A five day youth camp

An Australian was asked to be the speaker at a youth ski camp for about 24 high-schoolers. Almost all were not Christians. He gave the lunchtime talks.  He reports how he did the camp using storytelling.

Monday – Luke 5:17-32
Tuesday – Luke 7:36-50
Wednesday – Luke 8:22-56
Thursday – Luke 8:4-15
Friday – Matthew 20:1-16

The teens were very receptive and looked forward to each talk.

For Talks 1 to 3, I told them I was going to tell the story three times:
1st time – they needed to imagine the story
2nd time – they needed to remember the story
3rd time – they needed to help me retell the story

For Talks 4 to 5, it went like this:
1st time – they needed to imagine the story
2nd time – they needed to remember the story
3rd time – they needed to retell the story to their friend
4th time – a brave volunteer retold the story to the group

And then at the end of the day, the teenagers broke up into their small groups and read the same story in the Bible and then went through this set of questions:
1. What shocked/surprised you in the story?
2. What don’t you understand?
3. What is the main idea in the story?
4. What does the story teach you about God, Jesus and you?
5. If the story is true, how will you live differently?

This is the fourth year that I’ve done the ski camp. I’ve used this method each year, and it has gone well – the teens are friendly, engaged, intrigued by the stories. Many investigate further. And many do become Christians by the end of the week.