Champion s Challenge for 11 to 14s Champion s Challenge is a programme aimed at 5- to 11-year-olds, but you may have some young people who wish to come along to your club. This might especially be the case if they have been to the holiday club in previous years and want to carry on, despite now being too old. The activities here are designed to help you put together a section of the programme specifically for 11- to 14-year-olds. These activities should fit nicely into the Change ends part of the programme. However, if you want to involve your young people in helping out with the games or craft for 5 to 11s, then you could do this material during one of the all together times. Day 1 Trainer Kick off Questions below (and more of your own, if you wish) Divide the group into equal teams of three or four and provide each team with a pencil and paper for their answers. Explain that you are going to read out a number of instructions and you want the teams to write down where they come from. Use the following examples or find some of your own if these are not suitable. The bishop can go as far as he likes but cannot jump over anybody and may only move diagonally. (The rules of chess) If you cannot see clearly behind, get someone to guide you when you reverse. (The Highway Code) Locate and affix left side of fuselage (part 3) to right side of fuselage (part 4) ensuring that the glue does not touch the propeller, allowing it to turn freely. (A model aeroplane kit) Add the flour, cumin, paprika, oregano and seasoning. Stir well and cook for a few seconds before adding the chopped chillies. (A recipe book) Lie person down, loosen tight clothing and raise legs. (A first aid book) Place in a shady, sheltered well-drained position. (A gardening book) Insert stick into USB port. Follow the prompts on screen. (The instructions for accessing material on a memory stick) Do not feed the animals. (A sign in a zoo) Once you have gone through all the examples, see how many the teams got right. Then ask the group why we have instructions. What would happen in the above examples if the
instructions were not followed? Explain that today we are going to take a look at some instructions that Jesus gave. The big match Bibles Copies of resource page 1 Divide the group into pairs or threes and give each group a copy of resource page 1. Ask them to read each of the Bible references from Luke s Gospel and then to try to summarise the lesson of each parable in a single sentence. When everyone has finished, come together to share ideas. It will probably work best if you work through each Bible reference, asking for each group s idea, and commenting on them as and when necessary. Luke 6:37 deals with us needing to be merciful and forgiving if we expect God to be merciful and forgiving to us. Luke 6:38 looks at our need to be generous as God is generous to us. Luke 6:39,40 warns us not to seek guidance from someone who is no wiser than we are and therefore to turn to the best teacher (Jesus) and to try to be like him. Luke 6:41,42 teaches us not to criticise others until we have sorted out the wrongs in our own life. Luke 6:43 45 explains that you can tell what a person is like from his behaviour rather than his claims. Luke 6:46 49 points out the importance of not just listening to Jesus words but obeying them as well. Point out that Jesus drew a picture with words for almost all of the lessons. Why do they think he did it that way? Explain that each of the pictures spoke about his listeners daily lives. Each time they got something in their eye or saw a house near the water, a blind person or a fruit tree they would be reminded of Jesus teaching. What does the last passage (Luke 6:46 49) mean for us today? What would Jesus say to us if we heard all the teaching from Luke 6:37 45 and ignored it? Pundits review Copies of resource page 2 Divide the group into pairs or threes and give out copies of resource page 2. Ask them to choose one of the short stories of young people facing some form of dilemma, and to decide
how what they have learnt today might help each of the young people to make the right decision. After a while ask each group to share their ideas. Did they realise that, for Alice, Sylvie was not the right person to be guided by? Could they think of a better person to chat to? Did they see that Sam was criticising his sister without really thinking about his own faults? How could he be challenged? And Kirstie was certainly not being merciful or forgiving. How do they think she could be enlightened about her attitude? Kyle s behaviour did not seem to reflect his words. Again, how could the group challenge him about this? How easy do they think they would have found it if they had had to make those decisions? Sometimes it is not easy to follow Jesus, even when we know that it is the right thing to do. However, not only did he give us the teaching and the example, Jesus promised to help us to follow him. Pray together now and ask God to help you remember and obey Jesus teaching, like the man who built his house on rock. Match report Notebooks (one for each young person) Give each person in the group a notebook and a pen. (You can get notebooks cheaply from supermarkets or many high street shops. Buying ones with a more durable cover may give them a more special feel, encouraging young people to keep them for longer.) Explain that these notebooks are to give the young people a place where they can reflect each day on what they have discovered and discussed. Give the group five or ten minutes to record any thoughts, questions or comments about the session in their notebooks. Give a few minutes to chat and discuss any of the things that have been written. (Don t press too hard if the young people have written something personal, but make sure everyone knows that you are available to chat).
