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Thursday, 28 March 2024

Virtual Youth Ministry - 05/25/20

Credit: WCBI
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Virtual Youth Ministry - 05/25/20
Virtual Youth Ministry - 05/25/20

WCBI'S Eric Crosswhite spoke with Rev.

Andre' Hunt Sr., a local Youth Pastor about the challenges of leading youth during this pandemic and how he and other leaders are using technology to connect.

Children and teen ministries have had to adapt to the pandemic to continue reaching young people.// as local churches consider how and when to reopen their sanctuaries, youth groups are also evaluating ways to stay connected.

// i spoke with associate minister andre hunt from missionary union baptist church in columbus about it.

Eric crosswhite: andre, i know a lot of the work that you do is with younger people and it does seem like technology connects quicker with younger people, they seem to embrace a little bit better.

Has that made it easier for you in connecting with young people during these times?

Rev.

Andre hunt sr.: yeah, in a sense.

We've been trying to use different tools, different outlets, basically just give them a platform, give them a voice.

One big thing we've been using probably the past four weeks or so has been zoom.

And id a children's church.

We only have children's church on first sunday.

And then we decided that we wanted to do, basically, basically an open forum for them on wednesdays, which would serve as the place of their bible study.

So we've been doing that.

We looked at fear.

How to deal with fear.

Eric crosswhite: okay.

Rev.

Andre hunt sr.: last weekend.

What we're looking at this week is faith.

We're hashtagging faith 101.

Where's your faith?

So we're just using every outlet, every tool at our disposal to be able to reach them.

And they've really been gravitating towards it.

And we're just looking to just really use those tools that we have.

Eric crosswhite: you mentioned fear.

Are there other things maybe the young people are experiencing and going through with this that you've had to address or felt like you needed to address?

Rev.

Andre hunt sr.: oh, well really when you deal with fear you deal with a lot of road issues, anxiety, worry, panic.

And although they may not actually verbalize it, or they may not say it, that's the reason for giving them the platform on wednesdays where there's no judgment.

There's no worrying about, "if i say this there's some repercussions behind it."

We want to be able to have them basically a safe zone.

And those are a lot of different things that you deal with that branch off of fear, so.

Eric crosswhite: now, even though kids and teens seem to be a little bit more comfortable with technology, do you still feel like the teens that you're interacting with want to come back and have more in person services?

Want to get back to that interpersonal connection?

Rev.

Andre hunt sr.: yeah.

Because they just enjoy it because here at mu we always say, "we're not just a church, we're a family."

So that's been the one big thing that we've missed is just having them, because i look at all of those kids that i work with as my family.

I have a son, but i look at all of those others as my own as well.

And we have a lot of younger kids.

So their parents have been very good at getting them connected with us, but some of the activities that we normally would do in person, we have to go back to the drawing board, so to speak, and do those things in a way virtually.

But yeah, i think they do miss being with us just as much as we miss being with them.

Eric crosswhite: are you proud of how they've handled all this?

Because i mean, it's a scary ordeal for anybody.

I can only imagine younger people as well.

Rev.

Andre hunt sr.: very proud.

I was a little nervous the first couple of times that we got on zoom.

Our first sunday service went very well.

So we tried last wednesday, and i was very impressed with them.

It's just with kids it's just about being able to have them be comfortable so they're willing to talk and interact with you.

And like i said, with a lot of them being younger, they're not used to being in that setting, and.

But it's been a good thing because they've had to do it with school as well.

So i've been very proud of them.

Eric crosswhite: any last words of encouragement for young people out there or maybe parents as well?

Rev.

Andre hunt sr.: well, for kids i would just say, continue to just walk by faith.

Those that have grown up in the church, and even those that are not, the outside the walls, continue to just know that we will make it through this.

For we know that trouble doesn't last always.

And for those parents, continue to encourage your kids.

Continue to talk with them daily.

See what's on their minds, see how they're feeling, see how they're doing, because a lot of times kids will have things that are going on and if you don't ask them, they're not going to tell you.

Last week, governor reeves' office released recommendations for mississippi churches considering reopening.

For more information, visit our website, w-c-b-i dot com //

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