As students join your group time, ask them to think about who needs to be guided. Some ideas might be a person with limited vision or hearing; a tourist or someone new to town; people using GPS or an app to help them find destinations by car; an airline pilot; all children to some extent need guidance from parents, guardians, teachers, and leaders; etc. Invite students to share their ideas and elaborate on who needs guidance and why.
Show the following video clip to your students [4:58; start at 1:18; stop at 3:55]:
Welcome to Southeastern Guide Dogs
Ask:
- From what you could get out of this clip, what were the most important skills that a guide dog must have? (Answers will vary but may include size, ability to pay attention, ability to learn, ability to assess a situation and adjust accordingly, a trustworthy dog, etc.)
- How critical do you think it is for a dog to accomplish every skill taught at the school? Why? (It’s very important! Someone with disabilities is vulnerable and trusting their life to the dog, assuming that it will lead them around dangerous situations.)
- If a dog is kicked out of the program for not learning from the training, do you think that’s the right or wrong thing for the school to do? (Answers will vary. Some students may say that yes, it’s the right thing to do since it was critical for the safety of the people involved. Others might say no, they should keep the dogs and allow them to take another course until they “get it.”)
- Have you ever been in a situation where you needed guidance, but the one leading you let you down in some way? Tell us about it. (Be sure that your students are gracious as they share; be prepared to share your own experience.)
Like a sight-impaired person, we, too, are in danger if we don’t have proper guidance. Let’s dig in and find out about God’s Guidebook and how it will never steer us wrong.
