We needed to start with truth and fact. All responsible scripture study should.

Fact is there are 206 bones in the human body. Truth, 4.30am is too early to wake up. And while I would maintain that this truth is actually a fact, it is about seeing perspective and lessons that can be learnt. In the context of scripture we learn how it is directed to a different people in a different time and culture. We then need to look at what we can take from this lesson.

With the kids decked out with textas and paper to draw on, I wove the story of a young boy who had gone to the front battle lines to bring lunch to his brothers. While there, he saw the giant from across the way come and taunt the soldiers, challenging anyone to come and fight him. This young boy, who wasn’t even there to fight, wasn’t frightened by this challenge. Thus, with the slingshot he used to protect the sheep, he went to fight and kill the giant. I might have left out the decapitation part. It is kid’s camp after all.

While I spun the story, they were invited to draw. Their pictures are each unique. Some are comic books showing the scenes of the above; others word clouds of the themes they have heard. Others depict an ‘I spy’ of images from our story: lunch, sheep, army, swords, armour, slingshots, giants, tents, a little boy.

We never focused on the facts of this story. It doesn’t matter. They don’t need it to be an historical account, nor is it. But what is the lesson in this story? What could they take from something that was written so very, very long ago for a people that lived in a completely different time and place? They chatted amongst themselves and came up with the following.

• God is always with you.

• You can do things that scare you and other people.

• Nothing is too much for God.