Nairobi, 27th August to 1st September 2012
The Regional workshop on Marist Youth Ministry (MYM) for Africa and Madagascar was held in Nairobi, Subiaco Centre, from 27th August to 1st September 2012. The meeting brought together 18 youth leaders from the five Administrative Units of Africa and Madagascar.
The meeting was aimed at bringing together youth leaders in the region to study the document, ‘Evangelizers in the Midst of Youth’, and make proposals for its application and implementation at the provincial and district levels. This was done by presentation and indept study of each chapter of the document.
Apart from the study of the document there was a mutual enrichment of participants through presentations and sharing of youth ministry experiences in their Administrative Units. After listening to each other it became clear to participants that Africa is a privileged place for MYM with her teeming population of young people who are too hungry to pray.
The conclusion of the workshop ushered in the beginning of a long journey of implementing and reviewing of youth ministry activities in Africa and Madagascar. Listening to the speech of the Superior General Brother Emili Turu, to the participant (via video), the participants saw the immediate and obvious need to invigorate MYM in the continent and a successful implementation of the document as a must which cannot be done without the full support of the Conference of Superiors of Africa and Madagascar. At the end of the meeting a communiqué was written to the Superiors of Africa and Madagascar to this effect, requesting them to ensure that a follow-up workshop on the document, “Evangelizers in the Midst of Youth”, is organized in the Administrative Units of Africa and Madagascar.Each Administrative Unit is therefore invited to form a Provincial or District Marist Youth Commission to see to the implementation of the recommendations of the participants.
At the end of the meeting, the participants left the venue with hope that through sharing of experiences, aspirations and challenges via facebook they will remain connected and providing continued support to each other.