27 May 2008 

Churches need to do more to keep youth off streets

The president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific has stated that churches must play a very important role in combating youth homelessness and at risk behaviour.

Dr Barry Oliver welcomed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s launch of a green paper calling for ideas on how to tackle homelessness on Friday.

“This is an extremely serious issue, but is not simply a government responsibility,” says Dr Oliver. “A church is meant to be a safe haven for people and we will be failing as Christians if we ignore the plight of these young people.”

Dr Oliver believes churches have a responsibility to ensure homeless and at-risk young people in the local community are cared for and even provided shelter.

“Of course, this should only be a short-term solution. Most importantly, we need to better equip these young people with skills to cope in society,” he says.

Dr Oliver also suggested that prevention may be the key to the problem. “If adults take the leading role in developing positive relationships with young people in the neighbourhood, it will build resilience and self-esteem among them,” he says. “It can even be as simple as learning the name of a young person at risk.”

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is engaged in promoting and providing child resilience programs in schools, churches and communities to ensure young people do not fall into risk behaviour or remain at risk.

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