How Did You Do?

Great job! That's all the dares! Now here's the deal, you have until 11:30 p.m. (thought i'd be nice and give you an extra 30 minutes) to complete your dares and turn in ALL of your pictures to rob.gage@northbridge.org 

Remember: Each dare requires a different picture for every team member. So, you can go back and finish some of the dares with more pictures if you haven't already.

Winners will be announced:

High School (9th-12th Grade) @ InsideOut this Sunday from 6:30-8:30 p.m. 

Middle School (6th-8th Grade) @ Transit this Tuesday from 6:30-8:30 p.m. 

Thanks for participating in Northbridge Student Ministries' Double Dog Dare 2012. Winners must be in attendance to receive your prize. 

Dare #12

I dare you to take an awkward family photo! (1 different picture per person. You can check out www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com  for ideas. )

Dare #11

I dare you to take a picture of yourself breaking something (not a bone). Make sure you do something out of the ordinary... you want to stand out! 

Dare #10

I dare you to take a picture of yourself making a “going to the bathroom” face. Funniest face wins. 

Dare #9

I dare you to take a picture of you doing something to yourself or a friend that will “leave a mark”. Doesn’t have to be painful, just funny AND appropriate.

Dare #8

I dare you to take a picture acting out a story from the Bible. Creativity is important!

Dare #7

I dare you to create the grossest sandwich possible and take a big bite out of it. Be sure to show in the picture all of the things you put into your creation. 

Dare #6

I dare you to deliver a pizza to your neighbor. Make it convincing. Take a picture of you at the door with your neighbor. 

Dare #5

I dare you to make yourself look like the newest boy-band. Be sure to strike your best boy-band pose and hold up the name of your band. 

REMEMBER!!!!

This is just a reminder.... you should have a DIFFERENT picture for each member of your team for each dare. 

So, if Jeffey, Zeke, and Harrison are all on a team... and all doing the dare... there should be 3 different pictures. Only one person can win the prize. 

Dare #4

I dare you to give yourself sharpie/permanent marker facial hair. 

Dare #3

I dare you to take a picture that makes you look either like a huge giant or the smallest person in the world. 

Dare #2

I dare you to take the SCARIEST picture possible… be creative! 

Dare #1

I dare you to “make-up” your face using only condiments from your refrigerator! 

Double Dog Dare October 27th at 8:00 p.m.!!!!!

Are You Ready?!?

Double Dog Dare:  you and your friends will meet at someone’s home for a sleepover.   At 8pm, on this website we will be uploading a dare every 10-20 minutes.  As individuals, you and your friends decide which dares you want to try and take a photo of it (1 pic per person per dare).  You don’t have to do them all, but you can.  Then you email the photos to rob.gage@northbridge.org before 11pm.

Our Double Dog Dare judges pick out the best photo for each dare based on humor and creativity.  The winners for each dare are announced at the next InsideOut or Transit gathering. You have to be in attendance to claim your prize.  If you aren’t in attendance at the next InsideOut or Transit, we’ll draw from the names of those in the audience to win your prize.  There will be a chance to win some really BIG prizes. If winners “dare” to trade in their prize, there is a potential of winning a bigger one.  InsideOut (grades 9-12) will meet  Sunday Oct. 28th from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Transit (grades 6-8) will meet Tuesday Oct. 30th from 6:30-8:30 p.m. 

Registration is simple.  Just email rob.gage@northbridge.org with the name and grade of you and any of your friends who will be entering “Double Dog Dare”.  

Rules:

1. Appropriate pictures only.

2. If you don't feel comfortable with a dare, don't do it.

3. All pictures must be sent to rob.gage@northbridge.org   by 11:00pm on Saturday night October 27th!

4. Your first name, last name, AND grade must be sent with EVERY picture on every dare.  No name and grade = FAIL

5. Questions during the challenge will not be answered. Please don't email questions, even if they are about the dare.

6. By sending pictures you give permission for them to be shown to other students and/or put on facebook.

7. Each person with you can send in a picture for each dare, but only one pic per person.

8. Pictures are judged on humor and creativity.

9. If you are not there to claim a prize on Sunday morning, it will be awarded to someone in the crowd.

Day 5... The Rain Won't Stop Us

I can't believe the week is already over. I have to be honest... I know many of you are looking forward to seeing your kids again... but part of me rejoices inside when I hear them say they don't want to go home. This week has been incredible in so many ways and I believe relationships were made that will last a lifetime.

