Supporting our youth: A message from the territorial leaders

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Commissioners Jenine and Paul Main encourage us to consider how we are raising up the next generation.

Paul Hello! Life can sometimes feel overwhelming, especially for children and young people. 

Jenine With all the noise and confusion, it’s easy for them to forget they’re deeply loved, valued and never alone in God’s eyes. 

Paul Growing up isn’t straightforward. The world is full of challenges, but it’s also full of hope, fresh opportunities and endless possibilities. By gently nurturing the discipleship of our young people... 

Jenine By helping them know Jesus personally and encouraging them to live by faith... 

Paul We’re not only supporting their journey, but shaping the future of our church and community. Every child and young person matters deeply to God. Their questions, creativity, struggles and dreams. The Bible tells us that they can fully engage in God’s mission. 

Jenine We need to do all we can to make faith in a loving God accessible, and equip and release them for mission. 

Paul We do this by walking alongside them, pointing them to Jesus, encouraging them to serve, and loving them unconditionally. When we invest our time, energy and prayers, we help younger generations discover their place in God’s big story. 

Jenine A huge thank you to those already committed to youth and children’s work in your local settings. Your dedication, creativity and faithfulness don’t go unnoticed. Week after week, you’re making a lasting difference in young lives. 

Paul Through your listening, laughter, prayers and presence, you inspire hope. Thank you for loving, encouraging and journeying with young people. 

Jenine We encourage you all to look out for RAISE for All sessions in your division. It’s part of the RAISE: Youth Leaders Training, sitting nicely alongside RAISE for children. It’s designed to build confidence, give you insight into youth culture and develop the whole church and its responsibility to young people. 

Paul It’s vital if we are to respond to the quiet revival happening amongst young people. 

Jenine And a special mention of Terrain, a year-long programme exploring the Gospels and life of Jesus, helping young people discover who they are. Let’s hear from Benjamin. 

Paul Benjamin is in his third year studying music at the University of Manchester. He recently completed The Salvation Army’s Terrain programme. 

Benjamin Terrain has been one of the best things I’ve done, 100 per cent. 

Paul Terrain is a year-long experience for 18 to 25-year-olds, which includes online learning, mentoring and four residential weekends. 

Benjamin We talk about the four Gospels. Matthew was our first one. It was all about change. That was one of my favourite ones and also probably one of the most important ones as well, I think. 

There’s a mentor alongside you doing Terrain and we met up monthly and talked about the four Gospels. You can learn off one another rather than just looking at it by yourself. 

I’ve always felt I’ve had a lot of support from so many different people. I also feel like, as part of God’s plan, he’s always provided for me whenever I’ve needed. There’s just so many times I can think of that, even in my daily devotions, which I read them every day, and everything that’s in there is so relevant to what’s happened. 

You’ve just got to be the best version of yourself and push the boundaries as much as you can. Know that God’s there to catch you if you do feel like you’re going to fall. 

Terrain has definitely helped bridge the gap between music and faith. It’s always tough to follow the words of the music because you’ve got to focus on the music. I’ve got a bit more understanding and that’s allowed my faith to catch up with my music. 

My faith has definitely developed and growing stronger just because of being able to play a bit more freely now. 

Jenine It’s great to hear from Benjamin. When we heard him testify to the impact of Terrain on his personal faith journey, he spoke about noticing Jesus in the everyday, now that he knows him more through studying the Gospels. 

Paul Terrain is one of our many great programmes. There’s more information on Salvationist.org.uk, as well as loads of resources for children and youth workers. We’ve been so encouraged to hear about the Starfish mentoring programme, Street-Based Youth Work, Transformers, residential camps, youth clubs, children’s clubs, their impact is immeasurable. 

Jenine To do all this, we need your support through prayer, giving, mentoring and encouragement to help create spaces where young people belong, grow and encounter God’s love in transformative ways. 

Paul Together, we’re building God’s Kingdom, one young life at a time. 

Jenine Let’s keep investing in the next generation as we journey together toward fullness of life with Jesus.