Youth 2011

Y11 WEBSTORE: http://store.gbod.org/

Y11 Merchandise is still available, and at DISCOUNT prices. Get T-Shirts, Hats, Sunglasses and more on the cheap. Also, you can get the last of our METHODIST T-shirts NOW. Sizes, colors and quantities on everything are limited, so get them while supplies last. Prices and items below. Go to the webstore to see pictures and to order!

ITEM, PRICE, COLORS AVAILABLE
Y11 Icons T – $5 – Gray or Black
Y11 Locations T – $7 – White, Gray, Red, or Black
Y11 V-Neck T – $7 – Gray
Y11 Women’s Tank – $7 – Black or White
Y11 Locations Long Sleeve T – $8 – White
METHODIST T – $12 – Gray, Red, White, Navy
METHODIST Long Sleeve T – $14 – White
Y11 Hat – $4 – Green, Yellow, Orange, Purple
Y11 Sunglasses – $2 – Red , Orange, Pink, Green
Y11 Drawstring Bag – $2 – Gray and Orange

Download is enabled, so if you have a log in or can create a free Vimeo account, you can scroll down on each video’s page and hit download to save these videos on your computer!

Watch the 4 Daily Wrap Up Videos from the Y11 Purdue Event:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

Watch the 4 Daily Wrap Up Videos from the Y11 Sacramento Event:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

To answer this question, Youth 2011 must become more than an event. Find ways to help your young people and adult leaders (those who attended and those who did not) see this experience as a challenge, a springboard, a holy call—to claim that God’s love for them is more than they deserve and far more amazing than they ever imagined, to realize that the church is more than a building but rather a global community of believers who with God’s help can do far more together than they ever could alone. Invite the youth and youth workers in your church to imagine at least 5–10 ways that your youth group and its ministry in your community and in the world might become more than you have ever imagined. Perhaps these suggestions will help:

> Keep the power and energy of your small group experience going. Explore the article Starting Small Groups in Your Church for lots of valuable tips and resource ideas.

> Continue to practice the presence of God using The Prayer of Examen and other prayer practices you have learned at Youth 2011. For more ideas, check out a few of these spiritual practices.

> Plan to have a “MORE THAN Celebration” within a couple weeks of your return from Youth 2011. Allow participants to share their experiences from the event, and invite those who were unable to go to share with the rest of you what has been happening in their lives (as well as in your community and in the world) while you were gone. Be intentional about reuniting the group and working together to decide what your next steps will be.

Feel free to download this “MORE THAN Celebration” designed specifically for youth groups who have attended Youth 2011—or create your own.

If you and your group enjoy this More Than session, be sure to check out the FREE weekly “In the Habit” sessions for youth workers at http://devoted2youth.org/blog-category/in-the-habit—each dealing with an issue or topic that young people have asked us to explore in devozine. Help your youth get “in the habit” of spending time with God!

—from devozine. Copyright © 2011 The Upper Room®. All rights reserved. www.devozine.org

How Can I Prepare to Lead Devo Time with My Group at Youth 2011? (part 2)
Your group is encouraged to gather for Devo Time at 11 P.M. each night during Youth 2011. As a Devo Time leader you will facilitate this small group experience and help the youth and adults from your church to discuss and to debrief the day, to discern what God is saying to you, and to pray together. The following tips will help you to be a more effective Devo Time leader.

+ Use devozine during your own personal devotional time. Your group’s Devo Time will be more meaningful if you have shared with the youth and adults in your group the journey through the daily devozine meditations designed for Youth 2011.

+ Meet with your group for Devo Time each evening. This is the key focus for the Devo Time leader. Plan to meet at 11 P.M. each evening for at least 30 minutes. Select a place where you can talk together without being distracted, and plan to meet in the same place each evening. [NOTE: Click here for more helpful tips on facilitating a small group.] The suggested outline for your time together each night (found in the Youth 2011 Program Book) will always include these steps:

• Opening Prayer—acknowledging God’s presence with you and giving thanks. Use the printed prayer, or invite an individual or the group to offer a prayer to center your group.

• Reviewing Your Day with The Prayer of Examen—talking about your experiences at Youth 2011 and about your lives in relationship with God. Some of these opening questions may sound very familiar to you; in fact, you may use similar questions to open your regular youth meetings. Whether you call it “Pows & Wows,” “Highs & Lows,” “Ups & Downs,” or “Check In,” the time you spend answering questions about being grateful/ungrateful (loved/unloved, open/blocked, and so on) and about the ways in which you have seen or felt God’s presence is actually the practice of an ancient form of prayer known as the Awareness Examen. Encourage your group to take these opening questions seriously and to respond prayerfully. (These would also be great journaling questions!)

