To understand how young people all around the world think in order to know how to connect with them is a tough task. I think working with young people is like working with people from another culture. It is not the language that is the problem but rather it is the value systems, attitudes, and views of life that are so different from older generations.

As I have travelled around the world, I have come to recognise that there is such a thing as a ‘global youth culture’. This is the reality that young people all over the world are developing the same way of living and interacting with each other and society. Why is it that young people have similar desires for building relationships, are concerned about issues such as justice and equality, struggle with structures and organisations, are into the same music and media, want to have a voice, and so many other things.

Young people I have met in Liberia, or Ghana, or Thailand, or the Philippines seem to be heading down the same path. They are struggling against the structures and value systems of their parents. They want more honesty and realness, and they want more connectedness with other people. Sure young people want to listen to the same music, they want to wear the certain styles, to have a cell phone and be on the Internet as much as possible, but deep down they are looking at be connected with others—to be in relationships where they feel known and understood.

If you are trying to bring Christ into the lives of young people then being real with them and connecting with them where they are at will help you get an openness from them. You then have the chance to connect them into a relationship with the living God where they can see how God is interested in all areas of life—spiritual, physical, emotional, and intellectual.