From the 15th - 17th March forty Methodist youth workers came together in Rugby for the annual youth workers conference.  The theme of global youth work was explored.  We were fortunate enough to have a visitor George Allen the youth work co-ordinator for the Gambia Methodist Church, who was able to share experiences with us.

Paul Adams from the Development Education Association spoke on social exclusion and citizenship in a global society.  He led a challenging debate on the ethics of young people campaigning, raising dilemas such as encouraging but being responsible for young people taking part in public demonstrations.

The second day commenced with Chandu Christian a former principle of the YMCA George Williams College talking about his experiences of youth work in Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Liberia.  Chandu was inspiring and laid down many challenges.  He encouraged us to think about Methodist values and to identify what is distinctive about Methodist global youth work.  As a group we discussed that if God breathes the breath of life into people, how can we also believe that people can be powerless.

During the conference there were also workshops on football and anti racist work, managing change, safeguarding, gender inequality and HIV/AIDS work.  Throughout there were times of devotions led by Jona Sewell.  As per usual the conference was a great oportunity for networking and the sharing of ideas and experiences.

For information on future conferences contact Steve Cheal at MAYC, email youthwork@mayc.info