CHRISTIAN YOUTHS AND DIGNITY IN SERVICE

The Anglican youths of St. Philips Efut Parish in Calabar South of Cross River State Nigeria had her youth seminar which is tagged “Christian youths and dignity in service” on Saturday the 1^st of March, 2008 and WYAA Cross River state chapter was invited to do an introduction of WYA.

The introductory session started with an overall explanation of the ideas that animate WYA. These include how WYA came to be and the significance of its formation in relation to the many challenging issues that threaten the dignity of the person, reading of the WYA charter to the youths and encouraging them to give it effect in whatever field they are working vis-à-vis sharing the ideas embedded in the declaration on responsible stewardship and the declaration on dignity of the human person. The youths were admonished to recognize their dignity with view to their talents and put same in service for the common good of society.

Basing his deductions from the idea of freedom by St. Thomas Aquinas and that of Nelson Mandela, the facilitator encouraged the youths to seek first to know, because they cannot give what they do not have. However, a fulfilled person is that person who places his service to his/her immediate community with love and respect for constituted authority. These the youths were told is freedom rightly lived. WYA, he noted, is a voice for all young people but without their thoughts and their actions shaped in accordance with what leads to the ultimate good of society, that which she (WYA) seek to accomplish will not be complete and so they were encouraged to enroll for our training programmes in other to have an in-depth understanding of their human person and how well they can relate with others in the society.

Reaction from the few youths was enormous as most of them were moved by the story of the solidarity decade, what they stood for and how in many ways we still need to continue from where it stopped given the challenging situations of our time. In recognition to the above, the youths pledged to lead a truthful and exemplary life as they are the leaders of today for tomorrow. Most of them signed the charter read to them and complained of not being able to use the computer system, however some indicated interest in Track A training.

The facilitator welcomed all those who signed the charter and charged them to go start something and be the change they want to see in their immediate society and with that have an indirect impact on the change we want in our world.