As an organization that deals with young people, mostly highs school students and youth from different youth ministries, we have attended a lot of youth programs, services and fellowships and a common thing that we see during these programs is the importance given to the components in their programs. They utilize icebreaker games or any crowd breaker activity to start of their program. This is especially helpful because it breaks the ice and creates excitement and laughter. It gets the young people’s attention.

The use of group games in the middle of the program also is something that we’ve observed as vital. This forces or, should we say, facilitates interaction among young people. Teenagers love to meet new friends, that’s why in the internet, most of the social networks in the Philippines have members who are teenagers. The use of group activities touch this natural need of young people.

When creating programs for youth camps, youth services, fellowships or even just a youth Bible study group, you can visit IceBreakerGames.net. This is an online resource for youth groups, youth ministries and even businesses that need some activities for their meetings. You can get ideas from this site however small or big your group is.

In the many times that we have visited schools all over the metro and even in the provinces, we cannot help but notice that number of students who are wearing eyeglasses. In some public schools, there are even students who are not able to get their glasses upgraded for so many years, despite the need to change grades for their lenses. The primary reason is the lack of budget. The cheapest kind of glasses cost more than $20.

Incidentally, I am not surprised why even New York Times has something to say about Zenni Optical. Their recent article entitled “Seeing Straight without Breaking Bank,” gives us all a straightforward answer to the rather nagging cost of optical frames in the market. We are in the hard times and even before there was an admission of recession worldwide, this third world country has always struggled even in this. It is just so neat to learn about Zenni Optical being able to provide quality lenses that do not have to be pricey.

If you think that with this kind of package must come a set of boring frames, think again. Look at this hip and cool frames, for example. This is sure to be a hit to students and even young professionals and the good news is, it doesn’t have to hurt your pocket.

This shot was taken after the Breaking Point presentation program in Gen. Pio del Pilar High School in Makati City last June 20, 2008. Three of the girls who are in uniform are part of the student body of that school and have since attended our youth services in church. The Breaking Point volunteers from the faithful ones who have always made themselves available for Breaking Point outreach programs that we conduct through the years.