Christian Youth Ministry is a faith-journey of accompanying young people towards an experience of Christ. Accompanying is a process; it is not sporadic interventions of activities done for the young. It is walking with the young. In this essay, I would like to reflect on the theological implications of the process of accompanying young people, in the African context. Taking the cue from the experience of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Lk 24: 13-35), I would like to present Jesus as the prototype of a youth minister, thus also to trace the progressive stages in youth ministry.
The two disciples are on the road to Emmaus. Why are they on the road? It is Easter Sunday – “that very same day”, and these disciples are running away from Jerusalem – the epicentre of the great event! They have lost hope. They don’t want to be part of the band anymore. Yet the experiences of the past three days have been so overwhelming that they cannot but talk about all that had happened. They only talk, unable to get into the depths of the events. They are blind!
Where are the young people of Africa? They too are on the road. They are running away. Literally, running from the rural areas to the urban, and from the African cities to the West. They are running away from their roots. They are running away from themselves.
To understand where the young people of Africa are, we need to ask a more pertinent question, who are the young people? Let us make an attempt to answer both the questions. We can rephrase our questions as, who are the young? what is the meaning of being young today? And what are the specific situations of young people in Africa?
Reference:
Selvam, S.G. (2006). “Walking with the Young: A Theology of Youth Ministry” in R. Mchami and B. Simon, Church Ministry in African Christianity (pp.65-80). Nairobi: Acton Press.
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