Page 26 - Contact Summer 2017
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There are 255,000 young people living in So how are we, The Big House trying to help?
Northern Ireland, some of whom are dealing with
many difficult and overwhelming issues. When a We think we can help young people best in
young person brings a difficult issue to your door, three ways.
it can be difficult to know how to help.
1. Firstly by helping youth and church leaders in
What do you do when you realise that a their current youth work by providing training
young person in your congregation is events. In the last few years we have run
struggling with anxiety? training days on Eating Disorders, Self Harm,
Family Change, Suicide and Bereavement.
These days aim to equip leaders and volunteers
How do you help a young person who has with a deeper understanding and practical tools
been diagnosed with a long-term illness or in helping young people who struggle with these
disability? difficulties. In these training days, we bring
together experts in each area, along with people
who have faced the same issue in their lives and
have found God to help them through it.
What do you do when a young person has just
lost a close friend or family member?
2. We also run short-term residential
programmes for young people which are
specifically related to issues that they face.
The needs of our young people are vast and some Our short-term residential breaks are good fun
are complex. We believe that there is hope amidst and they are also times where we seek to bring
these difficulties and that hope is Jesus. God’s words and heart into the young people’s
lives and especially into the things they are
finding hard. Our annual camps include our
The Big House Ireland is an interdenominational Beautiful Weekend for girls who are particularly
Christian charity that exists to help young people struggling with understanding God’s truth about
know God’s love and encounter Jesus, especially their identity and Shine Camp which is for young
when they face difficult life situations. We believe people who have moderate to severe learning
that young people are precious and deeply loved difficulties. We are excited to launch our Made
by God – no matter who they are, where they For More camp this year for guys aged 14-18.
come from, or what they face in life. We want
young people to know that there is no difficult
day, no dark experience that God cannot bring
hope and life into.
