• Have you ever been in a situation where you had to depend on someone else to help you? Tell us about it. (Answers will vary. Students may talk about a scary situation where they had to depend on a parent, sibling, or friend; they may relate something someone else does for them on a regular basis like drive them to school. Have a variety of situations from your own life to give as examples to get discussion going and broaden it as needed.)
• How does it feel to depend on another person? (Students may talk about finding it hard to trust, feeling safe or confident, wishing they could do it alone, etc. Others may feel thankful they aren’t responsible to accomplish something they can’t do alone.)

When we depend on someone, we trust or rely on that person. Sometimes we must depend on another person to get through a dangerous or unsafe situation.

Share the following video [2:13]:
AMAZING: Virginia brothers save drowning 6-year-old girl in Ireland

The brothers swam for 25 minutes until they were close enough to yell to the girl that she would be okay. When they reached her, they helped keep her head above water and took turns swimming on their backs with the girl on their chests, fighting the current to get back to shore. The entire rescue took over an hour and amounted to a one-mile swim in rough waters.

In the meantime, the girl’s father—who didn’t know how to swim—had put on a life jacket and tried to make his way out to rescue his daughter. When the rescuers returned to shore with Sienna, her brother asked them to go back out to rescue his father. The young men dove back into the water and rescued the man.

• How did Sienna depend on the brothers who swam out to rescue her? (Students may mention that she had to depend on them for her very life since she was unable to save herself. She depended on them to reach her in time, to come up with a plan where they would share her weight and keep her above water as they swam through rough water. She depended on them to save her dad once they got her back to shore.)

Without the quick action of the strong-swimming brothers, the little girl would have drowned. There was no way she could get back to shore on her own; she had to depend on her rescuers, who had the ability to swim out to her and pull her back to shore.  

At times we must depend on other people to help us in a dangerous situation. But there is Someone whom we can depend on in every situation. Let’s check it out.

Additional Resources:
Information about Virginia brothers rescuing girl in Ireland