17% of 11 year olds say
they find it difficult to make friends.
•
38% of 11-year-old girls
say they feel left out of things when
they are with their friends (24% of
boys).
•
50% say they are worried
about bullying at school (37% of boys).
•
More than 40% of rapes and sexual
assaults are committed by someone the
victim thought was a friend.
Quotes:
‘I think having
friends is quite important to me. It means
you can rely on them and talk to them about
everything.’
: 13 year old girl
‘If you do have
any trouble your friends will be there for
you.’
: 15 year old boy
‘Everyone’s
always wanting to contact you to find out
where you are and what you’re doing.
It’s a big thing that everyone does,
texting each other. If you haven’t seen
your mates or your boyfriend that day, you
just text them.’ : 15 year old girl
Bible: Matthew
26:36-46
Jesus knew the importance of friendship. As
God in human form, the Christ, King of Kings,
miracle-worker and most awesome man that ever
lived, Jesus still needed friends. Yet Jesus
also knew the pain of friendship. On the worst
day of his life, when he needed his friends
to be there, to sit and to pray, they just
kept falling asleep. To cap it all, one of
them had already betrayed him to his murderers.
In some ways, Jesus’ friends were a
disaster, but he didn’t give up on them
and he didn’t give up on friendship
either. Even after they’d deserted him
at the crucifixion, he didn’t just decide
to go it alone. When he rose again, he went
looking for them, forgave them and got the
whole thing sorted out (John 21).
It is often easy to be friends with the people
we find it easiest to be with. Jesus did that,
but he also went out of his way to give friendship
to all sorts of people he didn’t necessarily
click with, or even agree with. As a Christians,
how can we give friendship to those that we
don’t automatically ‘click’
with. How can we build friendship with others?
How can we ensure that young people find friendship
in our communities?
Prayer Ideas:
Friends Photo
Board
Create a photo board (either real or virtual)
with pictures of all your friends. Look at
it regularly and pray for a few of them each
time you do.
Create a photo board of your church and pray
for all the people within it. How can you
build up the friendships within your church
community?
Source
acknowledgement: Statistics and Quotes taken
from:
The Burden of Youth Report:
by The Henley Centre, commissioned by The
Salvation Army in 2001.
Beyond
Belief? Barriers and Bridges to Faith Today:
Nick Spencer of The London Institute of Contemporary
Christianity.
The Profile
of Youth Workers 2003:
a private report by Alison Gelder and Philip
Escott, commissioned by Churches Together
in England Coordination group for Youth Work.
Copyright Churches Together in England 2003.
