One of the characters in the film To Save a Life starts exploring faith through an audio devotional downloaded to his iPod. Cool idea? You bet — so much so that Britts and the creators of To Save a Life created a portable devotional connected to the movie — Devo2Go.
The film’s screenwriter, youthworker Jim Britts, says the concept has been around a while. “A couple of us youth pastors were hanging out and going, ‘It’s really hard to get kids to read the Bible on their own — really hard to get them to turn off their stupid iPod.” So instead of fighting the iPod, Britts and other youth pastors incorporated it into the ministry.
The Devo2Go designed for the film features Britts and other youth worker luminaries, including David Hasz (executive director for Teen Mania) Miles McPherson (a senior pastor and former NFL player) and Leeland and Jack Mooring (members of the band Leeland). The devotional runs for 36 days and incorporates a small workbook, which encourages listeners to think about what they’ve heard, crack open their Bibles and act on what they’ve learned.
The Devo2Go is just one of the gizmos connected to the film. Britts hopes the film will be nothing less than a catalyst for “kids walking on their campuses and … helping out the hurt and lonely.”
Also for sale is a companion youth leader curriculum, designed to help teach youth how better to be the hands and feet of God. “You can’t go a page in the gospels without Jesus talking about the hurting or lonely or actually reaching out to them,” Britts says. “We did the series based on [our experience of] 10 and a half years of youth ministry. It’s the best series we have done. We saw more kids get saved and baptized and get connected. It’s really just living out the themes of the film, how to save a life.”
The curriculum kit includes:
*A leader’s guide, complete with messages, activities and group questions for seven lessons
* A resource CD, which includes PowerPoint slides, printable handouts and more
* A resource DVD, which includes clips from To Save a Life to go with each lesson plan
* A Devo2Go
* The novel To Save a Life, written by Britts and his wife, Rachel
There’s also a package of fun promotional items that youth workers can hand out to their kids — or kids to their friends — including a promotional DVD, movie posters, stickers and more.
Related links:
Youth Culture Lesson: Devos to Go
Interview with screenwriter and youthworker Jim Britts
Watch the movie trailer
