Who are we? AuthenticYouth is the Youth & Schools ministry of Scripture Union Ireland What do we do? We work with school year groups for daylong retreats.  These days are holistic and multi-sensory experiences where the team acts as facilitators to engage students with their concerns, opinions and needs in a safe environment.  Wherever we can we support Christian Unions in Secondary Schools across the country by providing speakers and resources.  We also run and support camps and events at the Scripture Union Adventure Centre, Ovoca Manor. Why now? The culture that Irish youth are growing up in is becoming increasingly difficult and confusing for them.  Never before has a nation of young people been so immensely impacted by what they see and hear through the media.  In an environment of increasing divorce, unemployment and rising suicide rates, it seems that hurt is taking over and our materialistically driven nation is beginning to forget where true love, meaning and purpose comes from. At AuthenticYouth, we believe that life has much more to offer than lies, sadness and questionable role models, and offer a genuine alternative for today’s Youth. Why? We are motivated to do this work because we are inspired by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  He treated everyone equally and reached out to all.  As we read in the Gospels, He is still passionately pursuing all peoples using imperfect people like us (the AuthenticYouth team) to communicate His sacrificial love for the whole world, the source of meaning and worth.  We aim to explain the Christian faith in a relevant way, through issue based talks, showing young people who Jesus is and how he feels about them, helping them to independently make positive decisions about their lives and help them deal with hurt and worldly lies. Beliefs cannot be imposed on anyone but we aim to show young people the truth of what the Bible says so they make informed decisions whether for or against. What else? We also engage in a variety of other events and programmes that you can check out.  One of the programmes we offer is a one-year internship (or ‘Gap Year’) for Christian young people to enable them to develop their faith and at the same time engage in practical training through working with young people, together with an academic training programme.  Click here for more information, or contact us using the details below. This year (2011/12) we are delighted to welcome Emma Doherty and Andy Waller to our Gap Year Programme.  We let them introduce themselves: Emma Doherty Hey! My name is Emma. I'm 21 years old and I'm from Dublin.  Last year I was in Portadown on a gap year called T.O.M (Team on Mission). T.O.M team have a travelling and a static team, I was on the static team. We were placed in Portadown and so we helped with the youth work on that circuit for the year. We were involved with a very wide range of work. I learnt a lot about working with people and about myself,  but still felt I needed another gap year which is how I came to consider Authentic Youth. I see myself possibly getting a job long term working with youth but in what area is something I still need to explore. I'm expecting big things this year, what that looks like I don't know but I look forward to them being revealed.   Andrew Waller My name is Andy Waller. I'm 19 and from Dublin. After doing the leaving cert in 2009 I went straight to The Institute Of Technology Blanchardstown and studied for two years in a Computer Science Course. So I may or may not be a comuputer wizz ;) I'm also big into sports and photography and recently have mixed the two and volunteered to go pitch side at Dalymount Park home of Bohemians Football Club to take pictures. I love it! Just some of my passions. I am looking forward to this year at the Internship for SU to meet new people and grow closer to God myself. I cannot wait to get started with Jude and the crew so bring it on!    Our Mission Statement:  Authentic Youth strives to see young people grasp a clearer understanding of who God is and how He can transform their lives. We wish to dispel any misunderstandings they may have of God or the Christian faith and encourage young people to develop a relationship with God or grow deeper with Him. Our hope is that young people will be confident in their faith and live for God in their schools and communities, that they grow into their gifts.  We seek to serve and support young people find understanding, purpose and meaning of life through faith in Christ.   Feedback? We seek feedback from students and teachers to improve our programmes. These include secure Bebo & Facebook sites for student’s comments. From some 242 evaluation froms recently received, 81% were positive responses in terms of the impact of the retreats on participants life and faith. Here are just a few comments: "Many of my false opinions about God have been changed" "The day inspired me to make positive choices" "The retreat was the highlight of my year" "I want God more in my life " Bebo: Click Here Facebook: Click Here Email: youth@scriptureunion.ie Telephone: 01-2802300 Jude Barry Team Leader Like to support the work of Authentic Youth? Click Here