A Trip to Walmart
Teaching youth to interact in the public sphere and how to productively engage with society is one of my favorite things to do at YFC. We accomplish this in a variety of ways, but one of the most effective is simply bringing students along with us to run everyday errands for the center. During the summer, while numbers are a little lower, we try to intentionally engage with students, and so on a recent trip to Walmart, we brought a couple of students with us.
These students were ecstatic to go out on an excursion with us that felt like a special outing. The drive allowed us to talk about their plans for the summer, trips to see their grandparents, and the struggles they are having within their own families. Once we got to Walmart they were really watching us to see how we engaged with other people, employees, and products.
Over the summer we try and take the students on a variety of outings and we realized that some students do not arrive in the proper attire for the activities we are doing. With lots of swimming and water outings coming up, we decided we could use some swimsuits and towels for the center. We asked them for input on which swimsuits to buy and they really enjoyed having some ownership over the swimsuits we would be using at the center. We showed them the clearance aisle in Walmart and explained how you can often find some great deals for things you may need. The students then expressed a need for some hygiene products at the center that they said were not available and that we, as staff, had not considered these guys would need.
On the way out there was a man asking for petition signatures for a particular issue and asked us if we would sign, we politely declined. This opened up a conversation on why the man was trying to get signatures, why petitions are important, and why it is important to register to vote when they turn 18. Being able to explain why voting and the ability to petition the government are a privilege that many other countries do not have was eye-opening for the youth.
It is easy to overlook how these simple, everyday tasks can have a massive impact on the youth we work with. Bringing youth along and inviting them into the “monotony” of life allows them to see what a redeemed life truly looks like even in the simplest of tasks. When I took this job, I did not think that some of the most impactful moments would be taking a couple of guys to Walmart and showing them how to find the best deals, but these have become some of the most influential moments in my relationships with these youth.