In the middle of Petra Field Camps in the Ozarks last summer, six 13-year-old boys competed in a series of challenges, from spelunking and kayaking to fishing and hiking, to be crowned “Thee Wise Young Man” for an upcoming series for RightNow Media.
“RightNow Media is an online streaming platform for churches to provide sermons, Bible studies and other Christian content,” said Rafael Barreiro, a cinematic arts professor at Oral Roberts University. “The children’s section is lacking content for boys ages 8 to 11 years old. We aim to change that.”
The show is based on a book called “Thoughts for Young Men” by J.C. Ryle that Barreiro first discovered when his wife gave him a copy as their first son was becoming a teenager. Over time, Barreiro met with his three sons and other fathers and sons at a local donut shop to read through and discuss the concepts in Ryle’s book.
The book covers five dangers that young men face — pride, love of pleasure, thoughtlessness and inconsideration, contempt of religion and fear of man’s opinion — making for five of seven episodes for the RightNow Media series.
At the end of each activity, the boys would guess which of the five dangers they thought the challenge was based on. Episode seven features the big finale with the crowing of “Thee Wise Young Man.”
Casting the boys proved to be quite difficult, said Barreiro. The cast was obtained through church referrals.
Jeff Voth, a theology professor at ORU, found himself playing a pastoral role in the video series as a guide for the boys to explain each lesson.
Being in the series proved to be a harder task than Voth thought.
“I’ve been on camera before,” Voth said. “Being on camera doesn’t bother me but it’s different [when] you’re teaching or you’re preaching or you’re doing a video for media.”
To the people involved in the series, the experience was rewarding.
“One of the things we did in the closing ceremony was give the boys a gift, Ryle’s book and a gift card to a donut shop,” said Barreiro. “We encourage in the series that you need a mentor. We want the boys to talk with their dads about the five dangers and how their dads tackled them.”
Perry Keel, a senior in public relations at ORU, played the cabin host. He mentioned his favorite aspect of the production.
“Honestly, it was really [just] being surrounded by a great crew, the kids and the director,” he said. “They played a huge role in bringing the best out of me.”
Voth found it rewarding to see the young men bond with one another.
“The most important thing for them was to focus on their relationship with Jesus,” Voth said. “Probably equally as rewarding was to do it with my friend, Professor Barreiro.”
The show is currently in editing and is expected to be out on RightNow Media this November.