Day 2 Physio Kick off This activity is done keeping the group all together. If you have a large room, then lead it as an active survey; otherwise lead it as a noisy survey. Explain that you want to explore the group s views of carers. You are going to call out a particular job title and you want them to tell you whether they consider it to be a caring profession and just how caring it is. You may like to use some of the following: doctor, nurse, teacher, policeman/woman, undertaker, salesperson, estate agent, cook, nun, councillor, counsellor, priest, journalist, builder, taxi driver, vet and soldier. If you have a large room, designate one wall as Not caring and the opposite wall as Extremely caring. Ask each person to stand in a position in the room relative to how caring they feel each profession is. If you only have a small room, ask them to say Caring if they feel the job is a caring profession. The more caring the profession is, the louder they should say or shout the word. Make any comments you feel necessary as you go through your list. If the group knows the jobs of the leaders, it might be worth including them in the list to increase the fun. Finish the list with soldier. It is unlikely that many will deem that a soldier is a caring profession, although they do sometimes have a peace-keeping role. Explain that today we are going to look at a Roman soldier who was extremely caring, and who had something else special about him too. The big match Bibles and paper Divide into five equal groups. If necessary, leaders can join in to even up the numbers. Give each group a different character (or set of characters) from the story: the army officer, the servant, the Jewish leaders, the army officer s friends and the people following Jesus. Ask each group to read Luke 7:1 10, and think about how their character(s) would have felt as the story progressed. What would they say? What questions might they have? Allow them a few minutes to discuss their ideas, and then split them up and put them into new groups, so that there is a representative from each of the previous groups in each of the new ones.
Ask each representative to share with the rest of their new group how they believe their particular person or persons would have felt. Then ask them to decide who, excluding Jesus, was the most influential person and why. Now ask them to share their ideas with everybody. Hopefully they will suggest the Roman officer as the most influential person. Remind the group that he was an officer of an occupying army. Seeking help from Jesus would not have looked good to his seniors, but he was willing to make a stand because he cared for his servant and he knew only one person could help him Jesus. He showed just how great his faith in Jesus was. He had authority over his soldiers. What he said, they would do. He knew that Jesus had a similar authority over his servant s illness and creation itself. No wonder Jesus commented on his faith. Referring back to Day 1 (Jesus teaching in Luke 6:46 49), you could point out that here is a clear example of a man who built his house on the rock. Perhaps that is why Luke includes this story immediately after. Pundits review Copies of resource page 3 Give out copies of resource page 3 a questionnaire to measure how much trust the young people have. Chat about how realistic the solutions to those situations are. It s easy to say you re going to pray about something, but it s far more difficult to trust God with what s going to happen! Point out that Jesus commented on the Roman s trust because it was something special. He said that no one else he d met had a faith like him. So instead of feeling guilty because our faith is not so strong, we can ask God for help that our trust might grow. Finish with a prayer in which you acknowledge the authority of God over each one of us and our need to submit to God s ways. Match report The young people s notebooks Give the group space to respond to what they have heard today in their notebooks. To link in with the rest of the programme, you might want to direct them to think about Jesus healing power and how he helped the servant. What do they think about him?
