Youth Ministry Stories #3 (Raymond's office/newspaper)

Youth Ministry Stories #3 (Raymond's Office/ Newspaper)

I am compiling stories for the past 17 years of youth ministry. This one predates me being in ministry. This story is from Lakeside Baptist Church, in North Myrtle Beach, SC. I was a junior in High School.

Youth Ministry #3 (Raymond's Office/ Newspaper)
When I was a junior in high school my youth director, Raymond Timmermann, was heading out of town on vacation for a week. Penny Jackson and I headed over to say goodbye to him, although we did have other plans. We hung out and talked with with him for a bit, and right before we had to leave I told him to have a good trip and gave him a hug. Penny stepped in to say goodbye and when he hugged her, I stepped back and unlocked his window. That afternoon Raymond left town with his family.

Penny, about 6 other youth (which I am sorry I can't remember who), and I headed to the public dumpsters, where next to the trash was a recycle bin for unused newspaper. We climbed in the dumpster and loaded all the newspapers we could into our cars. We headed back to Lakeside Baptist Church, opened the unlocked window, and put all of the stacks of newspapers in his office. For the next 4-5 days after school we sat in his office talking, balling up papers, and throwing the paper on the floor until after midnight.

Raymond returned on Sunday morning, and He headed straight to his office to pick up the Sunday school lesson notes he would be teaching from, unaware of the group of teens that were peeking around the corner, watching as he tries (to no avail) to open his office door. He could only open the door about 4 inches, and he could see balled up newspaper everywhere the door was able to open. He eventually climbed in his office, while we laughed our tails off. His desk, chairs, and bookcases were totally covered. The side of the room where his door was was filled to the ceiling. The rest of the room was over half full.

I was remembered this event when I headed out of town for my family vacation. When I returned I found two pizza boxes taped to my door. I headed inside the office to find everything (scissors, stapler, books, DVDs, CD's, puppets, toys,)taped to the walls and ceiling. I am glad my youth leaders encouraged my youth to have an enjoyable evening, and I thank them for initiating their own demise.