Youth Update: Refugia Wrap Up

June was our last month for Refugia in the 2022/23 school year. For our wrap-up on June 23rd, we went to Locked Room, which is an escape room where you solve puzzles in order to find keys and combinations to escape from the room in which you are "locked". We completed it in 52 minutes of the hour that we had to do it in.

As far as our discussion themes, anti-semitism has been in the news quite a bit, so the youth wanted to talk about that. We discussed the history of the Church's involvement in creating anti-semitism through supersessionist theologies as well as the role that different theologians have played, including how Martin Luther's theology helped set the stage for the events that happened in Germany in the early 20th century. We then talked about how that thinking has been passed on in different ways to figures that are significant in pop culture, most notably Kanye West and the role that social media plays in both escalating harmful views as well as helping to hold celebrities and powerful figures accountable.

This past year of Refugia has been a blast, and all five of the kids said that they would be really excited to come back in the fall. We've developed meaningful connections among our group, and I have seen each of those kids grow as a direct result of our community. I am excited to see where they end up and know that no matter what they set their minds to they will all find success and make meaningful impacts in their communities.

Submitted by Nik Sloat

To learn more about activities for youth, please visit the Youth Ministry page.