STATE YOUTH GAMES

On Tuesday morning I woke up thinking, ‘WOW! What just happened?’, as do many others who participate in the bringing together of everything that makes SYG such a huge success.

Over the Queen’s birthday long weekend 2455 registered young people converged at Lardner Park, Warragul. That’s not even including all the cooks, helpers and spectators. Churches of Christ create their own little city for a weekend. John Gilmore, Director of Mission and Ministry, says it’s the largest single corporate event in Churches of Christ nationally.

60 of us were they representing ‘Knox United’. Yes that’s our new name. Even though we are largely made up of Knoxfield Church of Christ (we essentially bring it together for our team), we are also made up of leaders and youth from Foothills and Hills Church FTG.

For those who are interested in results, here’s a nap shot. Out of 65 churches Knox United came in at 23rd place which is pretty good since we are a smaller & younger team than last year and we did better than last year. Our Mixed A Netball team scored the most points for us coming in as runners up after losing by one goal in the grand final. Jake Baker won Knox United’s only trophy as champion of the men’s U18 Squash. There were 6 sports where we made finals. Our A women’s Aerobics team came 4th and our first A Men’s Aerobics team debuted in 3rd position.

So why do so many people punish themselves in freezing 0 degree temperatures for 3 days and nights? Is it the huge variety of sports they get to play? Is it the range of activities on offer at the ever growing on site ‘village’? Is it the food? Is it the gatherings around a camp fire? Well it’s all of these, but there’s one essential ingredient that makes all of these activities worth being a part of…people. And people develop community, and community develops a deep sense of connection with all people.

Unfortunately, like all great events, SYG only creates a temporary space for community 3 days of the year! Often for young people when they are involved with temporary, live in communities, they invest so much of themselves, and relationships develop so rapidly that when its all over they are left feeling vulnerable and disillusioned. This is my 18th year in a row of constant involvement in temporary communities of various sorts, I‘ve felt what many of them are feeling and it sucks, especially when you come back to the ‘real world’ and you can’t relate the experience to anyone.

So what do we as a church do with this? I would suggest that our response is not just the role of the ‘youth leader’ but of the entire church, to embrace and journey with these young people, as for some this was their first SYG. You may not know them and they may not know you, but that’s the way it was for some on the Friday of SYG. One of the positive reflections I’ve heard about Christian communities is that they are good at fostering community and relationships – when they want to – after all isn’t that what Jesus did? One of the tragedies of SYG in the past is that we don’t engage these young people again until next year, that’s one whole year away! And they’re never integrated into the life of the church.

You can change this by helping to foster community in various different creative ways. Think outside the Sunday morning gathering because it’s likely you won’t find many of them there to begin with, and you’ll find a way. For the record, 3 of our young people made decisions to follow Jesus by wanting to join a team on mission in Bangkok. They need to be embraced.

Shalom
Mark