You will need the following materials – pens, paint, paper, a roll of lining paper, a candle, a large bowl of water, some pebbles or rocks.

In the ‘Get personal’ section, think about any ‘fiery furnace’ experiences you may have had in your walk of faith. Sharing an honest and open account of this with the young people you work with will encourage and edify them in their own faith journey.

This session may bring up the subject of persecution or a young person may have experienced bullying because of their faith. Make sure that these issues are addressed sensitively and that anything you are concerned about is appropriately followed up.

Tell the young people you are going to set them a challenge, that it is a great leap of faith into the unknown and only the bravest shall succeed. Try to build the activity up to give it a bit of momentum e.g. do some warm up exercises to prepare them for this great feat.

Then take them out of your centre/space and point to a high building proclaiming that they are going to jump off the top one by one in an attempt to fly. Of course at this point the young people should start to question your judgement! This is the desired affect and a great introduction to the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego.

While still outside tell the story of the fiery furnace, if you wish you can read it out of the bible or use a contemporary version such as The Message (Daniel 3 vs. 8 – 30) but it is fine if you want to tell it in your own words.

Use the warm up activity and the story as a discussion starter as you make your way back inside. You may like to ask the young people the following questions: 

Following on from your discussions ask the young people to think about their own lives and situations. Do they have any ‘fiery furnace’ experiences, e.g. where they’ve had to stand up for their beliefs (faith related or not) even though they knew others might laugh at or condemn them?

Hand out some pens and paper and get the young people to find a space in which to write about or draw a representation of the situation, or what they would do if something like this happened to them, e.g. how they felt/would feel.

Ask them to hold on to these as they will be used again at the end of the session; reassure them that whatever is on their pieces of paper is for ‘their eyes only’.

KEY POINT – by asking the young people to think about themselves and contemporary situations similar to that of the fiery furnace will help them to relate this story to their own lives and walk of faith/standing up for what they believe in. 

Break into small groups and challenge them to come up with a modern day equivalent of the story of Shadrach, Meshach & Abed-Nego that is relevant to young people – it doesn’t have to be as dramatic as the fiery furnace!

Ask them to create a short sketch based on these ideas to create a modern day interpretation. Give them enough time to put this together and then perform to the rest of the group.

People of Faith – Roll out a massive bit of lining paper and put out poster paints, pens, etc. Ask the young people to write on the paper names of ‘faithful’ people, or people that have stood up for their beliefs (perhaps with a short explanatory sentence). These don’t have to be from the bible, it could be famous people or someone they know personally.

For ideas from the Bible give them the following verses to look at:

It doesn’t matter if they repeat names as you want to create a great ‘wall’ of faithful people. When it is finished (if it is dry enough) stick it up on a wall for the young people to look at. Then say to them that it is not quite finished as there are some important names missing – their own. Get them to finish the activity by painting their own names onto the paper.

Light a candle and ask the young people to spend a few moments thinking about what it means to be faithful, to believe in something.

Invite them one by one to bring up what they wrote or drew at the beginning of the session. Give them each a pebble or rock to wrap their paper around, and then get them to place these into the pool of water.

KEY POINT – Sometimes we need God’s help to ‘douse the flames’. Being in a situation that makes us feel uncomfortable or afraid is a time when we need God to still us. The collection of stones in the water can also be a reminder that we are not alone and that we are all held together by God’s love for us.

NOTES FOR ADAPTING

For younger groups – If they are not confident enough to do the drama sketch you could just get them to tell it as a story or use drawings to make a cartoon sketch.

For older groups – Encourage the young people to use their own stories when creating the drama, this will allow for the drama to be given deeper significance and become a more cathartic process.

For unchurched young people – You could focus more on standing up for what you believe in and trusting yourself, but you could also use the opportunity to talk about your own faith and beliefs in a non-threatening manner by weaving it into the session.

For churched young people – Perhaps change the beginning to a time of sharing how they feel about standing up for their faith - do they find it easy/difficult. Then the end reflection could be extended with a time of praying for one another in their walks of faith.

Lori Passmore is a freelance writer and works part-time for South Somerset Youth Service, UK