Church initiates war to share gospel
Close to 80 area youths spent their Saturday dressed in camouflage and shooting at each other about 200 yards from a church.
A participant Woodlawn Baptist Church's paint-ball war fires his gun during Saturday's game. The church used the event to teach youth about the word of God.
Photo by Louie Villalobos
After eight hours of paint-ball warfare, the youths sat down and were told about the word of God, which was the ultimate purpose of the event, said Youth Minister of Woodlawn Baptist Church Thomas Campbell.
"We want the kids to have fun," he said. "But we also want them to hear about God."
But, before the sermon could begin, the war had to end.
Campbell said the church provided 100 lbs. of Carbon Dioxide, 2,100 paint balls and several paint ball guns. Those supplies were used by the youths, who were broken up into five teams and given free reign of the woods by the Columbia Road church.
Paint balls controlled the wooded area for most of the day as teams battled for paint ball supremacy. Teams walked into the woods two at a time and charged each other's flag after being allowed several minutes to devise a strategy.
Some chose to be cautious and wait for the enemy to come to them, others chose a controlled yet specific charge - the teams that choose the latter tactic usually won.
"I making a run for it," said a member of team five minutes before capturing the other team's flag.
Campbell said he hoped to capture the attention all paint ballers and plans on having a night tournament in the near future.
"We want to reach as many youths as possible and just have some fellowship with them," he said.