time permits. In the end, of course, Group 2 must do whatever Group 4 decides. Debrief and discuss. What could the pizza represent? What could each group represent? How did it feel to have power? To not have power? At what point did groups/individuals feel frustrated? How did you feel about the rules that were made and the individuals that made them? Etc.

Warning: we’ve played this game twice with completely different groups of youth, and both times we have had members of Group 1 eventually steal the pizza -- making for more interesting discussion if you can get them to come back!

Want more?
Here are some games for your congregation (from the Presbyterians)
Here is a game for a lock-in or retreat (from the ELCA)
Here is a game you can play online (from Oxfam)