Ask a young Filipino if he knows someone with a mom or dad abroad and he will tell you a handful of his friends who do. Or his parents might be the ones abroad.
Around 11 million Filipinos are working abroad. This represents around 11%, of the total population of the Philippines, which is now at 89 million.
That’s a lot of people!
Let’s hit on a rather unorthodox and uncomfortable topic. Do you think the church is still relevant to the lives of young people in this generation? I admit there are times that I would rather connect to the internet than go to church.
I would rather read a novel or an inspirational nonfiction than listen to a looong sermon that does not speak to me. Yeah, I know I’m guilty of sometimes wanting to establish a Bedside church. You know, you just worship on the side of your bed. Read more…
Teen pregnancies seem to be becoming prevalent in our society. I’ve been to a number of youth camps and youth training institutes. I usually get invited to speak about the situation of young people in the Philippines and how we should deal with youth.
Teenage pregnancy comes up almost always. It’s a pressing issue, don’t you think?
Let’s forget for a minute about the right attitude towards sexuality and deal with the experiences of our friends, relatives, the friends of our friends, and our schoolmates.
Do you know a teenager who got pregnant out of wedlock?
When I ask this question in youth camps, almost all hands come up. Without having to use statistics and numerical values, we recognize that teen pregnancy is indeed a problem in our society. Our population is now running at 90 million. With teenagers becoming sexually active, we cannot hope to reduce our country’s rate of population growth.
Last Saturday, I encountered an interesting article entitled “Teen pregnancies in the Philippines” from the Philippine Daily Inquirer. This article was written by Dr. Rebecca B. Singson, a strong advocate of female reproductive and women’s health issues.
Some organizations claim that they are youth-driven, but led by adults. There are some organizations though that are “for youth, by youth, and with youth”. When young people are given leadership positions and they are empowered and supported, they can bring out their creativity and youthful idealism in fulfilling the role of the leader. Young people in leadership can offer several benefits to the organization.
For one, youth leaders know how to deal with other young people who belong to their generation. Since they belong to their generation, they know the language of young people, the likes, dislikes, and interests of other young people. This is very important in the context of youth ministry. Youth leaders can engage other young people more easily. If the organization’s thrust is mobilizing young people and enabling them to reach out to others, having a youth leader will definitely help achieve such thrust.
Youth leaders have the energy, the humor, and the spirit to achieve goals. As long as these young people believe in what they are doing, they can give 100% of their attention and their time. They are passionate, dedicated, and willing to sacrifice their time just to achieve their avowed goals. Since youth also have fewer responsibilities in life like buying tons of baby milk and diapers, they can devote more time for the organization or ministry they have chosen.
Uhm… well, there are teenagers and young people who are on the hurry to add up their responsibilities in life in exchange of a one night stand. But that’s an altogether different topic that deserves a separate post.
Photo above courtesy of 3Rock Youth.
I’ve been thinking about the starting point in writing about youth leadership. Should I talk about the issues and concerns of the young people and take it from there? Should it be about organizations and implementing activities and programs? Statistics and cross-section of young people?
There are a number of possibilities really. But which should be the starting point for starting a meaningful discussion on youth leadership?
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