Day 3 Teammate Kick off Marker pens Flip-chart paper Discuss with the group what they take with them when they go on a trip away from home. You may like to consider different lengths of trip and a variety of destinations. Write up suggestions on the flip chart and look for common links as well as diverse ideas. Compare and talk about what the young people feel are essential to take, and what they actually take with them, when they go away from home. Is there any difference?! Conclude this activity by saying that today we shall be looking at what the early disciples took with them when being sent out by Jesus to work for God, and what Jesus needed to feed 5,000 people. The big match Bibles Introduce the setting, explaining that this would have been a very exciting and challenging time to all those who were being sent out by Jesus. Inspire the group with the sense of joy and fear they would have been feeling. Ask them to remember this as they mime the Bible passage. Divide into groups, or stay together (depending on the number of young people), to prepare a mime of the story in Luke 9:1 6. Ask the group to say how they felt as they mimed the story. Would they have been looking forward to going? What might they have wanted to take with them? The task facing the disciples may have seemed very challenging, so remind the group of how Jesus had prepared them for what he was asking them to do. By this time, they had travelled with Jesus, and seen him at work, teaching, preaching and healing. They each knew Jesus personally and had been encouraged by what he had shared with them, so now they were able to trust and obey him. Now read Luke 9:10 17 and ask the young people to imagine how the disciples felt at each part of the story. Come up with some tableaux ( freeze-frames ) for these different points in the story: Verse 11 the disciples realised they have been followed by thousands of people.
Verse 13 Jesus tells the disciples to feed the people. Verse 16 Jesus thanks God for the little food they have. Verse 17 Everyone has enough to eat. Would the young people have reacted in the way the disciples did? Were the disciples excited to be used by Jesus in this way? Pundits review A leader prepared to share a story about how they were used by Jesus In your group of leaders, or in your wider congregation, there may well be someone who can share a personal story of how they were used by Jesus to do great things. Ask them to share with the group why it was a challenging time, and what they decided to do. Help the group to see there is a need to be ready to do Jesus work, and to be prepared, as the disciples were. Ask the group members to consider their own walk with God, and what would it mean to them if they had to do something scary, like going out to tell people about Jesus. End the session with a time of prayer, thanking God for all Jesus said and did while he lived on earth. In the prayer, ask God to help us all be as open as the followers of Jesus were to obey him, and to have the trust that they had in following Jesus. If your group has young people with no church background, then ask them to reflect on what Jesus was asking the disciples to do in the first passage, and the part the disciples played in the feeding miracle. If Jesus asked similar things of them, what would they do? How would they react? Match report The young people s notebooks Copies of SUbmerge (optional available from www.scriptureunion.org.uk/shop or your local Christian bookshop) Give the group space to respond to what they have encountered today. Be ready to chat through any questions the group has and encourage them to be honest as they reflect. Depending on where your group is at, you might like to challenge them to start reading the Bible more regularly. Scripture Union produces a Bible reading guide for 11- to 14-year-olds, called SUbmerge. Suggesting that they start today means that you can give them support and encouragement over the next two days.
