by Judy Wilber Alvarez

s Salesians we are called to walk with youth, to accompany them in their journey of faith. We are familiar with the image of Jesus walking with two despondent disciples on the road to Emmaus. His empathic presence and words warmed the hearts of his listeners and compelled them to ask him to "stay with us!" That same evening they finally recog-nized him in the breaking of the bread. We too have sacred exper-iences in our journey with youth—experiences when our encounter with the love of God in them deepens our commitment to stay with them and they with us. But the Emmaus story and our journey with youth do not end there. The disciples’ experience of Jesus led them to share the good news of their encounter with others. Likewise our walk with youth in their journey of faith must lead them to bear witness to Christ.

In 1976 the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) issued a document called A Vision of Youth Ministry in which the dynamics of ministry with young people was recognized in the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. This story has proven to be a powerful guiding image for youth ministry and was affirmed by the Holy Father at World Youth Day 1995 when he called the Church to become the "traveling companion of young people." More recently, the NCCB issued a document called Renewing the Vision: a Framework for Catholic Youth Ministry. This document emphasizes that the image of young people with a mission must guide our ministry with youth today: The Church and world need the faith, gifts, energy, and fresh ideas of young people. The entire Church, and in a special way ministry with adolescents, must empower young people for their mission in the world. All our efforts to promote an active Christian discipleship and growth in Catholic identity must lead toward mission. This is our special responsibility to the young generation.

As Salesians we are committed to empowering youth as credible witnesses of faith in their own environments. Our work also aims at helping them realize their own life project accord-ing to God’s call. Our method of forming youth for their Christ-ian mission follows Don Bosco, who from the very beginning involved youth in his work and led them to put themselves at the service of their peers. The Salesians’ General Chapter 24 of 1996 challenges us by quoting Don Bosco: "‘If I had with me a group of youngsters who think as I do, we could conquer the world.’ With the same trust and confidence we invite you(th) to work with us for the education and evangelization of young people the world over."

One province expression of our commitment to form youth in their Christian mission has been the Salesian Youth Leadership Connection (SYLC). This week-long experience began in the summer of 1985 under the direction of Fr. Joseph Boenzi, SDB, and in connection with the Upper Room Youth Ministry of St. Dominic Savio Parish in Bellflower, Calif. Inspired by leadership weekends that helped form the parish youth ministry core team, SYLC was initiated as "an ideal opportunity for creating some interaction among various Salesian youth groups in the West. Young people could meet their peers from other centers who were drawn by the love of Christ and a common interest to serve the young." Moreover, it would also respond to the need of formation for young counselors staffing the many extended summer youth programs sponsored by the province.

That first SYLC succeeded in attracting 78 young dele-gates from six Salesian cen-ters in the West. It was held at beautiful Camp St. Francis in Aptos, Calif. SYLC has continued almost annually from summer to summer since 1985. In fact, last year when the Province Chapter superceded a province-wide SYLC event, SYLC alumni initiated experiences in their local or regional areas.

By the time you read this article, SYLC 1999 will be fresh in the hearts and minds of the anticipated 120 youth that will also gather at Camp St. Francis from June 20-26. This year’s experience will continue the SYLC tradition by aspiring to fulfill these needs:

• We need to provide for the young people an experience which will deeply impact their lives and alter the way they see themselves as Christians, as young people, and as Salesians. An authentic experience with the youth and youth ministers will accomplish this.
• We need to create a defining moment in the lives of our youth leaders which places them firmly into the Salesian Youth Movement of the western United States.

An innovation in this year’s SYLC is the incorporation of a national leadership program called YouthLeader. Sponsored by the Center for Ministry Development, YouthLeader is a team approach to Christian leadership formation for youth and adult leaders that integrates Christian spirituality and ministry skills. The program is based on the following principles:

• The voice of youth must be heard if we are to announce the Good News to its fullest.
• Youth have gifts and charisms to share in leadership and ministry.
• Youth who are striving to be young disciples deserve training and support.
• Adults make a crucial difference in sponsoring youth as leaders by readying the community for their leadership and providing ongoing support.

YouthLeader has been effective in strengthening communities while empowering youth. During the week the youth have experiences of leadership from which they learn and grow. They have opportunities to practice and to "try on" new skills. They are given the chance to envision a life of discipleship based upon the life of Jesus and to plan and prioritize their own life around Gospel values.

In conversation with Coordinators of Youth Ministry from several Salesian sites in southern California and Michael Haggarty, the YouthLeader Project Coordinator, we have iden-tified several strategies for infusing our Salesian perspective into the YouthLeader experience. Actually there are already tremendous amounts of cohesion and similarity between Youth-Leader and our Salesian style of presence and care for the young. We plan to share our Salesian life and traditions in the context of daily activities such as general sessions, planning and sharing groups, Eucharist, communal prayer, recreation, and family style meals.

While the fruits of SYLC 1999 are yet to be evidenced in the year to come, we are confident that our Salesian youth will respond with generous enthusiasm to the appeal that our Holy Father gave this generation during World Youth Day 1993 in Denver: At this stage of history, the liberating message of the Gospel of life has been put into your hands. And the mission of proclaiming it to the ends of the earth is now passing to your generation…. The world at the approach of a new millennium…is like a field ready for the harvest. Christ needs laborers ready to work in his vineyards. May you, the Catholic young people of the world, not fail him; in your hands, carry the cross of Christ; on your lips, the words of life; in your hearts, the saving grace of the Lord. (August 15, 1993).