Churches seen as tool in efforts to help youths

CHURCHES play an important role in shaping youths for a better life in the future, a Lutheran Renewal Church pastor in Morobe says.
Ps Moses Ogean said if there were programmes that involved youths or other development activities in a community, churches have to support them in kind or cash.
He said this on Tuesday during the graduation of 24 youths from a two-week business and life skills training programme at Nasuapum village in Wamparr LLG, Huon Gulf, outside Lae.
The Lutheran Renewal Church gave its support to a Digicel PNG Foundation-funded programme in partnership with Ginigoada Bisnis Foundation in Lae.
The training aims at imparting skills and knowledge to underprivileged youths to give them a second chance for opportunities in finding jobs or to venture into small-scale business initiatives.
Ogean said the training venues, a sound system and use of other facilities were given free of charge.
“The church sees this as something positive to give freely to the development of young people and that is what all other churches should do,” he said
“I see some churches and other non-governmental organisations as well as government institutions charging fees for facilities used and this is not good.”
He told The National that the two weeks of training in his village gave the youths an edge to do budgeting with the little they have and that is when they would have
enough to give offerings to churches.