CHOSEN Leadership Event
It was 4:30am and 15 bleary eyed teenagers stumbled into the kitchen at Advent Park for breakfast. The bus left at 5am and drove for the next 13hrs to Wiluna. As the clock became more friendly, three more groups drove away. Seventy five teenagers, with adult support, went to Wiluna, Meekatharra, Cue and Mullewa with ‘service’ on their mind.
Their mission was to SERVE. This looked like running a kids club - complete with clowns, balloons, games, crafts and most importantly ‘Stories from the Bible’. These stories came in the form of cartoons, retelling by teenagers, and acting out the stories so they came alive. There were soldiers, trumpet blowers, kings, peasants, lions and one even got swallowed by a very large fish.
Afternoons were spent in hands-on service in the community. They were involved in cleaning, gardening, sanding and painting, cooking and serving at community BBQs and so much more. If you’re tempted to think that teenagers don’t know how to work, think again.
The teenagers from WA have once again made us proud. A huge thank you goes out to all of the families and other volunteers that helped make StormCo fantastic. The Australian Union Conference (AUC) run a leadership training event called ‘CHOSEN’ every two years. We were able to send eight teenagers to Queensland for this event in July. These teens are nominated and financially supported by their local churches. Our churches have so many young people with amazing leadership potential!
The teens and their mentors travelled through airport drama during the first week in July and landed in Brisbane safely. Travelling amidst the drama is a fitting metaphor for the week of training. The world in 2023 is full of troubles and negativity. At CHOSEN, they spoke about how to navigate through life and how to lead others in a positive way. Our young people returned with comments like:
“I’d love to go back and just be with those people - everyone was just so easy to get along with.”
“It opened my eyes to opportunities to lead that I didn’t even recognise. They’re right in front of me.”
“I had a great time and I learnt a lot”.
I challenge our older people to look around your local church. Notice the teenagers, see their potential and find a way to speak positivity into their lives. Teenagers love God as much as you do. Let them learn from your wealth of experiences.
