Global Youth Summit

“Anybody can count the number of seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed.”

With this image, Ronald Lizwe Moyo, member of the Global Youth Summit committee, welcomed delegates and participants to the first-ever Global Youth Summit (GYS) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. On August 7–10, over 220 young people from 28 countries gathered in Bulawayo to discuss the challenges facing Christian youth today.

Dreams of organizing a Global Youth Summit began several years ago when Mennonite World Conference saw the need to explore and share the gifts and insights of young Anabaptists from around the globe. A five-member committee with a representative from each of the continental regions set out a three-phase plan.

During their three days together, participants talked and listened, prayed, worshiped and played together. Each continental group led in worship and continental caucus groups met daily to discuss results of a survey taken to determine concerns and challenges faced by youth worldwide. (Over 1,500 surveys were completed globally.)

It was fascinating to see some common themes emerge as continental representatives reported on their discussion. These included employment/unemployment issues, violence, pluralism, education, traditionalism in worship, and youth feeling their voices are not heard or taken seriously in the church.

Five delegates were selected to present the results of discussions to the MWC General Council.

A high level of energy and enthusiasm characterized the three days. The youth shared a sense of purpose, as well as a real anticipation that this event could bring about positive changes in the church and the world. Many new friendships were made and appreciation of belonging to a global church strengthened.

In the closing worship, Elina Ciptadi from Indonesia said she had dreamed since childhood of making the world a better place. For years, she kept her dream to herself, because she felt she was too little to accomplish such a lofty dream by herself. But she prayed, and asked God to use her. Now, as a delegate of the GYS, she was seeing her dream come true.

—Wendy Jansen