African youth raise their voice

Kabelo Matthews Ruda

There is an increasingly negative view of young people in southern Africa, both in the church and society. Hence the youth ministry generally operates in a hostile environment. However, young people are a valuable resource and can play a positive role in the life of the church and society if only they are allowed to. In this article, I will focus on the role the church can play in "breaking the chains of injustice" that cruelly trap young people and deny them life in fullness. This is for two reasons.

First, I strongly believe that the church is well positioned to minister to young people both in the church and in society. The voice of the church in southern Africa is still respected by many people, even those who do not belong to the church. This places the church in a strategic position to influence society positively to change its attitude towards young people.

But secondly, if the church is to succeed in increasing the profile of young people in society, it must start by destroying the walls of injustice within the church that suck life and hope from young people. The church will have to take the first step to transform the hostile environment in the church in which young people operate into optimum conditions that will enable them - especially young women - to maximize their potential, be the best they can be and freely play a meaningful role in the life of the church, both today and tomorrow.

We strongly feel that at the rate at which things continue to go from bad to worse, there may not be any tomorrow where all people, particularly young people, will have a precious opportunity to enjoy life in fullness. We may only inherit a situation of chaos, despair, pain, suffering and life characterized by injustice. Hence, the need for the church to create optimum conditions for all its stakeholders (children, youth, women and men) to play a meaningful role.

Think of how African women usually care for where they live. They normally start by thoroughly cleaning their yards or houses before they proceed to sweep clean their surroundings. This is what I am convinced the church should do. To start by putting their own house in order hence facilitating the process of influencing society to have a positive attitude towards young people.

A church environment hostile to youth

Allow me to share with you a few examples of why I strongly feel that young people operate within a hostile environment.

Recently, the All Africa Conference of Churches youth desk organized a Southern Africa sub-regional consultation in Zimbabwe with the theme, "Come now, let us reason and rebuild together." Sadly, the leaders of one church "banned" its young people from taking part on the flimsy grounds that the youth did not "listen" to them.

This is the same church leadership that not so long ago stood on a mountain top and rightly criticized Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, for frustrating, manipulating and denying young people their fundamental right to vote.

What if President Mugabe throws the issue back to the church and says that he did it because young people did not "listen" to him when he asked them to vote for him?

And what action did the Zimbabwe Council of Churches take against the church that barred its young people from taking part in a youth consultation? I will not be surprised if the errant church is not taken to task.

It is worth noting that this "listening" often suggests that young people accept everything that the leadership demands, irrespective of whether that will enhance or violate the precious lives of young people.

In my own church, the Dutch Reformed Church in Botswana, our leaders did the unthinkable. They elected an elderly minister who was already due for pension to chair the synodical youth committee, without consulting young people. This committee is our highest decision-making body on youth matters. To make matters worse, the committee was spilling over with non-youth members, which left very little room for young people in the committee! How can youth representatives serve as coopted members in a youth committee that is largely made up of people who have long ago lost track of youth issues? Do we still call it a youth committee? And whose interest does it serve? Why should the church expect young people to freely elect their political leaders when they cannot choose their own youth leaders in the church?

It is worth noting that the synodical youth committee often took decisions that were not in the interests of young people. An appropriate example is when it unilaterally formulated a youth policy without consulting young people. We protested. But the church leadership ignored us and adopted the youth policy. It has since gathered dust.

I recently met a young person from South Africa, who shared with me that the leadership of the church has a tendency to send old people to youth consultations when the invitation letters clearly invite young people. It has now got to the point where young people feel forced to resolve that all old people who attend youth consultations "on behalf of young people" act only as observers. The church leadership does not have any respect for young people and it must be told so fearlessly!

Life-threatening challenges in society

Having made a brief situational analysis, I would like to state clearly that the youth ministry in Southern Africa is decontextualized, out of context, since it fails dismally to engage head-on the life-threatening challenges that confront young people, such as economic injustice, HIV/Aids and lack of peace.

The unjust economic systems of the day, coupled with our greedy and insensitive leaders, exclude many young people from actively participating in the economy - the source of livelihood.

The architects of globalization claim that it will open the economic doors for everyone to participate freely in the economy, but the opposite is true. It is heartbreaking to note that in Southern Africa the economy has become an inclusive privilege for the few rich and powerful, while the vast majority of the people (children, youth, women and men ) are excluded from participation.

