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this page Newsletters - IAYN Newsletter No.2 Advent 2006
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Youth Yeah! In Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
Since Advent 2005 we have been celebrating Youth Yeah, or a Year of Youth! Youth Yeah! is an opportunity to celebrate young people, and all they offer the church; to celebrate our Church's ministry among young people; and for youth ministry to be taken much more seriously and to be given a much higher profile and priority at the parish, Diocesan, National and Provincial level.
We are one church expressed in three Tikanga or three cultural streams, across five countries and using at least six languages. Youth Yeah! is also celebration of our three Tikanga. It is a celebration of our differences, and the richness that offers us as young people and as Anglicans. Each Tikanga launched this year in its own way, from parades through Suva in Fiji, to services in Cathedrals. Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa (The Indigenous Tikanga) launched Youth Yeah! at a moving dawn service at Matauri Bay, the place connected to the arrival of the Gospel in Aotearoa.
Some ran extra events. Others used Youth Yeah to raise the profile of youth ministry at Synods and parishes and to offer new ways of working among young people.
Four main events marked Youth Yeah. The first was a cross cultural festival held in Tonga for a week in December 2005. Tikanga Youth Exchange was held in Gisborne, and was a chance for young people to experience life in Tikanga Maori.
Music was written and recorded and issues affecting them with people from across the church were discussed. The third was our General Synod. Young people were there as full members and as Stewards. The Morning Worship and Bible studies were all lead by these young people. Young People also played a central role in the commissioning of our three new Archbishops. Finally the Big AYP (Anglican Youth Party) in October was a chance to celebrate the musical talents of young people.
Youth Yeah! is nearly over. We have along way to go to make youth ministry the number one priority of our church, but it was a good start. See: http://www.youthyeah.com/ for more information
Religions for Peace Japan 2006
In the spot where the atomic bomb destroyed many lives we gathered to reflect on the present reality.
We were over 300 religious youth leaders from around the world's major faith traditions sharing experiences, making friends and celebrating together.
Every day a different religious group lead prayers and songs for world peace and for the leaders of powerful nations which have an influence on our history. The Religions for Peace World Youth Assembly happened at the same time as the Women's Assembly. They both were part of a bigger event which was held a couple of days later in Kyoto, the ancient Imperial city in Japan.
We were deeply touched by several special testimonies shared by young people from conflict areas such as the Middle East, Africa and South America and also by survivors of Hiroshima's bombing. The Anglican Church was represented by young people from Brazil, USA, Honduras and Africa.
The World Youth Assembly was an ideal opportunity to build and strengthen national, regional and global multi-religious youth networks to transform conflict, build peace and advance sustainable development. As part of the agenda we had plenaries on confronting violence and advancing shared security. Also as part of the program we visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (including a ruined building kept as a reminder of the bombing), Buddhists and Shinto temples and other historical traditional Japanese sites.
As a result of our meeting we wrote a letter asking for the end of war in Lebanon; and a letter calling young people to be peacemakers through hope and actions which we called the Hiroshima Declaration.
Today in South America the youth religious leaders are creating a Youth Network to strengthen the global Network and every young person is called to take part in his or her own region in this process.
For more information you can contact the representative of Americas, Revd. Dessordi Leite (samdessordi@yahoo.co.uk) or Sign on to the Hiroshima Declaration through your own regional representative.
The Religions for Peace Assemblies and the Main Conference had the participation and support of both the UN and UNICEF.
South Asian Christian Youth Network
"Peace to all of you who are in Christ, "l Peter 5,13
PEACE is the need of present time:
At the time of terrorism in Mumbai (India) and in Karachi (Pakistan),
At the time of violence and civil war in Sri Lanka, At the time of political
instability, crises and violence in Nepal,
At the time of wars in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan
and Kashmir.
Peace Connection: Recently, the youth leaders from Pakistan & India took some initiatives towards "Peace Connections". Here is one of the responses: 1. "I was saddened to know that Indian Government seized the Indo-Pak peace process due to the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
We the Pakistan's youth feel pain, and assure you that we are praying to God Almighty for the victims of Mumbai. We can only pray and appeal to the leaders of both nations to take immediate actions that can restore hope for peace between India and Pakistan.
National Youth Forum Church of Pakistan (NYF-CoP) invites you to make a "Peace Connection" with those affected by terrorism, violence, wars, earthquake and Tsunami. The purpose is to facilitate the creation of one-to-one relations around the world. We encourage you to come up and take this initiative for international solidarity by writing cards, papers, letters, and personal messages of solidarity." (by Eric Attqiue, Coordinator, NYF-CoP)
The Website: Now the South Asian Christian Youth Network has launched its website, if you would like to get more information, you may visit our website: http://www.southasiayouth.org.
