What do you think is his favorite time of the week?
In a Facebook post, Fred mentioned how blessed he was to be involved with the youth ministry. His text was inspiring and we wanted to ask him a few questions. Fred was the coordinator of Mouvement Jeunesse during the summer of 2019.
In our culture of individualistic atheists, my favorite moment of the week is to teach the Church’s youth group about my God’s greatness. This picture represents the joy of my involvement. I learn to be more and more in love with God and people, to be happy when everything is going well as much as when things are not working as I would like, to be at peace when I cannot control the choices of others, to be patient when I want to go faster, to be good even when I or others do not deserve it, to be gracious in my listening, to have faith when I lack it, to be gentle when I want to be harsh, to be persistent when I work on my weaknesses and to control myself when I lack wisdom. I love my Church and I love being with this youth group that teaches me more than I teach them. A huge thank you to God for this joy ?❤ – at Église Évangélique d’Aujourd’hui.
Why are you involved in the youth group?
Often, we forget the reasons that lead us to get involved in ministry, so I like this question. I am involved because I really want to see the next generation rise up to witness a spiritual awakening in Québec. I am enrolled in the Youth and Adult Correctional Intervention program in CEGEP as well as studying theology at SEMBEQ with the sole purpose of being a missionary pastor here in Québec. I really have a heart for youth; hence my involvement with the youth of my Church, with a high school indoor soccer team and with the Mouvement Jeunesse summer project. In short, I am involved because I love God and he has put on me a burden for young people, but above all on the mission in Québec. I can therefore say that participating in the advancement of God’s Kingdom through the youth of my local Church and it gives me great joy and really prepares me for a larger, pastoral ministry.
What do you think of the idea that “giving is receiving”? In other words, what does it mean for you to get involved with young people? How does being around them help you to evolve as well?
The truth is that God, in his love for us, gave us so much by giving Christ, that the only thing I want to do is give back. In reality, my involvement with youth does not come with a desire to give so that young people will give me something back. I would honestly be disappointed. Sometimes I do think that was and I am disappointed, of course. When I invest time and money in the lives of every teenager and young adult in my Church, it is really just the fruit of the Gospel that I believe and want to live.
"When I invest time and money in the lives of every teenager and young adult in my Church, it is really just the fruit of the Gospel that I believe and want to live."
So when I spend time preparing my teaching, asking a pastor for advice on a situation, attending a winter teen camp, playing games, being present faithfully every Friday evening, praying for the youth of our Church, I can say that God works in me the fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22. God knows I have many shortcomings, but through this ministry, he is using the young people he has sovereignly placed in Bécancour to educate me and train me for his work.
In your opinion, what should motivate someone who is involved with youth?
In my opinion, the main motivation of a person who wants to get involved in youth is their desire to serve God in the local Church and to want to live the mission which was entrusted to the apostles and then to the Church. This mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
"Whether you want to get involved as a youth leader, a young adults group leader, a camp counselor or in any other position, you must want to be and live as a disciple of Jesus Christ."
We must also pray that young people will do better than us. I am 22 years old and the only thing I want for these teenagers is to become better disciples as young adults than I ever will be. It is from the local Church that disciples of Christ are trained. The youth ministry of a local Church is important because teenagers long to see people who have authentic faith get involved in their lives. They need to see how to be disciples of Christ through the example of someone older who shows them all that God has instructed. That’s what Matthieu Gauthier and others did for me. This is what I am doing now and I pray that others will do it out of love for God.