Jacklyn Rondini
Volunteer Youth Leader
New Horizons Baptist Church
(This is an email interview with Jacklyn and Alvin on May 20, 2020.)
What’s changed in your youth since March break?
I’ve noticed a deeper desire for youth to commit to reading the Bible and understand scripture. Desire to have Bible Study and an inner desire has increased.
What successes have you experienced? What struggles?
Definitely a major success is having the youth askIng to have Bible study and asking about what different tools they can access to learn more about God. I’ve been able to have great gains in this area. One of the games we’ve been doing through zoom is Sword Bible Search which allows them practice finding passages faster.
Some of the struggles has been that about half don’t have access to a smartphone or zoom and so we have little communication with them.
Another struggle for me personally is with the three little ones finding time set apart to meet their needs on a group or individual basis.
How has your time in different parts of your changed? Stayed the same?
Youth Group has shifted from worship + Bible Study and games to mainly Bible Competition and Bible Study. I have noticed a greater desire to learn more about the Bible than ever before. I’ve been grabbing of this.
What’s 1 specific thing you’ve learned during pandemic?
One thing we’ve all learned is that no matter what happens God is sitting on His throne and He is in control of it all. We need to do our part and hang in there during this difficult time.
Yesterday our Bible study was focused on loving God with all of our heart (emotions), soul (inner part), mind (knowledge) and strength (difficult seasons). We are living the loving God with our strength part of it all. Loving God even when it is really hard and things don’t make sense. The second part of our study we learned about loving God through loving our neighbours and our neighbours specifically being those directly in our household. Our siblings, parents, grandparents who live with us. I encouraged them to treat them without degrading, bullying, being offensive but by being kind, being helpful, encouraging and supporting.
And for me, I’ve learned that we can really live by Philippians 4:13. I leaned that I could do ministry and pull my weight because the youth needed me. I had decided at the beginning of the pandemic that I couldn’t manage youth ministry but God changed my hearts.
What’s a word of encouragement for others reading?
I would like to encourage youth leaders who are reading to reach out to youth, specially focus on Bible Studies. This is a very vulnerable time and youth are vulnerable and many craving getting closer to God for various reasons (breakups, abuse within the house, loneliness and depression).
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