To: Territorial Youth and Children S Leaders
To: Territorial Youth and Children’s Leaders
Dear Colleagues
Youth and Children’s Weekend: 24 to 26 March 2017
As part of The Whole World Mobilising campaign in 2017 there will be a particular focus on Youth and Children on the weekend of Friday 24 to Sunday 26 March. It is being held over the weekend of the Sunday usually designated as the ‘International Day of Prayer for Children’ (the date for this has been previously set by the Office of The General as being Sunday 26 March 2017). Please note that, for this year only, we will not be using the specific ‘International Day of Prayer for Children’ title at all as the two events (ie. The International Day of Prayer for Children and the Youth and Children’s weekend for The Whole World Mobilising) will morph into one event. We will revert to the usual designation of ‘International Day of Prayer for Children’ in 2018.
The thinking behind The Whole World Mobilising campaign is that, while IHQ is offering a broad framework for the weekend, we would want to encourage local corps, divisions, regions, commands and territories to shape the specific content of the weekend for themselves so that it is relevant and accessible for youthand childrenwherever they are in the world.
The broad framework for the weekend is shown below.
Friday 24 March: Prayer:
Virtual prayer meetings via social media.
Physical prayer meetings in corps buildings, homes and other venues.
Saturday 25 March: Community engagement and social action:
Opportunities for corps and other Salvation Army expressions to be active and visible in their local communities. One of the goals of The Whole World Mobilising campaign is to encourage and equip youth and childrento participate in mission in their community: while we recognise mission is much more than an event it would be a powerful witness to see youth and children, and others engaging in some kind of service in their community on the same day in villages, towns and cities around the world.
Sunday 26 March: Worship and celebration:
Main meeting led by youth and children: with youth and children leading worship, prayer times, preaching, testifying, marching etc.
Opportunity for every corps to hear the dreams of youth and children in their corps: as our General has shared his dream for the Army (see below), we’re encouraging all Territories to make sure that Sunday 26 March includes opportunities for youth and children to share their ‘dreams’ for The Salvation Army. Some of our youth and children have already had experiences and encounters of dreams, visions and words of prophecy: hopefully we can journey together with them on this as we seek to be obedient to all that God has in mind for us.
General André Cox’s Dream:
I dream of a committed, effective and joyful Army, rooted and confident in the word of God and on its knees.I dream of an Army that truly reflects the mind of Jesus in our commitment to the poor and the marginalised. I dream of an Army that practices what it preaches from the top leadership down, an Army that is a visible and living example of Kingdom values. I dream of an Army that values its youth where our young people feel that they have a voice. I dream of an Army with strong relevant and streamlined administrative structures and a much more effective use of our financial and material resources. I dream of an Army where all cultures are equally accepted and celebrated through the spiritual ties that bind us all together. I dream of an Army that shuns the dependency culture.
Work is underway to develop a website for The Whole World Mobilising and more information will be sent out on this as soon as it is available.
Majors Roy and Paula Wild (USA Western Territory) and their International Youth & Children planning team are kindly working on some resources for the weekend and we will send these to you no later than 30 November 2016.
Thanking God for you all and praying for his blessing and guidance as we continue to work to support and encourage our youth and children all across our international Salvation Army.
Every blessing,
Janet
Major Janet Robson
Youth and Children’s Officer, International Headquarters