September 19th is “International Talk Like a Pirate Day.” I thought I’d remind you because it doesn’t get the publicity of Valentine’s Day and Halloween but it’s equally or more important.
We did our part to spread the joy of piracy here because I was asked to lead a Back to School party for the missionary kids here in YWAM Kyiv. I decided immediately on a Pirate Night. Here’s why.

Our base is actually a boat on the river. (Before we took possession it was kind of a restaurant/hotel of ill repute.) It’s pretty cool, ‘cuz when the big boats go by, we can feel the Venetsia move with the waves. So I had this idea. What if during the Back to School Party, our boat was actually invaded by pirates? The kids would never forget that.

The night was based on the verse, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21) We had a treasure chest full of school supplies and chocolate coins for the kids who came. I announced that Pirate Night was a dress up event, so we were asking that the adults come dressed like pirates.

We went all out for the evening. We made a bunch of paper mache props, a cannon, ship’s helm, octopus, an anchor. But what made the evening really great, was nearly everyone dressed up for the occasion. There may have been fifty adults and children in pirate attire. Even the people not normally involved in kids ministry got into the fun.

Then at some point, a rowboat full of pirates came with the intention of taking our treasure away. We explained (Tonya the interpreter and I) that we should keep our treasure in heaven, where thieves can’t steal it and rust can’t destroy it. I offered to let them have a share if they learned the memory verse.

The pirates hated to read or study (it was a Back to School party after all) and decided they wouldn’t learn the verse, but take the treasure, just the same. So the kids bravely fought them off with their balloon swords and we threw the bad ole pirates overboard. I wasn’t sure who had more fun, the kids or the adults.

At the end, we ate piratey food. Hot dog octopi and baked potato boats. Laura even made a pirate cake (ship-shape).

One of the mom’s came to me afterwards in appreciation. In mostly Russian she told me that her son Nikita kept talking about what a fun, exciting night it was. Another mom told me that her daughter said it was the best family night ever because the kids and adults were all having fun together. The kids on the boat were playing pirates for several days afterwards. This kind of feedback that makes all the work worth it.

Many of the missionaries here go to churches without a Sunday School or children’s program. So kids ministry for the missionaries is really important to our base. It’s important that we don’t just bring the gospel to the world, but that our own kids have a strong foundation in the Word of God. It bears repeating. Where our treasure is, our heart will be also. So we need to invest our greatest treasure into our children.

¶ 5:36 AM

 Lori said...
Mark, your Pirate Night sounds awesome, what a great idea and application, I'm always amazed at your creativity!  

 Margaret said...
Oh man! International Talk Like a Pirate Day (Internationale Spricht Wie Eine Piraten Tag) is one of my favourite holidays! I've been celebrating it for over a decade now. September 19 can never be forgotten.

I've been really appreciating your blog. Recently, when sitting on my bed, I learned I was "to go to the Ukraine." I bought my ticket and I'll be in Moscow on the 17 of April. Sometime after that I'll wander across the border.

Anyways, the community I found to be a part of is in Uzhgorod and I'll be rockin' with the kiddos there as well as helping teach German and English to the community.

Your blog offers some lovely insight. Thank you!  

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