I deliberately include men among the people who may be victims of economic injustice because the impression I usually get from people is that men in Southern Africa are always the perpetrators and never the victims of socio-economic injustice, while youth and women are usually portrayed as victims. But the situation on the ground suggests otherwise. As I walk through the streets of Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, I usually see rich men, women and youth, and I have heard many sad stories of how men, women and youth continue to inflict socio-economic injustice on poor people of all ages and genders.

As if that is not enough, the job market continues to shrink, while many of those who are "lucky" to land a job usually work for very long hours and are paid slave wages. In Botswana, many unskilled workers, including young people, earn between P300 and P400 ($60 to $80) a month, far below the cost of living. On average, an unskilled worker's monthly salary is approximately equivalent to a Member of Parliament's daily sitting allowance! The introduction of a 10% value added tax has been a devastating blow to the poorly paid workers.

While some governments in the South African Development Community (SADC) have designed schemes to finance small to medium scale businesses, in the case of Botswana the documents are usually worded in such a way that many people, including young people, will not understand them. Hence, they are once again excluded from participating in the economy, while the rich and the powerful benefit from such schemes.

The "entrance signs" displayed on the economic doors suggesting that everyone, including young people, can freely participate in the economy are cruel and misleading. The reality is that the economic doors are locked for the vast majority of the people, who are then pushed further into abject poverty, while the economic key is given to a few who help themselves to other people's share of the economic cake. For indeed, God has created enough for everyone's need and not enough for everyone's greed.

As a result of economic injustice, many young girls have been forced to turn to prostitution and compromise their health in an attempt to place food on the table. And when selfish men offer them extra money for not using condoms, they oblige and in the process they run the risk of contracting HIV/Aids.

These young girls usually have boyfriends of their own age, and those who get infected run the risk of passing on the cruel virus to their partners. Hence young people who are supposed to be an Aids-free generation are hard-hit by the HIV/Aids pandemic. There is a great challenge of halting or reversing the rising incidence of HIV/Aids if our societies are to advance in the next twenty years and beyond.

According to the Prisons Department in Botswana, young people constitute the vast majority of the prison population. Frustration has driven many young men into the path of crime, drugs and violence. In some neighbouring countries young people are often placed in the firing lines, fighting wars of injustice for selfish leaders who want to cling to power.

A case in point is when frustrated young people were used for purposes of violence during the Zimbabwe presidential elections. Hence many young people lost their lives while the children of the rich and selfish leaders were safe at their homes. Indeed Africa's bloody history is littered with horror stories of innocent young people forced by life-threatening poverty and hunger into fighting unjust wars.

As a result of failing to address the challenges facing young people, the youth ministry has become irrelevant to many of them. Many became frustrated and left the church, while the vast majority of young people who are still in the church have lost their vision. This places the youth ministry at a crossroads.

The time has come to put the youth ministry into context. Otherwise we risk losing many more young people, with no chance of winning back those who have already left. And failure to act now will result in untold miseries.

Despite the dark environment of hopelessness in which we find ourselves trapped, we young people still have hope. Encouraged by the gospel of Jesus Christ, which clearly indicates that "in times of crisis God uses young people", we are positive that God will continue to journey with the youth ministry in Southern Africa and that he will miraculously inspire us in our struggle to usher in a culture of peace, justice, tolerance and non-violence so that all may enjoy life in fullness.

Conclusion

At this point it is only fair that I offer a few solutions aimed at reviving the youth ministry. However, I must emphasize that these are my personal views and may not reflect the views of other young people.

1. There is a pressing need to embark on a comprehensive audit of the state and context of the youth ministry in Southern Africa. This will provide us with a priceless opportunity to pause and interrogate the relevance of our ministry with a view to transforming it into a refreshing oasis in the desert for many young people who are at the point of dying of thirst for the water of life. I am confident that the affected churches, together with SAARC and WARC and other partners, can find ways of securing the needed funds, with young people involved at every step on the way.
2. I strongly believe that the above-mentioned will facilitate the process of coming up with a common Reformed youth vision in Southern Africa which will guide us in the next few years and form a rallying point around which all Reformed youth can form a vibrant, growing and united community that witnesses to the good news and mission of Christ.
3. Finally there is an urgent need to design and embark on youth empowerment initiatives that will equip young people with the necessary resources to wage a non-violent war on our challenges.

In conclusion I would challenge all young people in Southern Africa to stand up and play a meaningful role in the struggle to break the chains of injustice and usher in life in fullness, as freely and graciously given by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Furthermore, I would like to challenge the church as a whole to fellowship and journey with us, and us with them. For where there is unity of purpose, a sense of collective responsibility and undivided cooperation, success and excellence are inevitable.