Campus, church host youth ministry course in Standerton
Attendees learnt valuable lessons in dealing with the issues the youth might face.
The Teach Every Nation (TEN) campus and the Replika Church hosted a youth ministry course on July 5 and 6.
This course is an elective in the Bible School On Wheels curriculum.
About 30 youth pastors, churchgoers and people looking to strengthen their relationship with the youth to whom they regularly tend, attended the course.
Cassie Carstens is regarded as a global mentor and brilliant public speaker.
He founded The World Needs A Father and has done life-changing work reinstating fathers to their roles in family settings.
He delivered his expert opinion in the initial course in 2014, and attendees enjoyed a video recording of the event.
Attendees learnt valuable lessons in dealing with the issues the youth might face. According to Carstens, today’s youth struggle the most with taboo topics people are afraid to discuss.
The discussions held after each session backed up his beliefs. Attendees unanimously agreed that teens require more exposure to taboo topics to better prepare them for challenges they might face in the future.
After each session, testimonies from pastors and youth workers at Agape Family Church were played to demonstrate how the discussions played out in real-life situations.
“The evening was full of passion for the youth, and the course was insightful,” said Shaun Vienings, an attendee.
One of the most prolific discussions in the course was Carstens’ belief regarding the father’s impact years.
He pointed out that during the ages of six to 11, children learn basic competencies and physical growth from their father figures.
The ages of 19 to 21 are seen as the identity era, in which father figures are crucial. This corresponds with Carstens’ work on The World Needs A Father. Vihanda Steyl found the course eye-opening.
“It was mainly interesting to see the roles people play in the lives of young people in terms of their growth. It was especially interesting to see people from different backgrounds come together to discuss the same problems young people have.”
The course reminded the attendees that they must fill multiple roles in the lives of the youth to whom they minister.
A person actively working with the youth needs to be dynamic and able to fill the role of teacher, brother, sister, caretaker and even, in some cases, mother or father.
The course, including discussions and snack breaks, took about eight hours to complete.
“It was a powerful evening filled with learning opportunities and delectable refreshments,” said Zander Zwart, who attended the first evening of the course.
