SPARK Debrief Ideas

Great things happen to preteens at SPARK; they make deeper commitments in their faith and are challenged in new ways and sometimes you as the parent or leader don’t always find out about these wonderful growth events and therefore loose out on further opportunities for your preteen to grow and for your bond with them to grow as well! Here are some ideas on how to dig a little deeper in their response time beyond, “It was good.” or “I had fun!”

Simple questions like:

• What were three highlights to the weekend – this helps you know about specifics that went on. You can then ask them to explain their reasons. This is also a very simple question to ask and to answer; to get things rolling.
• Sometimes even asking them what they would change if they could get’s discussion going too!
• Ask how they enjoyed the speaker or the band that led in worship and what specifically they liked about them.
• You can also ask if they were challenged in any way over the weekend and what they plan on doing about that. And then help them get creative in executing and succeeding in small victories over the challenge posed. This way you are helping them be accountable and can now be a part of their SPARK experience whether you were there with them or not.
• Ask them what you can pray for in the weeks after SPARK, to show them you are devoted to their growth also

The sooner you do this the more they will remember and therefore the more detail you will get and excitement to talk about it. Yes I said excitement; once you get them beyond the simple pat answers and they start to reflect, they will often get excited about reminiscing with you which is always enjoyable to see and hear! Plus, as a parent or leader you can make it more meaningful but setting it up as a date or hangout by saying, ‘we are going to grab an ice cream and you can tell me about your experience.’ Anything to make the occasion more special and memorial will bring great benefit for all.

In fact, something for leaders to consider is having a brief gathering as soon as you return to your local destination for a small time of stories and testimonies for the parents, peers and leaders. This can be for 30-60 minutes and since most youth groups grab dinner on their way home you shouldn’t be too pressed for any scheduled agendas. Most parents would probably love to hear from the leaders and students; plus, students are often more into opening up if peers are there doing so also. Using the questions above are good places to start for their mini-testimonies as well.

Most groups will need very specific directions for there to be any response because if they do not understand what exactly they are supposed to do then they will not do it. And if it is not specific enough then you wont get very personal or detailed answers. Therefore you could structure it in a way where you ask anyone to speak up at the front about what some of their highlights were and explain. Once, a few have talked you can move on to another question like what they liked about the speaker and so on. But focus on a specific question that they are to answer so they can consider what they will say. If they go a little further, let them unless particular students who enjoy talking start to hog the show, if you know what I mean?!?

So these debrief questions can be done one-on-one, with the entire group or it can be made out into a reflection sheet so that their thoughts can be documented and looked back upon down the road to see potential progress, etc.

One other really cool post-SPARK event leaders and parents can get involved in is a service project of some sort in their surrounding area. You can even tag up with other youth groups in your area or city and do something as simple and fun as a free pop handout in a popular area like the lake or cleaning up a local park. Find out more in the post-SPARK challenge link!

Hope all your debrief activities prove helpful, uniting and inspiring
SPARK team 20