Youth Work
Supporting and seeking fullness of life for all Young People in Brentwood.
DRCC Youth is now in its third year of engagements! We have been massively blessed in our work and in our relationships with our community!
We set out originally, as a church, with the intention of sharing the love of God with local (unchurched) young people in a really tangible way, recognising that there although Brentwood is seen as an ‘affluent’ area, there is an ever-growing amount of need from pretty much every generation in our community.
By reaching out and engaging with our community in various different ways, we have found ourselves in a position of being able to walk with young people through adolescence and in some case, really difficult circumstances. This ‘position’ has afforded us many opportunities to advocate for young people, pray and speak into their lives, have an impact on outlook of life, perception of reality, self-worth, value, identity, resilience, expectations of relationships as well as supporting in some cases with addiction, sexual behaviours and Social Care.
We are currently funded £20000 this year towards salary by the Police Fire Crime Commissioner (PFCC) under what is called the Violence and Vulnerability Project. Ultimately the purpose of this funding is to facilitate work that supports young people at risk of exploitation and vulnerabilities from risky behaviours. Beyond salary, all our equipment and resources are supported by various other funding sources.
So how do we do this?
Well, we have different ways in which we engage local young people. These projects which I will explain are set up intentionally to create opportunities for young people to engage with multiple contexts.
The reason for this is so that young people are continually supported through their weeks. For example: a young person my access support through 1-2-1 youth work in school but through that we also be able to find consistency, care and belonging in one of our other projects either at a drop in or one our detached sessions.
[A group of arrows pointing to different directions Description automatically generated] This means that no one piece of work with a young person is a flash in the pan. There is constant engagement making sure that each young person is known and known well.
A Brief Breakdown of Projects
Why?
I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full.
John 10:10
It is our desire as Christians to see God’s kingdom come, we pray “your kingdom come, your will be done,” but do we actually mean it? For us at DRCC we have been given the privilege of walking with some of the most needing and hurting people and young people in our community. I believe that we have been tasked with helping them in tangible ways, sharing the love of God and the power of the Gospel as we go along, through the way in which we interact, love, care and support and pray for each individual regardless of their background.
The narrative of caring for the needy and advocating for those who cannot stand for themselves is throughout the Bible. We could look at Moses… to secure the Israelites’ freedom, he used his connection to Pharaoh to speak for the people. Or, Daniel, who spoke up on behalf of himself, his friends, and his faith when he and his friends were taken from their own people and delivered to a king and country they did not know. Esther, was willing to risk everything to save her people. “… I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).
By using her influence with the king to advocate for the Jews, she put her newly found status as queen, and even her own life, on the line. And it worked: King Ahasuerus heard Esther’s pleas. She and her people were saved. We looked at Proverbs (31:8-9) recently and we read “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” In the New Testament, Philippians 2:3-4 says “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. ”World Vision Advocacy write on their web page, “Our faith motivates us to speak up for others. When we begin to understand how much God loves us and those around us, we begin to understand why injustice is such a big deal in the Bible: Injustice keeps people from experiencing the fullness of life God wants for all of us!”
This is it, this is the reason why we, as a church support so many hurting people in our community. By helping with the physical and the practical we can open pathways to exploring God, we can provoke an interest, we can sow a seed and although we might not see that translate immediately to numbers on an Alpha Course or how many empty seats there are on a Sunday morning, that person has had the chance to experience the love of God through relationship and they have been prayed for either face to face or by our teams.
We stand in a beacon of hope within our community as ushers to His Kingdom.
What can you do?
You now know all that we are doing in terms of Youth Work and Community Support. You know the projects, you know the difficulties, you know a few of the young people.
I implore you to ask questions, PRAY for this work, be praying for its sustainability, be praying for opportunities to share the gospel with people, be praying for the wisdom needed to manage various situations, be praying for the people in our teams and for the people who are supported by our church.
Every Blessing
Aaron Watts
Youth and Community Pastor
aaron.drcc@outlook.com