Driving north to Rundu, once you pass through the veterinary road block you realize you've entered a different world. Living in Windhoek it's easy to get wrapped up in the urban lifestyle of the concrete jungle and forget that rural areas even exists. Driving in the north it's inescapable. The roads are lined with village huts and you must be on the look out for goats or cows or donkeys crossing the road. Easy-going villagers are gathering under a central tree for shade and conversation, while others are carrying their large water jugs to the nearest tap. It's training youth workers in this foreign culture where my next challenge would lie.
This past weekend was the Pastor's Conference for the Evangelical Bible Church (EBC) denomination based in Rundu. On one of the days the youth leaders were also invited to have a separate session with me. I started as I usually do, with lots of questions. I had much to learn about youth ministry in this environment before I had anything to share. In their context, "youth" begins as a teenager and lasts as long as you're single, even up to 40 years old. Their weekly meetings are little more than choir practice as they prepare songs for Sunday morning and the annual choir competition. There's an immense generational gap between these youth who are fluent with technology and the internet and the elder generations who are the church leaders. So as you can imagine, youth ministry in this culture has its own unique challenges.
I split them into small groups to discuss the question, "What is your goal for a youth in your church?" Many of them said qualities like leadership skills, knowledge of the Bible, committed, etc. I then asked, "How many of those things could be true of your youth without them even being a Christian?" I find that everyone has great aspirations for their young people, but often we overlook the foundational ingredient: we want them to have a relationship with Jesus! Christian youth ministry is primarily about discipling young people. Other organizations can offer leadership training or entrepreneurial skills or public speaking courses. But we offer one thing that no one else offers: Jesus. And He's the most important thing we can give them!
The youth leaders seemed very encouraged by our conversation and determined to invite me back again. I love working with the youth because they have a great energy and potential, and I hope to help unleash that so it doesn't get stifled.
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| Main session at the EBC Pastor's Conference in Rundu |
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| Youth leaders discussing in small groups |
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| Making lunch of pap and fish |
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| Breaded fish for lunch |
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| Kavango River, border between Namibia (left) and Angola (right) |
