Family Night – Go Global

Saturday’s night Family Night was incredible!  Spearheaded by Julie Ridgeway and Cole Strickland, our team converted the Family Life Center into an airport, airplane, and African village!

Here’s some of the activities from the night:

  • As families entered, they received passports, shot cards, etc.
  • They went through security.
  • They had to find seats on the plane.
  • We had some authentic African music blaring.
  • We had people at different stations speaking in different languages to get the feel of international confusion.
  • We watched an airline safety video in French.
  • We took off.
  • We practiced some Hausa on the plane so we would be prepared for when we got off.
  • We had to go through customs and get our passports stamped.
  • Families had to learn how to travel with babies wrapped on their backs (the African way).
  • We had to pound millet for our food.
  • We had to carry fruit on our heads.
  • We had to take buckets of water from the well.
  • We had to find the chiefs roaming around the village and practice our Hausa greetings.Saturday’s night Family Night was incredible!  Spearheaded by Julie Ridgeway and Cole Strickland, our team converted the Family Life Center into an airport, airplane, and African village!
  • We got to sample some rice and tea.
  • We also had some henna artists there.
  • Once we got back on the plane, we sang “Go” in English and Hausa.
  • I then gave a quick devotion.
  • We split our families up into a time of family devotion.
  • During their time together they talked about how they could share the gospel here and support those sharing the gospel over there.
  • Each family got a mission family partner to pray for, encourage, become pen pals, etc.

I had hopes of what people would get out of this.  I was amazed at the responses that I got from children, teenagers, and adults.  It really put things into perspective for people.  It far exceeded my expectations!

It was so rewarding talking with my family about our experience.  It really caused us to think about things differently.

So thankful for an incredible team to pull this off.  It was incredible watching how God is using these family gatherings to cause us to draw closer to Jesus and one another!