Teen Pact Part 2

We set up a carpool with a number of other families to ride to TeenPact. No need for all of us to have to fight the Honolulu traffic.

The very first day of TeenPact, I was the mom scheduled to take three teen boys and three teen girls to the state capitol. I loaded up the six teens who had all been remarkably altered by business attire.

On the drive down, all the teens were griping endlessly about all the research they had to do. One of the girls remarked that the research hadn't been to bad, but memorizing all the state leaders and representatives had taken her a while. All the other teens reacted with horror - "We were supposed to memorize that? I thought we just had to write it down!" They all dove for their papers and there was a mass scramble throughout the van as they earnestly tried to memorize a page of political facts.

They also had been instructed to memorize 2 Timothy 2:1-3 - "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior."

The instructions advised them that they could use any translation of the Bible. In other words, they didn't require you to use the King James version, or the NIV, or the NASB, you could choose any version that suited you. So one of the teens chose to use the Hawaiian Pidgen Bible which translates these verses as: "First, I tell da peopo fo pray fo everybody, fo everyting dey need. Dis wat I tell um: Go aks God fo wateva you guys need. Make shua you guys pray to him wit respeck. Aks him fo do good tings fo odda peopo, Tell God, "Mahalo plenny!" Pray lidat fo da kings an all da odda leada guys so we can stay good everytime, an our heart stay rest inside. Den daat da odda peopo get respeck fo us guys. Dat stay good, an dass wat God like. He da One dat take us out da bad kine stuff."

After she recited that version, one of the other teens turned around to look at her and said, "Are you making that up?" No she was not.

There was much griping all the way down to the capitol. The girls didn't like wearing skirts and heels. The boys didn't care for suits and ties. There were several requests for me to have a minor wreck, or take a wrong turn, and one threat to tell the police I was kidnapping them. Anything to keep from being dragged to TeenPact.

But by the end of the week, they were all singing a different tune. TeenPact turned out to be fun! They had a fabulous time and learned how easy it actually is to contact your state representatives or write a bill. They sat in on Senate meetings, held mock elections (Ben was elected chairman of his entire group), mock court sessions, debated bills and made lots of new friends. There was an ugly tie contest, a rap about the judicial system, and ultimate frisbee (always a crowd pleaser).

Amazingly, one of the teens even said he wished it would last another week.

Will wonders never cease.