This youth game isn’t really a game but a good thought provoking activity that works best at the end of a devotional or youth service.

Gather a pile of newspapers and bring them along to Youth Group. Get participants to come up and tear off a small piece of the newspaper, take off their shoe, place the screwed up piece of paper in their shoe and put their shoe back on.

You will find when walking around that the piece of paper causes discomfort and will constantly come to the front of your mind. It’s a great reminder that when you truly engage with local issues or problems in your local community, it will cause some discomfort or inconvenience. It educates young people what it means to take up the cross.

Just as importantly, it gives young people opportunities (either on the night or over future nights) to show what this means in real life; i.e. sponsor a child, visit a soup kitchen, do a backyard blitz for a family that is going through a hard time, etc.