The Youths and the Church

Fellow Youths;

Yesterday was Church in Conference and one of the matters arising has to do with relationship gap between the youths and the church (NEBC). Undermining the fact that the church and the youths do not agree in some lights, I personally feel there is a gap that needs to be bridged but I don’t know if I’m speaking for myself or for everyone. What do I mean by ‘gap’ you may ask…it’s a severed;

1. Relationship on physical needs; I worked with the GOJA committee and for the first time experienced a relationship with men and women of caliber who could change my life with the press of one button.

2. Relationship on psychological needs; you may agree that it’s not all problems we share with pastors or our parents directly. Take for instance; the whole church may gather to pray that I get married, but who do I talk to if I was gay? You may pray that I get promoted, but who do I confide in when my boss says the only way to get promoted is if we had sex... and I’m tempted to fall? Who can help me overcome drug abuse that my parents or church family does not know about…yet?

3. Relationship on spiritual needs; if I dreamt of something horrible, got an invitation to join a secret cult, saw a vision or had call to become a pastor that I do not want, who can I talk to?

4. Relationship de confidante; other very embarrassing secrets/matters or personal emotions I may want to talk about, not because I need a solution, but because I just want to share and know that someone is in on it…with me.

These are some of the issues that are not written in faces but tend to make us seek for solutions anywhere we may find it…Sometimes, until we are purged, we may not easily open up. If you think the same way I do, or have your own comments on how we can bridge this gap, let’s hear your views here.

The church is expecting us to come up with proper presentation and I need your impute because whatever we say is a representative statement from all youths… so say something or I’ll assume you concur.

Oje.