Thursday again started out like the rest of them... Bible study, breakfast and seminars. After seminars we were invited to participate in the legendary Surf City Regatta. The Regatta is an "anything the floats" boat build-off where teams make a boat and perform in a parade to show off their team pride. Then the boats are walked to the lake where we have a boat race to see which teams have leaders who are engineers...I mean,... which kids had the best boat building ideas. :) This year we had a strong showing. Our boat had a rough start... unfortunately I didn't have enough time to give a quick lesson in how to use a canoe paddle to steer, but what Sadie Lee and Hannah Steffey lacked in navigation they made up for in strength. The boat came back and ended up in second place. I'm just happy we didn't have another Titanic incident.

After Lunch the rain came... and didn't stop. However the best part about being at camp is that we won't let the rain stop us... it only makes middle school boy's shoes smell like death. Even with the rain stinging them in their faces Chais and Alex endured tubing. Even with the rain turning Brenden and Timmy into living sand sculptures... they dominated in the Gaga Pit. Even with the rain soaking Kaylee and Abby to their core... they went out for another round on the Battle Barge. I however, with the smart kids, sat on the covered porch and played Uno. But don't worry, your kids weren't left unattended to fend for themselves... I took one for the team and let Jordan Fuller "enjoy" the fun in the rain.

That evening in Club Jayson shared with us the story of Jacob and Esau. Jayson talked to the kids about how Esau was so blinded by his own desires that he was willing to sell his birthright for a measly bowl of beans. Unfortunately, so many of us do the same thing everyday... we give up what's most important to meet a presumed immediate "need" without thinking it through and seeing what it could cost us. We challenged students to make wise decisions because it's not worth selling a birthright for a bowl of beans. In life you can either be part of the problem or part of the solution. God sacrificed His Son so each and every one of us could be part of the solution.

We ended the night with a whole bunch of great activities like scaling the indoor climbing wall (Jessica Farra crushed it), dancing for hours, and a highly competitive dodgeball tournament. Our team, "Chocolate Milk" went all the way to the championship game but lost to a team who the kids referred to as being "juiced up!" HAHAHA!

Well,... it was a great week. I hope that these kids will go home and apply all that they've learned. We will be home late.

I also wanted to let you know that in order to help these kids continue to grow and apply these truths to their lives we will be kicking off some incredible environments this fall. Students in 6th-8th grade will be going to Transit on Tuesday nights from 6:30-8:30. Students in 9th-12th grade will be going to InsideOut on Sunday nights from 7:00-9:00. If you have any questions feel free to contact me: rob.gage@northbridge.org

Day 4...Clearly That's A Bobsledding Unicorn!

I can't believe our amazing week is coming to an end. It seems like yesterday we were loading the buses in Pittsburgh. Wednesday ended up being an incredible day packed with a ton of laughs and a ton of sand. Our day started out like the others with Bible study, breakfast and seminars but then they had the entire camp load up on buses and taken down the road to the beautiful beaches of Lake Michigan. At the beach, our teams competed in the infamous Surf City beach games. Unfortunately, our Tug-of-War winning streak sadly came to an end this year. I guess that's what happens when your team dominates every year and gets a little overconfident! We lost...we didn't have a prayer. However, we would totally redeem ourselves in the sand-sculpture competition. This year our team is called the Yellow Bob-sledding Unicorns and so we thought it would only be appropriate to build a sand bob-sled for our sculpture...complete with Hannah Steffey driving. It looked magnificent. The judges gazed upon it in all it's glory and were speechless. I'm not quite sure it was for the reasons we had hoped... but we were proud of our work nonetheless.

