Date of Award

Fall 2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

College

College of Education

Department

Department of Education

Primary Advisor

Dr. Karen Ingle

Second Advisor

Dr. Janet Deck

Third Advisor

Dr. Lisa Coscia

Abstract

Spiritual development plays a vital role in young people’s psychological health and wellness, and spiritual awareness is beneficial in developing morals and coping strategies when dealing with real-life situations (Lee et al., 2020). A lack of scholarly literature addressing the spiritual growth of Egyptian youth involved in evangelical camps and now living for Christ in a predominately Muslim society prompted this study. This qualitative narrative study was based on the theoretical framework of social constructivism pioneered by Vygotsky. The research participants were four Egyptian youth who had attended a Christian camp, made the life-changing decision to follow Christ, and were involved in a discipleship and mentorship program after camp. All interviews were conducted in English and Arabic using Zoom video conferencing and were recorded and transcribed using the Otter.ai transcription application in English. The four Egyptian youth shared detailed information about their lived experiences during and after camp to provide stories about the spiritual discipleship program with mentors after camp. Data was collected, verified for accuracy by the participants, then coded and analyzed to reveal four emergent themes. The themes were, Egyptian life, the participants’ spiritual experience at camp, discipleship with mentors after camp, and recommendations for future camps. Findings from this study suggested spiritual discipleship and mentorship played a significant part in the participants’ spiritual growth after camp.


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