The first TeenStreet event in Zimbabwe was organised to meet a specific gap in church ministry — now there are plans to take the ministry out of the cities and to rural areas.
When the first TeenStreet event was held in Zimbabwe in 2019, there were doubts that many people would attend.
But that initial event saw 50 young people come together to grow in their faith. In 2024, 200 teenagers are expected to attend — including many who have been to every event and were invited back as leaders.
From humble beginnings
The first TeenStreet event in Zimbabwe was organised in response to a need for ministry among young people. The majority of the people in Zimbabwe are below the age of 30, with teenagers making up a large proportion of the population.
Israel (Zimbabwe), the leader of OM in Zimbabwe, said, “We have seen in the church where there is children’s ministry, which is vibrant, and also there are some discipleship or programmes happening for young adults, but there was a gap for the teens. So as OM we felt that we need to do something specific for the teens.”
The country hosted its first TeenStreet event in 2019, despite concerns that Zimbabwe’s economic situation would make it unfeasible for participants to attend.
Israel said, “Some people were thinking that that was not the right time to do it, or maybe [to] hold it in another country, but we pushed through and we started with a small four-day camp at a retreat center in dormitories and guest houses. Meetings were done in a hall. We had 50 teens coming together to focus on a theme called Metamorphosis.
“It was a huge blessing to the church and to the teens. We started to see many churches buying into the idea, wanting to partner with us.”
After the promising start, the following two years’ events were held online due to COVID-19 restricting gatherings, with small groups chatting on WhatsApp.
Despite the challenges, Israel and his team have seen the number of participants continue to grow.
More than 160 teenagers met in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, for the 2023 event. Because of the ongoing economic situation, most of the teens couldn't afford to pay for the camp, but local churches responded by blessing the event with gifts.
“The church leaders that we're working with decided to contribute some foodstuffs for the camp,” said Israel. “So we saw people bringing things like rice, cooking oil, and that also helped us to lessen the burden on the teens. This was just one of the exciting things that has been happening.”
A wider impact
Privy (Zimbabwe) is on the planning team for TeenStreet activities in Zimbabwe and is one of the event’s coaches — a small group leader who works with and disciples participants.
One of her roles is to run a coaching clinic on how to keep participants’ enthusiasm for their faith going all year round. Coaches are encouraged to maintain contact with their small groups throughout the year, either in person or online, and to help disciple the young people in their faith.
She said the impact of the events on the young people is clear in how many return year after year, first as a participant, then as a coach.
Bev attended her first event at the age of 16, and it had a lasting impact on her life. She grew up going to church, and at a TeenStreet event, she made a deeper commitment to Christ. Now 20, she has also returned as a coach, and is studying to become a sports coach. She sees the two roles as complementing each other perfectly. “I do not want to just be a sports coach but a life coach," she said. “My favourite maxim is ‘a good coach improves your game, but the best coach improves your life.’”
Abigail was 18 when she attended the first TeenStreet event in Zimbabwe and was inspired to join OM’s Ship Ministry. After two years serving on board Logos Hope, she returned home and went back to TeenStreet as a coach.
Privy said, “We have seen people we have attended the first camp continuing to come. We have seen young people go on to become coaches. We have seen people come to TeenStreet and then want to join mission trips outside the country. It's encouraging.”
And the event has not only had an impact on the young people. Israel said, “Last year we had a young man called Willard who came as a photographer during an event. During that time he was so touched and impacted by TeenStreet that he then decided to join missions and now he's serving in Zambia.”
Volunteers for the event come from the local community and from further afield. “We take volunteers from the international community, so if you have people from Australia or other places who would like to join the TeenStreet camp then we do have that as a short-term outreach opportunity,” Privy said.
Into the future
Looking forward, Israel would like to expand TeenStreet events to be held across the country.
“We want to see it growing to other places, especially in the rural community, the least-reached communities in Zimbabwe, among the Tonga people and others. These remote places are very far away from development. We have to adapt and also make it in the context of the people. Like in rural areas, you can just imagine a TeenStreet event happening under a tree, because we want it to be so that it can multiply,” he said.
“But also we'd love to see how extensively we can impact those places. Those are the areas where we have a challenge of teenage pregnancies, we have a young boys doing drugs and also dropping out of school. We feel if our TeenStreet can manage to penetrate those places we can disciple these young people in the hope for them to understand their purpose in life and who they can be — they can be witnesses of Christ to others. They can share their love of Christ with others as well. So this is where we want to see it growing, even going to rural places and the other remote areas.”
Please pray for someone to take on the role of TeenStreet leader or director in Zimbabwe and that God will raise up the right person. Pray for this year’s camp, happening in August, that God would provide for participants; many of the teens who have attended previously have invited their friends, but because of economic challenges, some of them are not able to pay the camp fee and will need subsidies if they are to attend. Pray that the event will impact not only the participants, but also the staff and volunteers who help during the week.
For more information about volunteering at TeenStreet in Zimbabwe or in other locations contact your local OM office or visit teenstreet.life/.