After having lunch on the beach we headed back to camp for some more tubing, swimming and barging. A lot of our time in the afternoon was also spent around tables laughing until we cried. We told stories and shared memories of embarrassing moments to the point where some had to get up and leave before they created a new embarrassing story about the time they peed their pants at camp! I don't want to mention any names... but it may rhyme with Felektra. My abdomen is seriously sore from laughing yesterday.

In the evening we went to Club and heard the amazing story of what Jesus did to give each of us new life. Jayson talked about how some things must die for others to live. The same is true for our lives... things in our life must die in order for us to truly live... lies, hate, grudges, selfishness. It was powerful. Students wrestled with the realization that their lives matter and if they are ever going to experience what God really desires for them, they must move past the broken pieces. Then we sent the students out for 20 minutes of silence to reflect on what it would take to accept Jesus free gift of grace and begin the process of fixing that which is broken in the world. We had some great conversations and students made the decision to follow Jesus. It was a great night.

Thanks again for thinking about us and praying. It's been a great week and God is doing some amazing things in the lives of our students. One more day left! 

Day 3.... Peace, Love & Dune Wars!

I can't believe Tuesday is already over... this week seems to be flying by with all of the fun we are having at camp. There is so much to tell you all about what we've done in the past 24 hours. I'll do my best to remember, but forgive me in advance... I tend to get a little foggy as the days go by. A mix of camp food and lack of sleep start to catch up to me the older I get.

Tuesday started out like most days with Bible study, breakfast and then seminars. After seminars however, things got crazy! Wild and crazy to be a little more specific. We participated in a morning competition for points called "Wild and Crazy Kidz." Teams competed in the biggest game of four-square I had ever seen, complete with exercise balls. Then we played a game called "Put Out the Fire." Each team covered three students in red paint and the rest of the teams passed buckets of water down the line and the last person would...um...well...put out the fire. I know,... it sounds a bit ridiculous, but students love what adults consider to be a bit on the ridiculous side. There was also a huge soapy slip n' slide.

That afternoon our group got to venture out to scale the massive sand dunes to have some more fun on another Surf City favorite... the Wave-runners! I have a pretty solid reputation as a wave-runner driver... I haven't thrown a kid off in at least four years, that is until this year. Caden Price seems to have an addiction for adrenaline...so, with every wild turn and with my hand full on the throttle...he still wanted more. So, I thought it would only be right to break my streak and for a moment give him the feeling of what it would be like to fly. It was awesome! 

After a long afternoon of swimming, blobbing and battling it out on the barge, we got cleaned up for dinner. That is except for Timmy and Brendan. It's becoming a regular joke in our group... if you don't see those two you can almost guarantee that they are covered with sand in the "Gaga Pit." The Gaga Pit is a game a lot like dodgeball only there is one ball and you can't pick it up or kick it... you can only hit it at each other by bending over and swinging your fist at it. Those guys have played at least 100 games. 

After dinner we had Club where we heard Jayson share the story of the Prodigal Son. He shared with us the fact that both sons in the story lived with sin because they both were living for their own desires. Neither of them had the desire of their Father in mind when they made decisions. The same goes for us when it comes to our Heavenly Father. If we want to experience true life... we must live with His desires in mind. Please be praying for students to make the connection and see how you don't have to be a drug dealer or murderer to be living in sin... the truth is we often seek our own desires over God's.

We ended the night with Dune Wars... a Surf City tradition that goes back to the camp's beginning. Students break up into two teams and play a few games of capture the flag on the dunes with glow necklaces. Students talk about it all week until it happens and there are always rumors spread about how because of weather, the sale of the property, or massive sink holes that it has been permanently canceled. It's hilarious. At one point I thought Alex Williams was going to cry. 

Thanks again for all of your prayers. Everyone is safe and having a great time. I'll fill you in on more tomorrow!

Day 2.... Now the Fun Begins

Day two is officially in the books and there is so much to tell you, I don't even know where to start... how about the beginning? Monday started off with a morning Bible study, breakfast and morning seminars. Seminars is a time where we gather in groups and talk about the significant relationships in our lives. Then we were sent off with our cabins to compete in a camp-wide competition to get points for our team. We had to complete various tasks like a half-court shot, beat a staff person in a "King of the Hill game on the water, carry your cabin leader across the soccer field and Jessica Farra's favorite, chipping a golf ball 15 feet into a Rubbermaid container. It took her a few attempts... but she was one of the only ones in camp to complete it.

