Faith Friends - Ireland
Faith friends is the coming together of schoolchildren who are making confirmation and members of the community to share their knowledge, wisdom and experiences of being part of the Church. It is a learning and growing experience of both the children making confirmation and those who are seen to be helping them on this journey of faith. Over three nights we discuss their faith and belief, how they belong to the Church community and what gifts and fruits confirmation gives us. As a faith friend we are able to teach them outside of the classroom about their faith and discuss in an informal and fun way about things like the Holy Spirit.
For many members of the OYS Iit has been many years since their confirmation and many of the details of the ceremony may have moved to distant corners of the mind. However Faith Friends provides a great oppertunity to reconnect with our own faith and remind ourselves of the details of the gifts and the fruits of the Holy Spirit. As a faith friend it is our task to answer any questions the young people have and do what we can to help develop their faith as best as we can. Through talking with them and completing group tasks its interesting to see what these 11, 12 and 13 year olds are capable of understanding and seeing, what as adults can become blind to in these difficult times.
The mission statement of the Oblate Youth Service is “through our service we strengthen our faith”. It is through projects like faith friends that we see this to be true. In helping these children at such a key point in their Christian lives.
