“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth…” (Eccl. 12:1)
The youth are the future leaders and therefore should be looked after. Youth members of a church are also as important and it is necessary that the church looks after them to ensure that they have the appropiate guidance to become closer to God and participate in the life of the church.
Youth Department is nothing new in our churches thus LUCSA in her endeavor to reach out to the youth, revived the Youth Desk where an Internee has been appointed with the objective of facilitating co-ordination, cooperation and networking among young people in LUCSA on matters of common interest and benefits. The desk is also responsible for keeping the youth activities alive in the church, offer them learning opportunities, strengthening the relations amongst the youth across the member churches and empowering them to network and work together.
Vision
The vision of this Desk is:
- Promote active, meaningful and equal participation of youth in the life of the LUCSA and its member churches, and through this, in the holistic mission of God.
- To "work and walk together” – as a communion – in the faith journey, build a network among the youth in the LUCSA region, and to have a generation of God fearing Youth.
Mission
LUCSA strongly believes that all young people in the church and in the society at have the potential to be leaders, initiators, creators, mediators and problem solvers. Conflict work lies at the heart of creating positive, stimulating and supportive relationships with young people. They can then make empowered choices, which release their energy for giving service in the community, and help them to realise their potential.
Our mission is to work with and for youth, as well as with and for LUCSA member churches, to promote the full inclusion of youth and youth concerns in the life and decision-making of church and society in close cooperation with other relevant networks.
Our objective is to make a difference to young people's lifestyles, strengthen the communion, fellowship and to support diaconal, mission and ecumenical work, getting the youth to know LUCSA better, in particular the Youth Desk, identify and establish basic channels of networking and communication, build each other's strengths and capabilities, share experiences and learn from each other.
Activities
The LUCSA Youth Desk is working in four main areas, namely: learning and sharing, networking, connecting and youth development.
Networking and Communication within the LUCSA member churches
We would like to connect the faith of young people with the culture in which we live, and the worldaround us.
"He said to them, ‘Go into the entire world and preach the good news to all creation.’" (Mark 16:15).
To be connected is to be in authentic relationship. With this understanding we would like to build and maintain connections with the world around them, so that young people can witness to the hope-filled message of Jesus Christ, because in the midst of this tension, God calls us to connect with each other, and with the world, and to allow our lives to witness to the living Christ. God calls us not to turn our backs on the culture, but to work within it, bringing the kingdom of God to wherever we go. We are first called to go into the world, to be with in relationship with people. Then we must tell the story of God in the world. This story-telling may be verbal, but in an incarnational ministry alongside young people, it can also be understood as action. This honours the context of young people and challenges all believers to re-imagine how one’s actions have the power to preach the Good News in ways that transform the world today to be Kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven.
One way to establish the network between the youth of the member churches is to hold a LUCSA youth Conference, visit youth in their respective churches and attend their gatherings wherever the availability of funds makes it possible. Another way of creating or strengthening the relation and communication between youth from different member churches is to identify all means of communication, in order to establish a network between people who are geographically far apart. Since many young people throughout the LUCSA region are exposed to e-mail and internet, this is an advantage which can be used keep the youth updated and intact with each others’ churches and work together as one family.
Partnerships
We want to uplift and utilize the gifts of the whole church.
“From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”(Ephesians 4:16).
We understand that God has not called us to be in isolation but in relationship with others. As we work in partnership with others, we grow as children of God. God has gifted each of us with different gifts and callings. We are called into partnership with others so that we may be blessed by the gifts of our neighbour and we may, in turn, be a blessing to them. If we work in isolation or exclude some from the opportunity to utilize their gifts, we limit what God has intended for our lives.
We sturdily believe that God does not only work through the Church. We know that God works in many and various ways, and it is the task of God’s people to name that for themselves and the world, and then to nurture these connections and relationships. With this understanding we want to encourage member churches, congregations, schools, community organizations, businesses and health care organizations to come together and find common ground on which to serve, in order to strengthen relationships and to create communities that value young people. The Church can and should be at the forefront of these partnerships, calling together community partners for the sake of young people.
Partnership makes us reach beyond ourselves to new possibilities, ideas, and ways of doing things. Partnership moves us into a collaborative understanding of what youth ministry is in its continual evolution in our changing world. Partnership exponentially raises the level of possibility for how our ministry can happen, and how effective it can be.
We therefore encourage that new partnerships continue to be formed.
Activities done
The Youth Steering Committee meeting was held from the 13th -15th March 2009. The Steering Committee members from the following member churches attended as representatives: ELCSA, ELCB, MYUSA, ELCSA, IELM, ELCIN/DELK, ELCIN, ELCM, LUCSA/IELA, LWF/LUCSA/ELCRN and ELCZ. The aim of the meeting was to bring together youth leaders from all member churches of Lutheran Communion of Southern Africa (LUCSA), to plan activities for the year and to draw up a draft guide for the LUCSA – Youth Desk and to discussed and share ideas. A need to establish a youth wing of umbrella organizations to be known as LUTHERAN COMMUNION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA Youth Desk (LUCSA-YD) was identified and the guidelines and modalities had to be worked out. The Desk will serve as God’s Kingdom, LUCSA and LWF, messenger to young people within and outside the church. During this meeting, a LUCSA Youth Interim Committee was formed.
As part of the plan of activities, the Youth Intern has recently visited the youth of Tshabalala Parish of the ELCZ in Bulawayo, and the Bible Study Youth Group of Hosianna Parish of the ELCIN in Windhoek (See the attached reports).
Upcoming Activities
- All member Churches to be visited
- Interim Committee meeting.
- LUCSA Youth General Conference
- Regular updating of the Youth page on LUCSA website
