Purposeful Chaos- A Discription of a African Youth Activity

Tie-Dye
In the tie-dye we can see,

the way that Africans think things should be

Vibrant hues, going here and there

Seeming chaos everywhere

From the traffic jams to the clothes we wear

Tie-dye thinking is everywhere

This colorful pattern covers everythings

To the outsider's eyes it seems obscene.

But Africans like this random theme

And I am here to show what it means

And to the outsider that sees confusion

In this poem I offer a solution

Now do not let your self conclude

Though tie-dye's pattern seems undefined and crude

That this pattern has no plan,

This lie in no way will stand.

For in the tie-dye we can see,

Through its wild visual harmonies

That with each twist and turn it takes

Somehow it a pattern makes.

Though the one that views the strings,

Does not know the final look of things,

He is sure that when the end is near,

The whole pattern will become quite clear,

And though each cloth, has no mate,

He's certain unknown beauty is its fate

And from this cloth is meant to be

A lesson learned by you and me.

It wants to tell us that life was meant to be

Lived in a pattern of originality

No two patterns were made alike, it's true,

And so it is with the lives of me and you.

Let the designer make the plan,

The God, the Creator, amd Maker of each man.

Let Him tie, fold, and color each part

According to the dictates of His heart.

And like the tie-dye, we can't see

What His plan for our lives will be,

But we can trust that in the end,

A beautiful pattern will be made by Him.
___________________

Tie-dye seems the perfect way to describe our Friday night youth activity. It was fun, bright, exciting, and filled with purposeful chaos. It was at times ordered and decent, but I will admit, most of our game times fit into this last description.

Most of the teens here have never been to our style of youth activity. (Most churches here have youth meets, but the schedule is made up of all preaching and speaking in tongues, or drumming and dancing). We have many 16 to 18 year olds that have never been to meetings where a person comes and plays games!

After stating this fact, it is easy to understand why the youth enjoy them so much. Last night we played three games. Big-Bowl Hand Soccer, Big-Ball Volleyball, and Dodge ball. As, my new missionary partner has learned, simpler new games are best. If a game has complex rules it will be hard to play, and harder to enforce.

The last game that we played, Dodge ball, is our wildest game. The youth explode in energy and laughter. We always maintain control, and no one gets hurt, or offended. But, it was interesting for me to watch my co-worker as he tried to watch his side of the court.

He was the typical Western game player. He was getting frustrated that everyone was coming in and out of the game, and that the rules where only being followed in a minimal way. He did not understand that I was not so concerned with having a winner, but that the teens had a chance to enjoy themselves, and use up all their pent-up energy. Dodge ball is one of those times in our activities that are purposeful chaos.

Overall the activity was great. We had about 40 teens in attendance. They where able to hear a clear message about the ways Satan seeks to blind them, and where invited to church.

Here are a few psychadelic pictures for the reader from the activity. Sorry, our ligthening ws bad, and only our night setting would work. The long shutter delay created all the motion effects,but I figure it fits with the post!