When: June 8 – 9, 2002. 3—11 pm.
Where: Dallas.
Target age: 15—19
Venue: Renaissance Fairgrounds
Mission Statement: to give kids the opportunity to experience the mystery of God and to open their minds to the wild possibilities of faith.
The space will be very mystical. It is a revolution out of time. A revolution of spirit. The entire space will be full of symbols of faith, words of faith, and images of a time gone by.
Format:
Attendees come in, buy tickets at ticket booth. As they enter they are funneled into holding tanks (50 people per tank). These are small midevil shops where they will receive their assignments for the day. They will receive a small pouch and in it will be a scroll. They will be asked to check their biggest fears on a list of five phobias found on the scroll(heights, insects, claustrophobia, fear of speaking, fear of animals etc.).
After they have been debriefed they will be funneled out to the appropriate area of the park.
The entire event will be very interactive. Experience is the key. From testing their fears to collection stones to build and altar and burning their hurts at a freedom fire, they will have plenty opportunity to be part of the event.
There are four villages in the revolution. They must go to at least one event at each village. As they do, they will receive a small stone that will allow them to advance to the next village. At the end of the event they will have at least 4 stones in their pouch. These stones will represent their accomplishments throughout the day and will be the pieces of an altar they will take home to remember their commitment to God.
VILLAGES:
The focus of these events is inward spiritual awakening. Each activity will have something in it that will point to enlarging our God experience. It might not be obvious. Nothing will be spoon fed. They will have to discover Him on their own.
- FEARFUL FRONTIER —
Test of Faith - Participants will have to test their faith by testing their fear. They will
have to climb walls, hang out with insects, speak in public, go through a dark
dungeon, whatever tests their fear. Challenging the spirit and the mind.
a)Fear of the dark (Nychtophobia)—The dungeon. The medieval castle called the dungeon is set with all kinds of torture tools and scary people.
b)Fear of Heights (Acrophobia)—There will be several stations for this fear. A large turret equipped with repelling rope, a reverse bungee, and others.
c)Fear of public speaking (Glossophobia)—Perform. They will be given a topic to speak on, create one, or read from a script in front of the crowd.
d)Fear of Insects (Arachnophobia) - The butterfly habitat is full of flying butterflies. Each person will have to walk into the space and allow the butterflys to land on them. They will also have to put their hands into boxes filled with beetles.
e)Claustrophobia - We will have a maze that is enclosed on all sides with dark material. Each person will get a flashlight to make the trek. At the end they climb a castle wall and ring a big church bell to signal that they made it.
f)Fear of losing control Human spinner, medieval spinning pole, and other events where they are out of control for a time will be used for this fear.
g)Other possibilities.
Fear of imperfection (Atelophobia)—Each person goes into a room lined with mirrors. Someone runs out and messes up their hair and sprays something on their clothes.
Fear of being alone (Autophobia)
Fear of Animals (Zoophobia)
Fear of Mice
Fear of Snakes
- MEDITATION GARDENS - Here speakers will be paired with specific experiential activities.
All of the speaking will be very interactive, more of a gab session. Where they can interact with the speaker and not just listen to him/her.
a)Prayer Path—Meditation. Brennan Manning will speak on solitude and seeking God and then each participant will get an opportunity to do the guided prayer in the form of a labyrinth. A soft voice speaks over some mystical music as the participants walk through stations that guide them into themselves and up towards God.
b)God in Art - Madeline L’Engle will talk about her concept of walking on water, rediscovering our imaginations, finding the mystery in God. Each person will get to do some kind of art. Pottery, finger paint, something with hands on.
c)Freedom Fire - Gianna Jessen, the girl who was aborted will talk with the kids about forgiveness, disappointment, and moving on. At the end each participant will be able to write their disappointment on a piece of paper and throw it into the fire.
d)TBA - John Eldredge will speak on a topic.
*Note: we haven’t booked any of these speakers. This is our wish/prayer list.
Other potential speakers: Kathleen Norris, Mark Buchanon, Bryan Smith.
- ENEMY ATTACK
a)Man Without any legs—“He lost his legs in battle, but keeps up the fight.”
b)Heidi Johnson—Columbine student. “Caught in the middle of angry fire.”
c)Media Overload—Three movie screens side by side will simultaneously show the following: “You must pick one screen to read. Once you have picked you can’t look at the others. You must pick one and stick with it. Now.” Each screen will then diverge into different topics.
