Empowering and Equipping Young People

Where we walk alongside young people and support them to take responsibility for their growth there is space for wondering, curiosity, exploration, solution finding and learning, through both the successes and challenges in life. Children grow resilience, confidence and capacity as they learn to negotiate and learn through failure and mistake making. In taking responsibility, young people learn that adults and peers trust that they have the skills to find a better way forward, including situations that they feel are unfair. In doing so, they are best placed to grow proactive habits of mind. Learning that there are things and situations outside of our capacity to change or influence, we develop an understanding to focus our energy on our circle of influence. The nurturing of the ability and mindset to accept and build from disappointment and difficulty, empowers young people to grow best across all dimensions of life including the academic, social, emotional, sport, cultural and spiritual dimensions. For sports lovers, we saw this powerfully at play over the weekend as we witnessed three great games, where players remained focused, adapting and adjusting despite themselves or teammates making errors, tough calls or the score.  In his post-game media interview, despite the disappointment of the result, Lions coach Chris Fagan could focus on the quality of the game, positive elements, confidence in his players, recognised the strengths of the opposition and most importantly was focused on what could be learnt from the experience.

God walks alongside us and provides the space for us to learn through the experiences of life. Rather than controlling or rescuing us, the Bible provides wisdom to guide us through the different rhythms of life. As we read different stories at different ages and in different circumstances the stories speak differently to us. The constant that remains is God’s love for us, His willingness to forgive us as we learn through mistake making and commitment to journey with us as a source of strength and hope. As both young and old, we are empowered to have the grace, hope and confidence to grow through all circumstances in life and to provide the space, strength and encouragement for others to do the same.