Last week we visited a secondary school in a near-by city, as part of our schools work with LMI (http://www.lmi-org.net). During the session a young lad, about 16 years old, volunteered to take part in one of the activities planned in the programme. He seemed to be a really confident young guy with no obvious struggles, a bit of a joker in fact, so he was a good volunteer to come forward and get involved.
Throughout the session, this lad, along with the other pupils, listened intently to the topic of wealth and riches and how many people eagerly pursue them longing to find fulfilment and complete happiness. We then presented an alternative source of ultimate happiness, to rival the pursuit of materials and possessions - having a relationship with God.
The view we shared is in contrast to the mantra of the world that is force-fed by the marketing man from multi-national global super brands on TV, in magazines, online et al.
As we shared the view that the greatest satisfaction in life is found in knowing God and not in the pursuit of possessions or the more and more materials we come to own (there is of course nothing wrong with enjoying possessions, just so long as they don’t become little gods battling for unrivalled position in our hearts – that honour, we feel, is for Jesus Christ alone) the pupils eagerly followed all that was said.
As the session came to a close, the plucky young guy who had volunteered earlier on raised his hand to ask a question:
“Are there any places, or clubs, or something that does this sort of thing round here?”
For this young man to raise his head above the crowd and ask such a question, which clearly highlighted his interest in the things that had been said, was really quite something. For him to speak up and single himself out amongst his classmates is a big thing to do, especially in his world of peer pressure, teenage angst and heightened image awareness. Maybe he’d grown weary of the materialistic montage his young mind gets bombarded with day in day out, who knows?
Thrilled to receive such a question, we answered by telling the class about the local events we knew of and followed this enquiry up later on by sending further information on to the teacher in an email once we were back in the office. We’re also in the middle of making arrangements for a local youth worker to come with us into the school to tell the students exactly what venues and clubs are operating in their city (very exciting)!
It was only after the pupils had left at the end of the session, when we were alone with the teacher in the classroom, that the full implications of this young lad’s question became apparent. His teacher went on to explain the situation to us; this young man was on report, with a possible exclusion from school looming, he has a history of disruptive behaviour in class and has been aggressive to the staff.
He clearly has some serious issues happening under the surface that we would never have known about, based on our short time with him. Finding this out gave new significance to his interest in the things that had been said. We have no idea about his background, what his home life is like or the specifics of the situation he is in….but Jesus does, and He used an RE class to reach out to this young lad.
It just goes to show that there must be people, young and old, all around us who are carrying baggage, issues, problems and difficulties; often hidden from view, sometimes boiling away under the surface, like the unseen lava of a volcano poised to erupt at any moment.
What an honour it is for those of us who get to visit schools to take part in assemblies, RE lessons and the like, who knows what things are happening in the lives of the young people we meet? Who knows how God might use these moments to encourage, help and inspire young lives?
Maybe you get tired of doing the work and seeing little visible results, maybe you need some encouragement? Keep going! The secret struggles and hidden trauma that lies beneath the surface of young lives in classrooms and assembly halls throughout the land needs to be addressed by Christ’s followers with messages of hope and love, whether we know that’s what’s taking place or not.
We return to the same school again next week, to take another RE class with the same group. Please pray for this young man in particular…there are definitely things happening under the surface.
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