The great commission in to make disciples of all nations obviously applies to young people, but what are we in Eden doing about it? This report will focus on work with young people aged 11 and upwards, of whom there are about 20 from families of Eden attenders and a number of others from non-church families. Whatever programme we run in the church, it is in no way intended to replace the parents' or guardians' responsibilities to teach their children God's truths, but rather to complement these. Please pray for parents and guardians in the church specifically regarding this issue. Since we are also dealing with some young people with very little church background, however, we do aim to be comprehensive in what we teach.
The groups we run for young people (all during term time) are as follows:
If I think back over the past three years, much has changed for the better in terms of youth work. Our team has greater experience, we are better at engaging the kids and, partly as a consequence of this, the young people are more willing to look at God's word. This, in turn, means that when new people come to the groups there is generally a positive peer pressure to study the Bible. I and the rest of the team are very thankful for the prayers of the church; there is a clear link in my mind between the time when the elders set youth work as a prayer priority for the church and the time when the above changes began.
Please do keep on praying. It certainly isn't always plain sailing! On Friday nights, we often need wisdom on issues such as discipline. Also, as yet, none of our young people's groups has a three/four year plan in terms of teaching curriculum, and at times it has perhaps been a little hand to mouth. Please pray for us in thinking through our longer term strategies. There is also the possibility of a mid-week youth house group starting up to replace GAP on a Sunday. Please pray for that too. Most of all, please pray for the young people themselves, that they would become true disciples of our Lord Jesus.