Our Secondary school assembly this half-term focuses on the issue of stress in young people. We're kicking off this week by presenting it 14 times to three schools and will follow it up with a further six assemblies to two other schools over the next fortnight...around 6,000 students in all.
We acknowledge how so many taglines these days focus on 'taking life to the edge', 'stretching our limits' and to 'know no boundaries'. While this is great if we're snowboarding or wanting to perfect a new trick on a skateboard, the reality is it's a dangerous way to live our everyday lives; If we act in such a way that we take on so many burdens to put us on the edge of breaking point, the next mini-drama may well take us beyond it...not good!
So, the assembly guides our listeners through a series of suggestions on how to reduce the mini-dramas in life in order that there is more coping room when things take a turn.
We also share how Christians actively seek counsel in other Christians, we pray for guidance and of course truly believe God is with us at all times. And to wrap up we encourage the students, whether from a different faith or none, to find someone they can turn to when things get tough.
At the time of writing, we have only presented it three times; already, we have had positive feedback from a Year 8 student who relayed the message to another worker, and a Year 10 student asked us to confirm details for The Samaritans which we suggested as an avenue if one felt they had nobody to turn to to share their burdens.
We thank God for helping us communicate the message clearly, for a further opportunity to share the Good news of Jesus by way of life application to another 6,000 young people. Please
pray for the continued positive impact of this assembly over the coming weeks.