Sunday morning in a small parlour near Salzburg: a group of young people sits around a table. At first glance the scene looks ordinary. Look closer, and you see the future being shaped. They are discussing a text from the book of Acts. Yesterday most of them were strangers. Today they are one of four groups on this year's basic youth group course – all here to spend a week learning to become responsible youth group leaders.
For us, the focus is not on programmes, but on people. Our training is marked by openness, honesty and a deep desire to strengthen young leaders. It is about practical skills – how to lead a group, resolve conflicts, organise a youth group afternoon or a camp – but just as much about inner attitude: How do I treat others with respect? How do I live my faith authentically? And how do I create an environment where children feel safe?
“For us, the focus is not on programmes, but on people.”
Rudolf Hächler, National Director Austria
Many of our participants come from local groups themselves or were participants at one of our regional camps. They have experienced how formative community can be – and they want to pass it on. One participant, Manuel S., told us after the course: “What I remember most are the practical things: planning and running the outdoor game and my role as day leader were highlights for me. Organising the final evening with a church service together was also really special.”
Our work unfolds where the training shows concrete results: in the local groups. Across Austria, children currently meet regularly in 30 groups. Volunteer leaders invest time and heart week after week, prepare varied programmes and down-to-earth devotions, listen and walk alongside young people in their everyday lives. A special highlight are our summer tent camps – places where community is experienced even more intensely.
What impresses me most is the multiplication effect: those trained today shape others tomorrow. Young leaders accompany children who later take on responsibility themselves. More and more teenagers attend our courses whose parents were part of ABÖJ youth groups in their own youth – a sign of how deep this work goes.
Here we live very practically what Paul wrote to his young friend in 2 Timothy 2:2: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”
What begins in our groups, camps and courses reaches far into the future. Because where people learn to take responsibility, strengthen others and live their faith, a hope grows that carries – and stays.
