If you grew up in a youth group, you know that they are like nothing else. They’re where some of your greatest memories were made with kids who ended up being some of your closest friends. They’re also a bit crazy, and usually pretty weird. No matter which youth group you grew up in, they all have some similarities. Here are a few things that your non-youth group friends will never quite understand.

1. Lock-ins.

The only time that it is okay to put 40 sugar-high junior high students in the same building for an entire night. Not to mention encouraging them to run around, play games and scream like maniacs for the majority of the night. When you’re in junior high, lock-ins seem like the greatest thing that could ever happen to you.

2. Missions trips.

“So--you’re paying money to do work for a week? Shouldn’t they be paying you?”

Volunteer work is not a foreign concept, although you’ve probably met many people who act like it is. Even so, you wouldn’t even dream of missing this.

3. The weird games.

Maybe it’s because youth pastors run out of ideas, or because they know that we live for this stuff, but you will never find games weirder than youth group games. I once played a game in which you had to put pantyhose over your entire head and try to eat a banana through them. I also played one in which one person stuck Alka-Seltzer tablets to their face and their teammate had to shoot them with water guns until it melted. Then there was Silent Football, which has absolutely nothing to do with football and is far from silent. This game resulted in a guy getting tackled on roller skates, people drinking from shoes, and people spreading peanut butter all over their faces and sitting alone in a dark room. Need I continue?

4. The ultimate Sunday school cheat.

If you don’t know the answer to something, just say Jesus and you’ll be right at least half of the time.

5. Dodgeball.

I think that dodgeball might just be a subcategory of an even larger game that youth groups play. It’s called “How Many Different Versions of Dodgeball Can We Make Up Before Someone Gets Suspicious”. I’ve been onto my youth group ever since they invented Disease Ball. Don’t ask.

6. “Leave room for Jesus/ the Holy Spirit.”

This was said very sarcastically in my own youth group. There’s nothing wrong with making fun of yourselves every once in a while.

7. No purpling.

“Boys are blue, girls are red, let’s not make purple.” I have only heard rumors of this one. Even if your youth group never said this, you may have heard about it like it’s an old wise tale or something.

8. Frisbee.

Why do all youth groups play Frisbee? Am I missing something? Did Jesus like Frisbee? Probably.

9. Accountability partners.

I’ve had to explain this concept to so many people. I’ve basically given up on trying.

10. The pranks.

I’m not really sure why youth group kids are so big on pranks, but I’m not complaining. Some kids in my youth group started what they liked to call the town’s “furniture ministry”, in which they found old furniture and put it into people’s houses as a prank. We also used to “fork” people’s lawns, which is covering people’s lawns in plastic forks. One time we tried to cover someone’s car in pudding. I’m not sorry.

11. The love that you will always feel for your youth group, even after you’re gone.

I’m lucky enough to still volunteer in my youth group, but I will always be thankful for the time I spent there as a student. I found a home and a family there, and nothing could ever completely replace that.