by Erin Hicks
Suicide is something you will never be prepared for.
When I got the phone call last January that one of my youth had taken his life, but was still not legally dead, it wasn’t real to me. He was the youth who was always smiling, a teenager with a big heart. The majority of my youth had all grown up together. They were in a state of disbelief that their friend, someone many considered a brother, had not gone to any of them for help. Below are some ways that I helped my youth cope with the death of one of our own, including what I did while he was in a coma.
Each group and situation is different. All we can do is seek to live in continuous prayer, connecting us to God so that it is the Almighty who shows us the way. You know your kids, and the best you can do is to lovingly serve the kids whom God has entrusted to you.
*****
Erin Hicks is a graduate of the Center for Youth Ministry Training and is pursuing her Master of Divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Olivia Keffer and Makenzie Knowlden have been friends since the beginning of their CYMT graduate residence journey, and this friendship has turned out to be one of the things that helped them make it to graduation day. Their story is one of affirming fellowship between two women who, despite living in different cities, helped each other answer their call to youth ministry.
Meet Hannah Cooley. Hannah Cooley is a 2nd-year Graduate Resident at CYMT who serves at University Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, TX. Hannah recently took her […]
A Deep Dive Into a God View on the Wow The fourth step in the Theology Together’s Wow Theological Reflection Method is “God.” After exposing youth […]