What do we teach them?

I'm at a national conference this week.

At one of the meetings I attended today, the speaker was discussing the differences in generations and their giving habits. She said that younger people -- the millennial generation, who are ages 21 through 27 -- have different motivations for their giving. She said that they aren't as interested in giving for basic needs of other people, but their interest lies more in upgrading the quality of life in the world.

This broad category -- improving quality of life in the world -- is a departure from the motivational habits of older people.

As I was thinking about this, I started thinking about your youth group at church.

First of all, the Greatest Generation - those who lived through the Great Depression and who served in World War II -- are very interested in helping people to provide for their basic needs -- clothing, shelter, food, for example.

I wonder if the reason that is true is because the Greatest Generation was more likely to have lived through the Depression -- these people understood what it was like to not know from one moment to the next if they will be able to find the next meal. They have experienced a lack of having their basic needs met.

On the other hand, the very youngest generation is a product of the 90's and the newest century. They haven't experienced poverty as the Greatest Generation has. And then they come to youth group as a high school student, and experience ministry in a more global sense.

This is a good thing unless you are trying to raise funds for local projects, like the City Mission.

I was wondering, as I listening to the talk, if we expose our youth to enough of the need in our own areas. I think back to the previous year, and I can see that we involved them in World Vision and Nothing but Nets. I wonder if we need to include some experience with state-wide or community enterprises, like Burlington Family Services, McDowell Mission, the City Mission, Habitat for Humanity. I wonder if in addition to exposing them to the needs of the World Community, we also need to expose them to the needs of our local community, so that they will grow up knowing the existence of a need very close to them.

Image: This hotel in Indianapolis has rooms built into train cards. Very Cool.