Day 4 Substitute Kick off Star Wars IV: A New Hope DVD or video player, TV Show the young people the section of Star Wars IV: A New Hope where Darth Vader kills Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Make sure your church has the appropriate licence to show film clips. Go to www.ccli.co.uk for more information.) Chat a while about how Obi-Wan dies does he allow himself to be killed at the end of the fight? Discuss what the group think of this sacrifice. Are they impressed by it? The big match Bibles Art materials (paper, pencils, felt-tip pens etc) Writing materials (pens, paper, laptop etc) Split the group into those who like to write and those who like to draw. Ask each group to read through Luke 23. When they have finished, encourage them either to come up with a dramatised version, or a picture or cartoon strip for each of the scenes from Luke 23 (Pilate, Herod, Pilate and the crowds, Jesus carrying the cross, Jesus death and his burial). If you have a large group, you may want to split the two groups further, so that two or three people have a scene each to concentrate on. When everyone has finished, perform the dramatisations and have an exhibition of the pictures. Ask the group to think about what strikes them the most from this story. This is a powerful story, so give time for everyone to work it through, with the Holy Spirit s help. If you have some young people with no church background, you may well have some fresh insights to discuss. Pundits review Resource page 4 Quiet music Large piece of paper
Marker pens Ask the group to sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Put on the music and ask them to think about the meditation you are going to read. Read the meditation out, pausing between each paragraph to give the group time to reflect on what they have heard. At the end, give a chance for the young people to respond, by writing any thoughts they have on the story on the large sheet of paper. As you continue your session, leave the paper and pens available for people to continue responding. It may be worthwhile following this activity with one that allows you to chat while doing something else, eg an art project or playing games. Some young people, especially boys, will take longer to process what they have thought about and heard, and may need more time. If they have an activity it will give them a chance to chat without the pressure of having to chat in a time designated this is when everyone responds. Match report The young people s notebooks Today may well be the first time that some of the young people in your group have encountered the full story of Jesus death. In this day and age, when young people are exposed to so much violence through games, film and TV, it is difficult to gauge how they may react to Jesus being killed without a fair trial, without having done anything wrong. What might be more of a challenge to get their heads around is that Jesus took this punishment for us. So, be prepared to chat about any questions the group has, and encourage them to write their thoughts down in their notebooks.
Day 5 Winner Kick off Copies of resource page 5 Pen and paper per person Prize Before the session, collect together any other riddles or mind puzzles you can find on the Internet, in addition to the one on resource page 5. You will need to number them. Give everyone a sheet of paper and a pen and challenge them to go around the room and complete as many of the riddles and puzzles as they can on their own. Make sure they write the puzzle number next to their answers. After about ten minutes, go through the answers and give a prize to the winner, if you wish. The big match Copies of resource page 6 Bibles Give everybody a copy of resource page 6. Read, or ask a good reader to read, Luke 24:1 35. Begin to work through the resource page as a group, giving them background information if necessary. Discuss the questions. For the last question, be prepared to explain why you are evidence that Jesus is alive, by explaining what he has done for you and in you. In addition, you could include examples of other Christians that the group may know. Finish with these two questions: Are you convinced that Jesus is alive? What would it take to convince you that Jesus is a winner? Pundit s review Flip-chart paper Marker pens
Split the young people into groups of about four or five (or stay together, if you have a small group). Ask everyone to write down everything they have discovered about Jesus during the club, especially what they think about Jesus being a winner. Next, ask them what they would want to tell someone else. How would they spread the message? Encourage each person to come up with something they have found out that they want to pass on, then put it in a text message, eg Jsus live! Wiv u 24/7=4eva. Share your messages and, if people are willing, ask them why they chose their particular message. Match report The young people s notebooks This is the final chance to write in the notebooks while you are together as a group, so be on hand to chat about anything the young people would like to discuss. You might like to give the group a chance to write in each other s notebooks, to encourage each other. If you have any young people in your group who are interested in knowing more about being a Christian, SU produces two books which you could use when explaining more about what that means. Jesus=friendship forever (for 10 to 12s) and Big Questions (for older young people) are both available directly from SU, or from your local Christian bookshop. Fixtures for the new season? Following up Champion s Challenge When you have finished Champion s Challenge, it s important to follow up what you have done during the club with the young people who came. depends on the background of the young people who came. Churched young people can be encouraged through your existing groups for 11 to 14s they are more likely to come to church and be part of a group there. However, existing church groups may not be suitable for young people with no church background. They may not be able to attend on a Sunday morning, or you may find that the level of Bible exploration is not suitable for young people who are new to the Christian faith. You ll need to consider carefully how you are going to keep contact with the young people who have come to Champion s Challenge, and think about the make up of your existing groups for this age group. Do you need to look at setting up a new group? Or changing the way you do things? For information about what other people have done, go to Scripture Union s holiday club website and follow the links to the bulletin board. Alternatively, you can contact Scripture
Union at info@scriptureunion.org.uk and mark your email Following up a holiday club and we ll get back to you with people in your local area who can help!