Nearly 200 ideas for planning meaningful, memorable experiences for your kids! -Camps & Retreats . . . The drive up the mountain . . . The opening talk . . . The outdoor activities . . . The closing fireside -- here's a lodgeful of ideas for organizing successful camps and retreats. - Missions . . . Because even foreign mission work can start within our own borders, you'll find dozens of ideas for helping overseas missionaries right here at home. A used-Bible drive, a scavenger hunt for missionary supplies -- activities like these not only benefit missionaries, but also help your kids understand the personal, local aspects of mission work. - Service . . . Expose your students to others' needs! Inside you'll find ways to help children, the community at large, the elderly, the poor and homeless, shut-ins, and the sick and disabled Whether you're a youth worker or recreation director in a church, school, club, or camp -- Camps, Retreats, Missions, & Service Ideas is your storehouse of proven, youth-group tested ideas.

What if your youth group were being hunted by something far more insidious than the other side in Capture the Flag? No, your students aren't being stalked. But millions of Christians around the world suffer political repression, discrimination, imprisonment, harassment, family division, rape, and torture because of their faith. Children of believers are sold into slavery for the cost of a CD. Every 3 1⁄2 minutes a Christian dies for the faith. In fact, during your hour-long youth group meeting, 17 Christians will be martyred somewhere in the world. Student Underground gently but inexorably forces open students' eyes to the anguishing, world-wide persecution of Christians-and how teenagers can start praying for, communicating with, and reaching out toward victims. Use these 4 sessions (along with the companion 60-minute, award-winning film Behind the Sun) as a high-impact retreat, a lock-in event, or a month of weekly meetings. Student Underground shows why to care. And how to help. Here's a clear, thorough, and convenient curriculum for leaders, including a plethora of quotable facts about how, why, and where Christians are suffering. Not to mention concrete and realistic plans for student action. Plus where to find a complete underground church service on www.YouthSpecialties.com-a simulation of what going to church is like for Christians in restricted countries.

Does your youth group suffer from the "silent complex"? Need help to get them talking about what's really important? Would you like to be a more effective discussion leader? Then look no further! Get 'Em Talking gives you 104 field-tested ideas that will get your kids talking about topics like . . . Rock Music - Dating - Serving God - Death - Friendship - Peer Pressure - Anger - Drugs and Alcohol - Gossip - Family - Parents - The Church - Values - Faith - Cheating - Jesus . . . and many more! Get 'Em Talking is the perfect resource for anyone who leads discussions. You'll glean the insights of two of the nation's most experienced youth professionals on what makes discussion groups tick, how to get a good discussion started, what to do when problems hit, and much more. Learn How to Effectively Use Discussion Techniques Like: - No-risk Discussions - Rug Discussions - "If" Surveys - Yarn-Sharing Experiences - Relay Discussions - Tape Talk - Groupers - Continuum Discussions -- Get 'Em Talking will quickly become an indispensable part of your youth ministry resource library. Whenever you need a great discussion-starting idea, just reach for Get 'Em Talking!

Contains a list of movies, arranged alphabetically, that illustrate life lessons, provoke discussion among students, and encourage youth to think and talk about God and the Bible.

Veteran youth workers Helen Musick and Duffy Robbins dip into their bag of tried-and-true teaching tricks to present this collection of 52 of their most effective object lessons. Easy and fast to prepare, these lessons are perfect for use in devotionals, Sunday School lessons, talks at camps and retreats, and even sermons for both junior and senior high groups.

Over 200 festive ideas for cranking up celebrations for every holiday imaginable! - Christmas . . . Here's your one-stop Christmas programming center. You'll find everything you need for the merriest Advent and Christmas season ever -- goofy games, crazy carols, outrageous outings, and silly skits to fill even the biggest Christmas stocking. And, of course, Christmassy meetings and lessons to help your kids focus on the real reason for the season. - Easter & Lent . . . Worship activities, reenactments, Bible lessons, meeting plans, and service projects, all designed to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Plus games, puzzles, craft projects, and scavenger hunt ideas -- all tied to an Easter theme. - Valentine's Day . . . Play a memorable February 14th with these icebreakers, games, songs, activities, and Bible lessons -- all about love, whether human or divine. - Thanksgiving . . . Wait until you see the potful of ideas that youth workers from Cape Cod to all points west have cooked up for you -- Thanksgiving craft projects, skits, outings, parties, service projects, and Bible lessons. Plus More . . . All kinds of party and meeting ideas for St. Patrick's Day, New Year's, Halloween, Super Bowl Sunday, April Fool's Day, Mother's and Father's Day celebrations, and graduation. Whether you're a youth worker or a recreation director in a church, school, club, or camp -- Holiday Ideas is your storehouse of proven, youth-group tested ideas.

Teenagers learn more by conversing among themselves than by somebody talking at them. These updated TalkSheets--based on the wisdom of Kings David and Solomon--cover topics of perennial relevance and high interest to today’s teens.

The fourth volume of the best-selling Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks series delivers all-new, lively, effective illustrations, stories, parables, and anecdotes from the files of many of youth ministry's best speakers.

Nearly 400 more wild, creative games for guaranteed fun! - Baseball and Kickball Games . . . The national pastime is hereby turned on its ear by more nutty variations than you can shake a Louisville Slugger at. Plus other diamond games, like kickball. - Swimming Pool and Lake Games . . . Whether your water is a pond, pool, or Puget Sound, we've got contests, activities -- even a spectator Water Carnival (see page 117). - Wide Games . . . Got a few acres and a few hours to organize, strategize -- and then use stealth and cunning to infiltrate enemy lines, smuggle contraband through customs, or detect (and dispatch) aliens? These adventure games are perfect for camps and retreats! - Golf Games . . . You don't need manicured courses, motorized carts, or polyester pants. What you do need are people willing to golf with marshmallows, rubber bands, hula hoops, and croquet mallets. - Frisbee Games . . . Portable, ubiquitous, and supremely cool, flying discs hold hours of entertainment for your group. In fact, why not plan an entire day of Frisbee games? Plus . . . A bevy of relay races, outdoor games especially for large and small groups, 30-some soccer and hockey games, alternative football games, and enough water games (including water balloon games) to give your group a sopping good summertime! Whether you're a youth worker or recreation director in a church, school, club, or camp -- Games 2 is brimming with notoriously wild, creative, and youth-group tested games!

Anyone up for FizzerTag? Pucks and Pigskins? How about Missile Mania? You'll find something for any group -- regardless of age, ability, or skill -- in this revised volume of Play It! Inside are more than 150 of the hottest games from the original bestsellers Play It! And Play It Again! Inside you'll find outdoor and indoor games, games for small and large groups . . . relays . . . summer and winter games. . .water games. . .active and non-active games. These community-building games are simply fun! In addition to complete rules and helpful diagrams, Play It! helps you: -Make the most of the games. -Pick the right game for your group. -Adapt the rules or equipment to fit your circumstances. -Choose teams creatively. Play It! contains activities for nearly every occasion and event for use with Sunday school classes, summer camps, children's groups, vacation Bible school, youth groups of all ages, and even groups of adults. It's the perfect resource for teachers, youth workers, group leaders, event coordinators, pastors, and parents!