• Reflecting on Scripture and a devozine Meditation—exploring God’s word and how it intersects with the faith story of a young person who has helped to plan and to lead Youth 2011. Discussion questions will help your group dig deeper into the MORE THAN theme for each day.

• Closing Prayer—spending time in conversation with God as a group. If there are certain rituals or traditions that have become life-giving for your group, feel free to incorporate those into this time of prayer. Also encourage the group to make this prayer time more than it has been for your group in the past. Perhaps you will discover some prayer practices you want to use once you get back home!

+ Pray for the members of your group. Part of your ministry as a Devo Time leader involves regular prayer for those with whom you meet. Make this an ongoing commitment.

+ Make informal contacts outside your regular time together. Real friendship goes beyond a routine meeting—whether it’s youth group or Devo Time. Youth 2011 will provide many opportunities for you to get to know the youth in your group better—and perhaps in settings you’d never be in at home. Check in with them during the day. Seek to become a mentor—a caring and open friend, an example, a listener, an encourager, a prayerful pilgrim who guides and learns from the young people with whom you walk on the journey of faith. [NOTE: To dig deeper, check out “What Is a Mentor?” Feel free to use this resource with the team of adults who will be attending Youth 2011 or who work with the youth of your church on a regular basis.]

+ Arrange for Youth 2011 participants to share their experiences with other youth and adults who did not attend the event. We believe that what you learn at Youth 2011 as well as what you commit to do and to become will make a difference once you get back home. Plan ways to incorporate the spirit of and the gifts from Youth 2011 into your youth group. For ideas, look for the “More Than Celebration” session outline that will be posted on this Youth 2011 blog as well as in the “What’s New” section of www.devoted2youth.org (devozine’s website for youth workers) before you leave for Youth 2011. Or invite Youth 2011 participants from your church to create their own “More Than Celebration.” Perhaps you can begin planning this gathering on the trip home!

—from devozine. Copyright © 2011 The Upper Room®. All rights reserved. www.devozine.org

iPhone Users, check this out!

Youth 2011 iPhone wallpaper. . .choose your color and download it here free!

Choose your Youth 2011 color and install it today!

iphone 3 or 3gs owners: Download Pink, Blue or Green.

Iphone 4 owners: Download Pink, Blue or Green.

Here’s how to install your Youth 2011 wallpaper:

Use your iTunes account
Download an iPhone image above. Place it wherever all your photos are on your computer.
Connect your iPhone to your computer as you normally would.
Open iTunes. Select the iPhone’s name under the “Devices” menu in iTunes, and click “Photos.”
Click “Sync Photos From” and select the photo folder or photo application where you.
Click “Apply” and “Sync,” and remove the cable from the iPhone.
Click “Settings” on the iPhone and click “Wallpaper.” Click “Camera Roll” or “Photo Library” to browse through the photos to find the Youth 2011 wallpaper image you downloaded.
Enjoy!

Instagram app to be used at Youth 2011! Take photos now!

Use Instagram on your iPhone and have your photos show up on the BIG SCREEN at Youth 2011! The photos will also appear constantly at the GBOD booth.

Here’s how! Download Instragram for FREE:

Create a free Instragram account. When you take a photo and want it to show up at Youth 2011, make sure you use this tag somewhere in the title: #Youth2011 Enjoy!

How Can I Prepare to Lead Devo Time with My Group at Youth 2011? (part 1 of 2)

Devo Time each night at 11 P.M. is a crucial part of Youth 2011. It is a time for you and your youth to gather to discuss and to debrief the day, to discern what God is saying to you, and to pray together.

You (or someone you designate) will need to plan to lead Devo Time with your youth group each night at Youth 2011. If your group is large, you may want to divide into smaller groups; and if so, you’ll need to designate a leader for each group. Consider allowing youth to lead or to co-lead some of the Devo Times. If you need additional help to prepare your Devo Time leaders, check out the tips and valuable information in the article “Facilitating Small Group Sharing.”

During Registration at Youth 2011, the designated youth leader of each group will receive the resources needed to lead Devo Time. The Youth 2011 Program Book will contain an easy-to-follow outline for the Devo Time session each night, as well as some ideas for incorporating “A Devo on the Way” into your trip back home. You will also receive copies of devozine, the devotional magazine for teens published by The Upper Room, to give to each member of your group. The July/August 2011 issue includes the MORE THAN meditations and weekend article written especially for Youth 2011 as well as the article “To Be or Not To Be Me” (in devozine’s “Standing Alone” theme) by Scott Taube, lead singer of the band Philmont, who will be in concert on Saturday afternoon at Youth 2011.

