A young woman shares her adventure of helping start a youth group
An opportunity arose over a year ago to give of myself by working with the youth of my parish. I was hesitant at first, but I felt deep in my heart that God was asking this of me.
The other leaders and I wanted God, the ultimate teacher, to be our only guide. One day, with a particularly strong presence of Jesus among us, the vision and direction we needed to take became clear; as a result, we named our youth group “Connect.”
Our service for the teens was to create a space where we could dialogue and challenge them to live out their faith, to connect and start building relationships with these three aspects in their life: self, God and community. We thought we could offer them the foundation and tools to start this journey together.
As the year progressed, we started to see a transformation taking place. It came in small flashes of smiles, more participation in discussions, and sharing experiences in small groups about how they put the Gospel into practice.
Service projects are another area where the teens put into practice the essence of Connect. One project was to go to a local homeless shelter. In partnership with another parish, one morning we provided breakfast and hot chocolate. The teens used this as an opportunity to start a conversation with the person in front of them and be a witness of God’s love to everyone they met.
A lot of smiles, laughter and connections were shared that day. The most poignant moment was when a group of teens gathered around a lady named Ruth (name changed) and listened attentively as she shared her story. There the teens beautifully displayed kindness and brought Ruth’s rich human dignity to the fore.
Connect is not just a group that meets once a week. It’s a way of life that encourages teens to step out and put their faith into action.
It has also challenged me as a leader to do the same. Since my initial “yes” to start Connect, I have encountered many moments to empty myself in order to listen to the teens, or to overcome my uneasiness of talking in larger settings.
Someone told me: it is perfectly okay to not have the abilities that my neighbor does. That’s the beauty of each of us — we are different but can contribute to the collective. This is what helped me to start with small acts of love to share my experiences, which grew over time to give more of myself. In this way, I’m learning to make space for the Holy Spirit to act through me.
Christina Zuniga, Corpus Christi, Texas
2020