Teenagers Rock

Well, I've just finished a packed week of youth ministry with Indian teenagers here in India. The incredible thing is that most of them, though they left today, won't be home until tomorrow or the next day. They've all traveled by train and some trips will take 48 hours, others less. It is amazing how much of an impact this week has had on them. It isn't surprising though as I remember also being very challenged and actually having some of my biggest changes and most important decisions made at events like this. One such event was when I was 17. I remember listening to the youth speaker talk about how at the age of 17, he needed to decide to walk with Jesus full tilt or live a minimal commitment or none at all. It was a decision that he and other friends had made and it really changed his direction. It seems like changes in our lives really do happen because of decisions. It seems they go hand in hand. This week, the topic was metamorphosis - the transformation of a butterfly. Not a very cool topic you might think, for teenagers, but the lessons connected with how transformation actually happens in our lives very well. The analogy of an egg forming into a caterpillar, then a cocoon and then into a beautiful butterfly really drew a great picture of what happens in our lives in order for us to transform. At the end, they were encouraged to fly by taking leaps that involve risk, but risk that allowed them to leave their comfort zones and embrace the life God had called them into. One teenage friend came out for prayer at the beginning of the week and asked for prayer as his loneliness had become such a difficult issue. Another was dealing with not feeling he was good enough - that he just didn't measure up. Many others had hurts, issues and challenges that were just like the teenagers that I had spent time with in Canada. It seems that the emerging global youth culture that is spreading all over the world has some distinct commonalities, things that are shared by them because of media, technology, clothing but also the common experience of being a teenager. What does that mean? As I discussed with Dan Potter (he and his wife lead teen street, www.teenstreet.om.org or www.duzie.com , all over the world) what youth need all over the world, it came out that they need

1. Significant Service,

2. Meaningful Responsibility,

3. Marinated and consistent mentoring,

4. Belonging (a place or a person, etc...)

5. A Secure zone for foolishness to be unwound

There are many other things that they need, but as a basis for doing ministry among them and seeing lasting change and the perseverance to make it through some of the most difficult years of their life. I don't miss what teenagehood was like for me. It is not easy and we just have to accept that. But if we can provide all of these things along with correct and contextualized Bible teaching and interaction as well as opportunities for them to interact with Christ personally and emotionally, a difference can be made. More and more teenagers around the world are going to share a common culture through English, the internet, music, clothing and the culture that culminates from all of those things. Dan Potter said that many people in Asian and Eastern countries look at their youth and see them becoming more and more Western. He made a very interesting comment though that because of postmodernism, Western teenagers and young people are becoming more and more Eastern in their thinking. I think that is true as the mindset here in India is very closely related to postmodernism. So, are the two worlds converging and what is happening in the generation that is coming up? There is a culture that exists all over the world that is distinct. It doesn't have borders, or a specific language. It doesn't have presidents though it has many influencers. It is the youth culture and being cool is where the power lies. Being cool is having influence without power being given to you. So it can come and go, just like that, but the one thing they respect and long for is Jesus. Not the idea, but the person. They all want Him, if they could only know who He is - they would want Him. That is what the five principles allow us to do for them. To give them who He is. Indian, American, Dutch, Brazilian, Sudanese, etc... all teenagers want Jesus and they are beginning to recognize him more and more in the same ways, no matter what country they are from. The difficulty in this is that many of the countries in the world don't know about this emerging culture or what to do with it. Teen Street has joined that effort and yet what they are doing is only a drop in the bucket compared to the need. But the hope that comes with them is worth every soul that is saved and every young person that commits to not walking away from Jesus, whether they be an Italian or an Indian.