One will berate you for reading it: “You’ve chosen the worst screen. It’s a real drag. Don’t you wish you chose the others.”
Two will have talk about the process: “You will try to read all three. Because we told you you couldn’t. You are a cheater.”
Three will have random facts: “There are 1 million people in New York City. The nation of India makes more movies than any other country in the world.”
Need more events here. Let me know if you think of some.
- FOOLS PARADE
This is the entertainment, fun section. (let me know if you have any other ideas)
a)Zero gravity room.
b)Justin Lookadoo—speaker
c)CPR—comedy group
d)Stomp
e)Modern dance troupes
f)Rap session with musicians—talk with artists. Find out how they search their souls to create music.
g)Movie montage—footage from movies that will be quickly recognized and will evoke emotions. Occasional subliminal messages say “Find God in it.”
h)WWF – wrestlers will be set up in the jousting arena.
i)Free style moto cross will be going on throughout the day.
NOTE: The entire space will have an eerie feel as The revolution meets the carnival. Fire eaters, men on stilts will be all over the area while an interior revolution is underway. It is a mixture of fun and soul searching. Very non-linear, very random and imaginative.
- FINAL FRONTIER
Obstacle Course—Everyone will have to go through this to get to the final Victory.
- VICTORY
7:00 pm—opening bands (small acoustic bands, local bands)
9:00 pm—headliners (Lifehouse or Delerious, Toby Mac, Kevin Max)
11:00 pm—crepe paper flood
Speaker at the end will explain the stones and the pouch. Talk about the experiences they have had all day. Tell them they can now go back and debrief with their group.
Call to action: They will be asked to stay in touch on our Revolution web site. To fill us in on the revolution they will experience as they leave. And to begin to enlist friends for the next battle at the next revolution in on year.
Pastors will be given a curriculum, if they brought more than 20 people. They can take it home and use it for the next 5 weeks. It will link directly to the experiences they have gone through.
The End—11:00 pm
MISCELLANEOUS Goings On
Quotes –
Revolution posters will be plastered everywhere all point to five different quotes that will make the kids think.
1.)“You’ve forgotten that you could walk on water.”
2.)“Find God in it.”
3.)“Far too human.”
4.)“Questions, not answers.”
5.)“Join the Revolution.”
Food—In the center of it all. Carnival type food. Vendors in period costumes serving corn dogs, cotton candy, snow cones, etc.
Charitable organizations—kids can sign up to give time and money to their community. Amnesty International, Habitat for Humanity, Red Cross, etc.
NEED at list of ministries. Please send them to me if any come to mind.
Local bands playing throughout.
Carnival attractions—giant man, man on stilts, fire eater, knife thrower.
Before event pastors will be encouraged to have a debriefing session with their kids within the week.
Marketing
Women of Faith events – We can create postcards that are simple and enticing, “The Revolution coming June 8 and 9, Renaissance Fairgrounds, Dallas” These can be given out at the event in Dallas in August.
Pastor Breakfasts – We will get all the youth pastors in the Dallas/Fort Worth area together for an event where we will tell them about the Revolution and Extreme. Justin Lookadoo will speak and they will be asked to participate in the curriculum formation and marketing ideas.
Website – A revolution website will allow visitors to find out the facts, read some inspiring quotes, book tickets and send in ideas. It will be linked to extremeforjesus.com and other sites like YS, Forefront, Parable,CBD, etc.
Texas Baptist Convention – November in Dallas. We will get Justin and Hayley on the agenda at this convention this year.
Youth Specialties – We will hand out postcards to all 13,000 youth pastors this year in all three cities.
Youth Pastor postcard mailing – mailings to all pastors in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Bookstore at the event – we will have a bookstore at the event that will be heavy on Extreme Product. We will work with a bookstore in town to give special discounts to youth pastors who attended the event. Coupons, etc.
Possible Featured Bands
Creed
POD
3rd Day
Jessica Simpson
Jars of Clay
Sonic Flood
Kirk Franklin
Performers
human jugglers
Sky dancers
Blue men
A mini opera or opera singer
Violinist
Comedy—CPR
Media—Media Shout
Actor—a really great one man show who would captivate the audience.
Pro Athlete—5 min. cameos