From Silence to Service

Students and their mentors on a day outing together

On August 12, we will celebrate International Youth Day. In Hong Kong there are limited places in universities and the cost for young people wanting to set up a home is prohibitive. Hope is what youth in Hong Kong need today, but how can we give it to them?

Since its inception in 2009, our Child Development Fund programme has served

1200 youth between the ages of 10 and 16, and in 2014 we extended the programme to include ethnic minorities.

Locating young people who need help is easy. Locating mentors - people who will encourage and build up the young - is not so easy. Yet this is an investment opportunity which can often reap great rewards in young lives.

In the case of Sally, whose parents disappeared, leaving her and her young brother to be raised by their grandmother, her mentor has been a life-saver. Mentors must make a three year commitment, and Sally’s mentor is now halfway through that period.  When Sally began participating in our Child Development Fund programme, she was a withdrawn loner. She did not want to discuss her parents or anything else. Today, her aim is to be a social worker. We asked Sally why, and her reply was, "Because I love talking!".

Sally's mentor, Theresa, is a third year medical student. Yet she has sacrificed precious time and is now seeing the joy and freedom she has helped bring into someone else's life. Christian Action social workers are amazed at the transformation in Sally.

Recruiting mentors has been our greatest struggle, as most Hong Kong people are reticent to make the three year commitment. Most people here are busy, overworked, and experience high stress levels on a daily basis, so committing to be a mentor is a big deal.  Yet some of our mentors have graciously mentored two teens.

On International Youth Day, would you please think and pray about whether you too can help change someone's life in this way?

Thank you!