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ccording to a 2012 U.S. Census, there were 41,844,000 young people age 10-19 in the United States – 14% of the population. In other countries where we work, the statistics are even higher for similar young age groups: in Mexico, 45% of its population is younger than 25 and for the Philippines this number is 53%.
If you look at the Servants of the Word across the world you would see that the greatest part of our mission efforts is expended among young people. We believe that the young people of our world hold the great potential for good but are also in grave danger of not actually moving into adult maturity where they can make a positive difference in their families, neighborhoods and countries.
One of our key objectives as a brotherhood, therefore, is to work with young people. In our brotherhood ideal, our mission statement if you will, says, “With great hope and confidence in the God who called us, and recognizing the challenges of our times, we aim to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and foster spiritual maturity, especially among young people”. We feel that work among young people is one of the primary contributions we can make to the church. We therefore desire (quoting again from our ideal) “to evangelize and disciple young people and to bring those who are called into a full integration with our life and mission.”
In this edition of our newsletter you will read about two important expressions of our mission among youth—Youth Initiatives in Northern Ireland and Youth:link in London.
In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus turns to his disciples and says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Please join with us in praying for effectiveness in this wonderful work the Lord has called us to. Pray as well that other more laborers will be called into the harvest!
