Youth Alpha

You may or may not know that Youth Alpha courses are running all over the world and one of the countries that it’s zinging along in is Slovakia!

We at Youth Alpha Towers have had the great privilege of hanging out with Youth Alpha Champion Sister Helena & her team on several large occasions, so we thought we’d do an interview-ette so you can hear her wisdom too

Here’s what she had to say:

Sister Helena, what’s it like growing up in Slovakia today?

Many young people in Slovakia do not have ideals, they are discouraged because of high unemployment which leads to depression – they are thinking what’s the point of studying if I can not find a job anyway - nothing makes sense….

So what do you think the answer is for the young people of today?

They need to get a sense of what life is about – and how to spend the rest of life. Through Christ and the Gospel they can change their attitude to life and the priorities of life.

Sister Helena, you have run, or trained people to run, a lot of Youth Alpha courses in Slovakia – why do you like it so much?

Youth Alpha leads people to think about the meaning of life, from the first session till the last one.

One of the best things for us about running Youth Alpha was seeing our young people catch a passion and enthusiasm for what was happening during the course. Young leaders brought in joy and shared their testimonies – it was so encouraging to everyone to hear.

And here are some of the things people who have run Youth Alpha in Slovakia have told us:

- Many young people experienced a personal encounter with God, they experienced God´s presence in their hearts during prayer and they have learnt to pray - to talk to God as to a friend.

- Many of the young people on our course decided to get involved in youth work themselves (10 people in our parish)

- Many were surprised - they had never heard God being talked about in such a way – in a way that was understandable for young people

What would you say to anyone who is perhaps thinking about running Youth Alpha for the young people in their parish?

We recommend running Youth Alpha in every parish! It has been taking place in several towns in Slovakia – sometimes courses as big as 70 to 180 strong!

In our parish, the young people who came through Alpha were much more open to the next formation and preparation for confirmation. Many became much more aware of their Christian/Catholic identity.

Even those young people who were not visibly moved, expressed their appreciation of Youth Alpha as something that is relevant for where young people are at in these times. It is modern, high media, done in a nice environment with a positive attitude – they were surprised it was so ‘cool’.

Other great stories and more about youthalpha are available on our website youthalpha.org