Mennonite Weekly Review

STRASBOURG, France — Building on the momentum from previous events and leaders, a new group aims to continue future involvement of youth and young adults in Mennonite World Conference.

The Mennonite World Conference Youth Task Force leaps into high gear. From left are Melani Susanti, Carlos Alvarez Woo, Ayub Omondi Awich, Marc Pasqués and Kristina Toews. — Photo provided by MWC

MWC’s Youth Task Force, with representatives from five continental regions, met for the first time Feb. 22-28.

The task force is the continuation of AMIGOS, the MWC youth committee that worked from 2004 to 2009. Its short-term mandate is to formulate the vision, focus, structure and programs for global youth and young adults, based on feedback gathered during the Global Youth Summit in Paraguay in July and the six years of experience with AMIGOS.

At the MWC assembly that followed the youth summit, the MWC Executive Committee members affirmed forming and hiring staff for the task force.

“This was, in fact, the new MWC Executive Committee’s first decision, an encouraging sign that executive members see connecting with youth as a high priority,” said Elina Ciptadi-Perkins, former AMIGOS chair who is now staff person for the Youth Task Force.

The group’s five members are Carlos Alvarez Woo of Colombia, Ayub Omondi Awich of Kenya, Melani Susanti of Indonesia, Kristina Toews of Canada and Marc Pasqués of Spain. All were delegates to the Global Youth Summit.

“During AMIGOS’ six-year tenure, the strong desire in MWC to listen to and to involve young people in church leadership and decision-making was very encouraging,” said Larry Miller, MWC general secretary. “At the same time, there was increased eagerness from young people to be more connected both with their peers around the world and with churches everywhere. Transforming this momentum into a sustainable movement is a top priority for MWC.”

This team will present a first draft of a proposal on its plans for youth and young adult involvement to the Executive Committee in July in Ethiopia. The members will then receive feedback from young Anabaptists worldwide and revise the proposal before presenting a final version in 2011.