Training on the method of the YCW
In September this year I was given a precious opportunity to attend the ICYCW Asia Leaders’ Meeting of training and exchange held in Butuan-City, Philippines.
As a part of the preparation, Korea YCW studied the situation of life of young people in our country in order to bring to the meeting young people’s concerns, worries and hopes to share with other YCWs in Asia. This included reflection on: Internet addiction, extremely expensive tuition at the University and obligatory military service for young men.
At the Asia Meeting I also heard from the other delegations about the life of young people in India, Philippines, Cambodia and Sri-Lanka. It was very interesting to realise that we all have common concerns like the critical youth unemployment, lack of conditions to have good free time, changes in human and family relationships and Internet addiction, and that all of us nurture hopes and desires to change some situations for the better.
The training on the method of the YCW included ‘See-Judge-Act’ and the ‘Action Campaign’. We reviewed the challenges our local groups face in doing the ‘Review of Life’ and made plans to improve. We also tried to finalise a concrete action that each YCW movement can try to organise for their country. This was a very great moment to feel solidarity through making a commitment in front of friends who walk the same path as I do.
I realised that the most important thing which made me feel proud of being a YCW leader is that we have a simple, practical and excellent method, See-Judge-Act, which enables young people not only to analyse and discuss about the situation, but also to be committed to an action made in the light of Gospel and to really transform society as well as our own personal life, with our own hands! All the time of training, a question that YCW members always have, ‘What would Jesus do?’ was filled in my head. I now wish to share this experience with the other members of my movement.
As for me and my movement now, I am practising little by little recording the daily events on the YCW leaders’ notebook which I realised it is important. Last 3 years my movement’s priority was still to strengthen the local groups having the regular and proper ‘Review of Life’. But as we made plan at the Asia meeting, we are preparing a survey on ‘young people’s addiction problems’ as a part of a practice for the future Action Campaign which will be organised next year.
I would like to ask a lot of support and prayers to Korea YCW to have good continuity of this work and I also send my best wishes to all the members of the YCW all over the world.