Jan-Darryl, also known as ‘JD’ is a shy young man and we regularly meet at church on a Sunday. We’ve always admired him as he is a great singer and leads worship regularly on Sundays.
A few weeks back, JD reached out to us and said that he wanted to share his vision and was looking for prayer support to help him take forward his plan and, as we sat and listened, I was just awestruck to understand that here was someone who really had a burning passion to do something very meaningful. A civil engineer by profession who was not planning to go build mega structures but was seeing how broken the world around him was and, dedicating himself to leading others to their God-given vision.
JD first shared with us some really frightening statistics that got us very worried and scarred, the reality more when we were bringing up two teenagers. Let me share the data:
Philippine Statistics
- 19.6% of the population are youth (19.8M)
- 3.3 Million Filipino’s suffer depression, of which in the age of around 20 years,
- 2.5% of males commit suicide
- 1.7% of females commit suicide
- The Philippines rank #1 on online activity in the world;
- average 8 hrs 59 minutes on the internet daily
- average 4 hrs 27 minutes on social media daily
- 31.2% of women between the ages of 15 to 24 have had sex and 9.1% of female youths are already a mother (outside wedlock)
Obviously the statistics are revealing and whilst our youth may be a blur, the reality is when it comes to our own, what values are we bringing to our homes?
JD has made a commitment to bring awareness to the young population he works closely with, he wants to cultivate a good value system that is morally and spiritually right. Many have not had the opportunity of knowing between right and wrong, the way of life depends on the circumstances one is living in but,
God put a burden in my heart to minister to youths full time
Jan-Darryl
As I dwell on this serious issue, I am sure that this is not just in the Philippines but is a global issue. As parents, how far do we care about those outside our families? Are we concerned about our own children and family members? Do we really understand the right morals we need to live with? I am burdened, I am pained. How can I help?
‘Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”’
Matthew 9:35-38
If you are moved to lend a helping hand to JD, let me know and I can connect you.
INSPIRE 