If you have attended either of the South Asian Youth Conferences or anyway you have any connection with the network, you may become an affiliate, for that you go to "Became an Affiliate" on our website and fill up the form given there.
News from Nepal: I am so glad to inform you that we are going to organize our youth leaders conference in coming October 22 24, 2006 in Kathmandu. And we are preparing for it. You all know that we had postponed our youth conference in February 2005, because of the unstable political condition of Nepal even we had prepared all the things for it. At that time, four days before the conference, the government had declared emergency in the country. So because of that we had postponed the program. After the emergency, we again tried for it, but because of the Maoist problems and some other problems in the country, we were unable to organize that. Now by the grace of God, we thought to organize this conference in this October. In October, because of the Hindu festival Dewali, there would be holidays in schools and colleges. So we are going to grab this occasion for our conference. Please remember our coming conference and the situation of our country in your prayers, (from Suroj Shakya, our Core Member from Nepal)
Global Young Adult Gathering at the Anglican Observer Office
Seeing through their eyes
Hello! My name is Laura Amendola and I am a three year long member at St. Paul's Episcopal Church Duluth, MN. In my three years as a St. Paulite and a Christian I have had quite a fast paced journey. In recent news I visited the United Nations this past summer, June 7th through the 11th for an event titled the Global Young Adult Gathering at the Anglican Observer Office. This took place in New York at both the Episcopal Church Center and the United Nations right across the street.
All together there were 12 young adults (from Africa, America, Europe the Middle East, Oceania, and a young adult representative from the Anglican Consultative Council).
The main theme of the workshop was the Millennium Development Goals, getting to know them, and figuring out what to do with them. We titled ourtime together "Living by faith in the real world". We did a variety of activities including touring the UN, speaking with different UN representatives, and having discussion groups about how to implement the Millennium Development Goals into our own corners of the world.
At the end of our time together we were able to take some really good action items home with us to begin our work.
I am Rhonda Waters and I start by saying the UN Gathering came, for
me, at just the right moment. My frustrations with the world communion,
represented in the United Nations, and with the Anglican Communion were
mounting and there seemed to be more days when I couldn't see their point
than days I could. A week immersed in the faith and energy and commitment
of the Gathering's participants and our guests from the UN community restored
my own confidence in the value of these institutions. The dream that people
of diverse backgrounds and priorities can share a common table is more
than a noble political project; it is God's promise and our responsibility.
My deepest thanks go to those who organized and participated in the IAYN
UN Gathering for providing me with such a beautiful reminder.
And Tiana Morel from the Anglican Diocese of Seychelles - Indian Ocean. "Being an amateur photograph in New York was a great experience. When we were given a camera and told to capture whatever strikes us most, one of my best photo is a picture of piles of garbage at the side of the road. Relating to MDG, when taking the picture I was asking myself: what are in these bin bags? how much waste could have been avoided here? How much money are people in this country throwing out into the bin instead of giving it towards any aid for poor countries? There were also used big boxes on the side of the road -1 was wondering how many people realize that millions of people in Africa do not have a shelter but rather use these boxes to construct what they call "home". During cold winter nights they are in there, heavy rain they are in there, very hot day they are in there... The Anglican Observer's Office at UN is a very important office the whole Anglican Communion should support. Without its initiative to organize this workshop, the lives of the young adults who attended would have been still the same. As for me, ever since that workshop my life has changed towards the best, towards serving the others more and more."
Youth Leadership Training for Peace: Ecumenical Project Brazil
The idea for a youth leadership training program first came to us in 2004 during an ecumenical local meeting for the 9th Assembly of the WCC. During these 2 years, the project was facilitated by Anglicans and Lutherans, but at the end we had several churches taking part in the workshops, including Methodists, Roman Catholics, Church Community Life, Baptists and other from evangelical traditions. The project started in 2005 in the southern areas of our country (and Uruguay) and ended on September 2006 in the Amazon rain forest area.
The statistics are astounding: in the 1990's, young people between 15 and 24 years old as victims of homicides jumped to 77% in Brazil. It's a very high number! We have been focusing on peace education and culture especially in churches and schools.
The workshops have included Bible stories as guidelines and contemporary liturgies offering a new hope to our youth.
The project was made possible thanks to CESE - Ecumenical Coordination for Service.
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