In addition to these resources that will be provided for you, here are a few things you may want to pack for Devo Time at Youth 2011:
• A candle and matches to symbolize God’s presence with you as you gather each night. (If you are bringing a large group, pack one set for each small group that will be meeting.)
• A journal for yourself and each young person. (Suggest that the youth bring their own journals, or surprise them with a new one on the trip to Youth 2011. An inexpensive spiral-bound notebook is adequate for their journal entries, friends’ autographs, and other notes.)
• A Bible (the Youth 2011 Bible will contain the New Testament only) and any spiritual symbols that will help you to transform a dorm or hotel room into sacred space for your group’s Devo Times.

At Devo Time each night, your group will have time to recall or to notice God’s presence throughout the day using the spiritual practice of the Prayer of Examen, time to reflect on the devozine meditation for the daily MORE THAN theme, and time to pray together as a community. Yes, it’s all there in the Program Book—brief easy-to-follow Devo Time outlines complete with prayers and reflection questions, plus the “Living in God’s Presence” article providing leaders with additional information about the history and the practice of the Prayer of Examen. [NOTE: Feel free to download this article and to begin using this prayer practice with your group before you travel to Youth 2011.]

Check the Youth 2011 blog next week to discover more ways you can prepare to lead your group in the small group experiences available to you at Youth 2011.

—from devozine. Copyright © 2011 The Upper Room®. All rights reserved. www.devozine.org

ADULT LEADER ORIENTATION
We want you to be informed and equipped to have a great experience! We ask that each group send a minimum of one adult leader to a brief orientation meeting where we will share important information on safety, schedules, LAB procedures, and much more. Please make plans to have one or more adult leaders from your group attend one of the following meetings.

PURDUE
Meetings are Wednesday, July 13 only! Each meeting will last 45 minutes and start on the hour. Pick the one that best fits your schedule.
Stewart Center Room 322
2:00 p.m. 5:00 p.m.
3:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m.
4:00 p.m. 10:00 p.m.

SACRAMENTO
Meetings are Wednesday, July 27 only! Each meeting will last 45 minutes and start on the hour. Pick the one that best fits your schedule.
Room 304
2:00 p.m. 5:00 p.m.
3:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m.
4:00 p.m. 10:00 p.m.

We believe that Youth 2011 will be a life-changing experience for you and your young people! Here are some ways to help your group prepare spiritually for Youth 2011 so that this time away with God and with thousands of their peers can be MORE THAN they ever dreamed or dared to imagine.

> Begin now to pray together as a youth group for Youth 2011. Pray for the leaders of the event, for the preparations, for the youth and adults who will be there, for safety to and from the event, for God’s presence to be a real experience for all participants. Ask your pastor to keep this request on your church’s prayer list before and during the event.

> Invite an adult from your congregation to become a prayer partner with each teenager going to Youth 2011. After the event, have a special gathering of prayer partners and youth, and encourage youth to share their experiences and insights.

> Incorporate into your regular youth group meetings some time to focus on the MORE THAN theme of Youth 2011. This will help to involve those young people who may not be able to attend the event and make it easier for them to reconnect with the group once you return from Youth 2011. Download two devozine meditations written by Youth 2011 Design Team members for this event, and use them to help your group begin to think about how God’s love is more than we could ever imagine—and how, because of that love, we are far more than the sum of our past mistakes. [NOTE: The rest of these meditations written by young people on the Design Team will be incorporated into your Devo Time at Youth 2011, so exploring these two before you go will help your group become familiar with the format of the devos for the event.]

> Encourage each of your young people to begin a regular devotional time now—before you leave for Youth 2011. Suggest that they spend some quiet time, even if only a few minutes a day, reading scripture and praying—and perhaps journaling their prayers. devozine is a good resource to help them begin this practice.

> Introduce your youth group to a new prayer practice—The Prayer of Examen. Download the devozine article “Living in God’s Presence” for the history of this prayer and an outline for practicing the Examen as a group or on your own. This prayer practice will be part of the Devo Time sessions at Youth 2011, so experiencing it together before you come will help to deepen your sharing at the event and to reunite your group when you return home.

> Use the trip to Purdue or to Sacramento as a time for spiritual preparation. On the way to Youth 2011, ask the members of your group to think about or to discuss with one or two other people these questions: How can I see this week as God’s time? How can I prepare myself to seek God’s presence during this event? How will I open my heart to receive and to give more than I ever thought possible? Invite youth and youth workers to take the risk of being open to one another and to God this week. Pray together this prayer as you depart from and return to your homes.

A Traveling Prayer
Lord,
you are in all
of your creation.
Protect and guide me
as I set out to travel.
Make my ways safe
and my homecomings joyful.
Let me have your wisdom
so that I make
good and right choices
in all the places that I go.
Give me safe
traveling companions
and let me not be lonely.
Amen.

—from devozine. Copyright © 2011 The Upper Room®. All rights reserved. www.devozine.org