In June, Todd Lamphere, senior pastor of FBC Altamonte Springs, FL led a group of 25 children, youth and adults across the country to bring “Mess With a Purpose” to San Diego.

After 18 years of service in youth and children’s ministries, Todd and his wife Trish began Slooze as a creative way to present the gospel in 1995. “Our purpose is to use slime as an attraction to bring kids and their parents in to hear the Gospel,” Lamphere explained. Using balloons filled with slime, pools of slime, and relay races which involved sliming opponents and teammates alike, Slooze engaged entire families. Parents were even given the opportunity to push a button and douse their children with slime.

The Slooze team spends the majority of the year doing local shows, but in the summer they venture beyond the Orlando area to other states and countries. The teams are made up of people of all ages and the trips are geared toward families working together on mission, as the Lampheres have done with their own family of five. The Slooze team admits that setting up for, running, and cleaning up after every Slooze show can be exhausting. In order to match the level of excitement that the kids bring, “We have to have a whole lot of energy,” said Katelyn Bennett, 17.

During their trip to San Diego from June 10 to June 16, they put on five shows in partnership with Generation Church, Fellowship of San Diego and First Baptist Mira Mesa. There are three main people groups that the ministry reaches out to most: inner city families, members of new church plants, and military families. Sloozers recognized San Diego’s large military population by partnering with Chaplain Cook of Camp Pendleton. On Saturday June 13, the Sloozers had a show in the Del Mar housing area for families at Camp Pendleton.  “We have a great heart for military families,” Todd emphasized. Slooze’s emphasis on military families will go global in July, as a team will be spending 11 days in Europe entertaining families stationed in Heidelberg, Germany.