Community & Business
11 June, 2024
Connecting with the community
Pittsworth Uniting Church minister, Rev. Willie Liebenberg, recently invited the Life Support Youth Group into his church to lead a worship service. This gave the community an opportunity to meet the team and hear their testimonies about living as young Christians in our community.
Youth Co-ordinator Emily Hobbs spoke about today’s generation, Generation Z (born late 90s to early 2000s), as the first truly post-Christian generation, growing up with no Christian values and knowledge of God in the home.
Ms Hobbs said the big questions that Gen Z teens wrestle with are:
Identity: who am I?
Belonging: where do I fit?
Purpose: How can I make a difference?
“They love belonging to a community,” Ms Hobbs said.
“They love belonging where they feel valued, safe and needed.
“Our opportunity at youth group, is that they’re at the crucial years of finding their identity and deciding what they believe - we have an opportunity to introduce them to Jesus.
“To be able to speak positively into their lives and speak value, and purpose into their lives, and call out their God-given potential and purpose,” Ms Hobbs said.
More than ten youth members stood up and shared with the community how youth has helped shape them and their faith.
The majority of the group spoke about the supportive environment, and the formation of Godly friendships with other young, like-minded individuals who are eager to pursue a relationship with Jesus.
Some of the youth leaders who spoke have since finished school, but continue to attend youth group and support their younger peers.
Brenton, 19, said the joy and honour of showing young people the love of Jesus is why he keeps coming back.
“It’s happened countless of times as they come into youth group, completely as a non-believer or even against God, and over time, the love of Jesus has just chipped away at them,” he said.
“The next thing you see them, hands raised in worship, fully surrendering to Jesus.
“It’s a joy to be part of,” Brenton said.
Jack, also 19, attended Pittsworth State High School and was School Captain in his final year.
“I wouldn’t have been in that role if it wasn’t for the stewardship of youth group, and the leaders that I was given.
“I know I wouldn’t be the man I was today without Jesus in my life, first and foremost, but being able to stand on Godly morals, having mates like Brenton around me throughout school helped me to say no to things like peer pressure, or stuff that every young fella faces,” Jack said.
After the youth spoke, Rev Liebenberg invited the elders, community members and leaders from other congregations to gather around the youth and pray over them.
He described them as “a group of people I can see shining the light of Christ in this world.”
Rev Liebenberg hopes the youth group will be invited into other churches to share the work of their ministry.
