Compassion Camp: What Every Living Thing Needs (Youth Edition)

Compassion Camp: What Every Living Thing Needs (Youth Edition) is a flexible, engaging curriculum designed specifically for youth. Built around five sessions, this resource helps youth explore what it means to have compassion for themselves, others, and the world through the lens of what every living thing needs to live: shelter, food, water, air, and community.

This Youth Edition can be used as a Sunday school series, a weekly youth group curriculum, a half-day youth camp, a weekend retreat, or even as part of an intergenerational gathering. There are plenty of ways to adapt it for your context.

Using Psalm 104 as the grounding text, along with additional supporting scripture, youth will explore the interconnectedness of the whole earth, considering how humans live alongside and within the more-than-human world. Through awareness, gratitude, wonderment, reciprocity, and kinship, participants are invited to imagine how they can become co-sustainers and participants in the work of God’s creation.

Note: This new Youth Edition is based on the youth version that is included in the complete What Every Living Thing Needs VBS curriculum.

Session Themes

• Every Living Thing Needs Shelter—Shelter Protects Life
• Every Living Thing Needs Food—Food Energizes Life
• Every Living Thing Needs Water—Water Hydrates Life
• Every Living Thing Needs Air—Air Sustains Life
• Every Living Thing Needs Community—Community Produces Life

What’s Included?

Five sessions that include the following:

Welcome & Icebreaker: Introduces the session’s theme and begins your time together with a simple, 5-minute activity

Game: A fun activity that keeps participants’ bodies and minds moving while reinforcing Compassion Camp’s themes and takeaways

Building an Altarscape: Ongoing activity to connect each session by creating a focal point for your space and incorporating natural elements from your local environment

Scripture and Discussion: Accessible paraphrases of the scripture in the form of a collective litany, followed by in-depth conversation and discussion questions

Spirituality in Practice: Activities that provide youth with creative opportunities to practice compassion and love while demonstrating God’s deep compassion for each other, ourselves, and the world

Closing: Wrap up the session’s theme with reflection and prayer

Original Music: Compassion Camp includes original songs to accompany the session themes. We’ve included both song sheets and sheet music. The music is also available to stream on Apple Music and Spotify and to purchase on iTunes.

Media Kit: The media kit includes illustrations and images from each session’s theme, the Compassion Camp logo in various formats, and promotional graphics for newsletters, social media, and your website.

Psalm 104 Poster: Print the beautifully designed 24x36-inch Psalm 104 poster to display in your gathering space.

What You’ll Receive

When you make your purchase, you will be taken to a page to download your product, and you’ll also receive an email with a link to download the files. You will download a ZIP file containing the curriculum and accompanying resources.