Invisible Children - a Great Group to Speak to Your Youth

This past Sunday, a team from Invisible Children presented to our combined junior and senior high group. They told of the plight of children in northern Uganda, where war has devastated the region and torn families apart. Here's the story of how invisible Children got started (taken from the organization's website):

In the spring of 2003, three young filmmakers traveled to Africa in search of a story. What started out as a filmmaking adventure transformed into much more when these boys from Southern California discovered a tragedy that disgusted and inspired them, a tragedy where children are both the weapons and the victims.

After returning to the States, they created the documentary "Invisible Children: Rough Cut," a film that exposes the tragic realities of northern Uganda's night commuters and child soldiers.

The film was originally shown to friends and family, but has now been seen by millions of people. The overwhelming response has been, "How can I help?" To answer this question, the non-profit Invisible Children, Inc. was created, giving compassionate individuals an effective way to respond to the situation.

It was an amazing presentation, and it inspired our students to take further action--several have pledged to start an Invisible Children club in their school (through the Schools for Schools program), and we will be doing a book drive at our church the beginning of 2011. The best part of the morning was that a young college student from Uganda who is a part of Invisible Children's scholarship program spoke and told us what it was like to grow up in a war zone and how she managed--with Invisible Children's help--to go to college.

If you're looking for a way to highlight for your students how much injustice exists in this world today and how to take steps to help in Jesus' name, I highly recommend contacting Invisible Children to schedule a presentation at your church (they are usually in every region in the U.S. at least twice a year). Invisible Children is not a religious organization, which might turn off some churches. But it is a cause that followers of Jesus can definitely get behind, because it seeks to eliminate the injustice brought about by Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda. In addition, several of the group members that came to present to us--including Skovia, the young lady from Uganda--spoke openly spoke about their faith in Jesus.

Check out this video that tells what Invisible Children is all about:

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