This document describes a youth camp activity called "Backwards" where students navigate obstacles while looking into mirrors to see backwards. The activity is meant to teach participants that it is difficult to move forward while looking backward, and that life lessons can be learned from both looking to the past and future. The debrief discussion relates the activity to maintaining a balance of learning from the past without getting stuck in it, and keeping the future goal of following God's calling in sight.

1. Youth Camp
- Backwards
Students will
navigate across a
room looking into
a mirror
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Introduction
Do we live life looking to what
lies ahead or looking back?
Game Materials
• Hand held mirrors (or
better – rear view mirrors
from a car)
• Obstacles

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Game Preparation
Place obstacles randomly
distributed around the game
play area
Game Play
Everyone must walk
BACKWARDS from one side of
the area to the other using only
mirrors to see. You can do this as
a relay race between teams or
as individual participants.

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Variations
Allow someone else to hold the
mirror while a participant races
forward.
Take it to the next level
• Was it difficult to move
forward while looking
backward? Why?
• What are some of the
difficulties faced when we are
focused on looking back?
• How is this activity similar to
focusing on our past and
future?
• What lessons can we learn?

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Debrief
If you have ever driven a car, you
can glance from time to time in
the rear view mirror. As we
move forward we regularly
glance at it to keep us aware of
what is behind us. The past
makes us more knowledgeable
and wiser. And in that
regard, the past is good. But if
you spend all your time looking
in the rear view mirror you are
sure to meet a disaster ahead.
The same is true with life.

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We can learn some incredible
lessons from looking back to the
past. Someone has said that if
you refuse to look to the past
you are doomed to repeat it’s
errors. We can learn from the
past to avoid making mistakes
ahead. But past failures can also
prevent us from moving forward
and sometimes we have
difficulty seeing beyond those
failures to a brighter future.

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The past can be good or bad.. We
can be content with our past
accomplishments as easily as we
can live with regret for our past
mistakes. We can look back to
reproduce the success we have
experienced. But we cannot be
content living in the past with
past successes. We will never
grow and move forward.
“Jesus replied, “No one who puts
his hand to the plow and looks
back is fit for service in the
kingdom of God.” —Luke
9:62, NIV

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If you have ever mowed the grass
with a lawnmower and then looked
back, you’ll discover that you have
often mowed in a crooked line. The
key to mowing a straight line is to
look ahead to a target or goal and
move toward it. When you are
mowing the lawn it is not so
bad, because you can correct it by
mowing over your mistake. When
plowing a field, things are different.
If you have plowed a crooked
furrow in the field, you have to
keep plowing crooked furrows to
match your first rows. A person
who plows has to keep his eyes
fixed straight ahead on a goal or
he’ll mess up the whole field.

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Paul said: “…One thing I do:
forgetting what lies behind and
reaching forward to what lies
ahead, I press on toward the
goal for the prize of the
upward call of God in Christ
Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)
Paul chose the call of God in
Christ as his goal to fix his eyes
upon. With our eyes fixed upon
Christ we will be able to keep
our life straight. Don’t focus on
the Past! Look ahead! Look to
Christ!

10. Bible Studies based on the book of Jonah
Only. This youth camp curriculum was
designed to teach the basic truths
of obedience in addition to evangelism in the
context of a Biblical character. The advantage
of going through a book and looking at one
man's story is that we see not only the
teaching but the example. It becomes much
more real!
Camp Curriculum - Whale of a Tale
-> Tell me about “Whale of a Tale”
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11. Creative Youth Ideas
Camp Bible Study Series
“Who Do You Say that I AM?”
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-> Tell me about “Who Do You Say that I AM?”
Jesus asked the disciples, "Who do others
say that I am?" It was easy to answer
because it required no conviction, no
commitment, and no risk. But then he
follows that question with another, "Who
do YOU say that I am?"
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12. Live the Fruitful, Abundant Life
Jesus Promised. Great for youth camps or
weekly Youth Bible Study. There are 7
Primary Bible study Sessions in the series.
www.creativeyouthideas.com/resources/fruitofthespirit.html
-> Tell me about “Fruit Of the Spirit”
Creative Youth Ideas
Youth Camp Bible Study Series
“Fruit Of the Spirit”
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13. "The Great Adventure" is western
themed Bible study series loosely based
around the song of the same name by
Steven Curtis Chapman. It was initially
written for a large Texas Church to use for
their Summer Youth Camp but has since
then proven popular around the world.
Camp Curriculum - The Great Adventure
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-> Tell me about “The Great Adventure”
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