Minutes for Mission
You Can Help to Make It Right!
“It’s not fair! It’s not right!” You may remember shouting those words in passion and frustration as a child. The unsatisfactory adult response you probably received in return was, “Well, the world’s not fair!”
Sadly, those words are far too true for many children in the United States and around the world. But what if our kids had the opportunity to productively channel that natural and passionate sense of justice? What if they gained insight and perspective on issues that are genuinely not appropriate or tolerable? What if they became a voice for positive change and affirmation for other less fortunate children? That’s exactly what a new Presbyterian Web site for kids is designed to help them to do.
When a child opens the Kids 4 Kids Web site, she can read these words: “There are things that every child needs to live a good life and grow up healthy. Because these things are so important, they are called children’s rights. All children are born with the same rights.”
This year is the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, an international treaty that recognizes the human rights of children. Only two countries have not yet ratified the Convention — Somalia and the United States of America. This anniversary year is a perfect time to call attention to the rights of children — to play, to go to school, to have clean water and good food, to be safe and to have access to health care. As it states on the Kids 4 Kids site, “It’s right for all children to have the things they need. It’s not right for some kids to have them when other kids don’t … and you can help to make it right!”
Celebrating New Community
In my new Los Angeles neighborhood, much of the community life takes place in driveways and tiny urban courtyards, along the sidewalks and even out in the street. It is a blessing for my fellow Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) roommates and me that our home, front yard and driveway provide common spaces where children and families from our neighborhood can gather.
At the end of a long workday, when I am tired and feel that I have nothing left to give, the little ones fill me up with joy. They teach me how to draw pictures with markers and sidewalk chalk. They teach me to jump rope and play tag. They teach me to shoot baskets and kick soccer balls. I am blessed to so often be able to share the perspective of a child at the end of the day.
My roommates and I are learning how to serve, and to be served, by our new neighbors. One of our greatest joys is celebrating the birthdays of children who live nearby. We have so many little ones in this neighborhood that each month we attend at least two birthday celebrations, and we are warmly welcomed.
Taking time to just be with our neighbors is one of the greatest gifts of living here. To that end, I challenge you to step outside of your own comfort zone and create new forms of community.
Young Adult Volunteer Alison McCullough is working at PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) in Hollywood, California.
Discovering a New Pathway
What are the paths you have taken in your life? There are pathways leading us to adventure — the unfamiliar winding road we drive up, the dirt path we hike down contemplatively.
There is another type of pathway — the pathway through the piles of papers on our desk or through the books and clothes on the floor of our bedroom. This is the path leading us through the commonalities in our lives.
What about the pathways that the Lord shows us? How can we brush aside the clutter in our lives and uncover God’s path?
Youth ministry — work, advocacy and ministry with, and for, teenagers, is full of paths, both exciting and ordinary. They range in distance, design and risk. Some lead to deep friendship and sacred community. Others lead to success at school, at home and in discipleship. Still other paths lead young people into danger, despair and loneliness. All of these paths can be viewed in the light of the gospel. And all of them can become a vital part of the training and preparation for youth ministry.
In 2009 the first Pathways Youth Leader Seminars were launched. In six cities around the country, youth and adults came together for study and reflection about Christian leadership and vocation. Youth participants took workshops titled “Leading Bible Study,” “Community Building,” and “Spiritual Practices.” Adult leaders listened to vibrant speakers and reflected in groups on their call to ministry with youth. Youth and adult participants worshiped and had fellowship together — examining the paths they had already taken and thinking about the paths they had yet to discover.
Your generous donations to the Pentecost Offering help to provide a pathway for hundreds of Presbyterian youth and adult youth leaders to a deeper, more creative and more visible discipleship. |
