Insight

Shipwrecked - a youth group discussion starter

A discussion starter exploring the values we place on people. Two incidents from the life of Jesus help to illustrate the value Jesus places on people, including ourselves.

SHIPWRECKED

Divide your young people into groups of 8. Ask them to imagine that they have been shipwrecked, but everyone has climbed into the safety of a lifeboat floating nearby. Unfortunately there is very little food in the rations. You estimate that it is many days journey to the nearest land and there is not enough food to keep everyone alive. For the majority to survive, two people must be cast adrift on a nearby timber beam. They have no food, the waters are shark infested and it will mean certain death! However, each passenger has the chance to plead his or her case to stay in the boat and survive.

Each of the young people plays the role of one of the passengers. After drawing an occupation from a hat to role play, every person has one minute to say why they should stay in the lifeboat.

Character - more food for thought

'The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.' Martin Luther King, Jr.

'Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy.' Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf

'Leadership is doing what is right when no one is watching’ George Van Valkenburg

'Try not to become a man of success, but rather a man of value.' Albert Einstein

'Character is what you have left when you've lost everything you can lose.' Evan Esar

'A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.' Charles Spurgeon