School Retreat Days

This year the Scripture Union School’s team Authentic Youth came to work with transition year students in the Sacred Heart Clonakilty, Midleton College and Ashton, spending a day with each group. The team of three were; Scott Evans (co-ordinator) Geraldine Walsdorf (from Germany) and Luke Carrig (from Dublin), both gap year interns.

The objective of these retreat days is not to provide instruction or knowledge. Authentic Youth recognise that young people are looking for purpose, meaning for life and understanding. Authentic engages with young people and challenges them mentally, emotionally and spiritually in their personal development through a range multi-sensory experiences and a holistic approach. They do not impose a set of beliefs or opinions but rather act as facilitators, engaging in discussion, empowering and equipping young people to independently make positive decisions about their lives.

Having travelled around with the group for three days, I found their witness as young Christians to other young people truly unique. They shared their stories and were unshockable! As a result this gave young people the opportunity to really engage with where they were at in their own journey of faith. In a picture drawn by each young person, they were asked to draw God, represented as a house. The young people were asked to draw themselves in relation to this house. Some were on the path, others knocking, others inside and others with their back turned…

Authentic engaged with each group at the place they were at, sensitively and with incredible discernment. In each school they were received extremely well, however it must be mentioned that in the Sacred Heart, the sixth year pupils wrote a petition wanting them to return especially for their year group!

Having a team like this come into schools in Cork enables the CDYC to be visible to the young people we endeavour to engage with in our youth ministry. We praise God for the doors he is opening in this regard and pray that our presence within schools will become more sure as we build relationships of trust.

                                                                                                                        C.S.