After lunch our teams had a little free time and so Jenn took a group of the girls on a bike ride to the local favorite spot, The Whippy Dip. The Dip is a well-known ice cream stand in the area. They've got great sundaes and corn dogs! Others from our group stayed back and released some energy out on the Blob and Battle Barge. The Battle Barge is a padded dock that floats in the middle of the lake... everyone gathers on it and when the lifeguard blows the whistle, it's an all out battle royal to knock everyone off and be the last one standing. I found out quickly that middle schoolers are stronger than I remember... I'm not sure what you are feeding your kids at home but I think it's working. I'm not as limber as I used to be! 

The second half of the afternoon we took our group tubing. We huddled up into groups of four and did our best to hold on and not lose our shorts! Some of the first-year campers found out quickly why the tubes are one of the favorite activities here at camp. I don't think Cylie or Kim could stop smiling after their wild ride! It was a blast!

That evening in Club we heard  another great message. Jayson talked to us about the story of Jesus healing the blind man and how many believed Jesus was either just a man, a really good prophet, or the actual son of God. The blind man saw Jesus' work in his life and believed He was the son of God. Just like the blind man, we have the opportunity to see Jesus working in our lives everyday. My prayer today is that these students would see that their life matters and God wants to do amazing things in their lives. They just have to believe He is who He says he is... and will do what He says He will do. That truth can have an unbelievable impact on every inch of their lives. 

Thanks for all your prayers. We are having a great time. Check back tomorrow to hear about our adventures on Tuesday! 

Day 1... Are We There Yet!?!

Well, we have officially kicked off our week away at the soft sands of Surf City! We had a quick and un-eventful bus ride to camp... that is except for our lunch stop.  Most of the middle school boy's minds were blown because the Burger King had FREE video games in it. I thought I would never get them out of there.

We made it to camp and were greeted by our very own Surf City Olympians who led us though vigorous training to make this week the best it can be. Once we got settled in and beds made we took our swim test and everybody passed with flying colors. After our test we decided to walk around and show the new crew the camp. Our first stop was the gym with air conditioning and a carpet ball table. Needless to say, that is where our tour stopped and never really got going again. There's something about the competition of carpet ball that sucks a middle schooler's brain in. (For those of you who don't know...Carpet Ball is a lot like shuffle board with billiard balls.)

After Dinner we headed to Club. Club is the "bread and butter" of what we do at Surf City. At Club, students get to hear an amazing band who leads them in some great music. There is also a hilarious skit to get the students laughing and telling stories... this year we met two cowboys who have Gallagher-like tendencies with fruit and tennis rackets. They are trying to fight off the evil Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders who want to make Surf City their new practice facility. At club students also get to hear a great message lead by our very own Jayson Samuels. Last night he challenged them to not "check-out" this week because God wants to show them something amazing this week.  That is my prayer for each and every one of these students... that they would realize that God has something incredible in store for their lives. I can't wait to hear how God will use this week to encourage these students and challenge them to make wise choices and grow in their relationship with Him.

We ended the night last night with a Carnival complete with game booths, popcorn and even fireworks! Students had all kinds of opportunities to win tickets for prizes. Jake Lee went "Bass Bobbing"... Yeah, you guessed it... he attempted and succeeded in catching a live bass with his mouth. Gross! I cheered him on, until I found out that you could use your tickets you won to pie your leader in the face. Thankfully tomorrow I will seek my revenge on 'The Blob."

I realized this morning that I forgot my camera cord. I took some great shots last night but you will have to wait to see them. Now that I know, I will take some more on my phone and have them available for tomorrow's post. Thanks so much for your prayers. Be praying today that God would use the activities to build relationships that will last a lifetime and provide opportunities to share His truth.

Surf City 2012!!!!

Hello there! Welcome to the NorthBridge Students Blog. Check back daily to hear all about our trip to Surf City!