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- ELCA youth participating in MYLE have some fun creating graffiti art during a visit to the Alley Project, a Detroit organization offering safe, positive space where youth who are at-risk can engage in artistic and cultural activities. MYLE youth were broken into various groups and visited a variety of local organizations for experiential learning.
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- MYLE youth toured Detroit’s Eastern Market as part of their experiential learning visit at Detroit Food Academy. “I love it here. So far Detroit is bringing better experiences to me and opening up my horizons,” said Dequam Baker, New Hope Lutheran Church in Jamaica, N.Y. (second from left). “(At MYLE), I’ve learned how to be fair with other races and people of other ethnicities.”
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- Sara Alexis gave an energetic and confident lip-sync of Taylor Swift’s “You Belong to Me” at the DAYLE talent show. “Each young person came in (to DAYLE) completely shy and closed off,” said Rachel Bouman, ELCA director of disability ministries, “But they bonded so quickly that within half a day everyone was so free to be themselves. It was so fun to watch them grow into leaders.”
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- Morgan Schenz, from Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Sedro Woolley, Wash., talked about the prayer stations at a DAYLE event. Participants created clay art, wrote messages and did other activities to “remember people who you would like to pray for and you pray out loud or softly.” Morgan said her favorite part of DAYLE was playing “Peace Like a River” at the talent show.
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- Speaking at a joint service, Steven Bouman, executive director of ELCA congregational and synodical mission, said: “You are the light of the world. We are here to be provoked by Detroit. We are here to be provoked by each other. We are here to be provoked by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ calls us from Detroit to provoke the world in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
More than 30,000 Lutherans came together for a week of service, worship and fun July 15-19 at the 2015 ELCA Youth Gatheringin Detroit. What you may not be familiar with are the two pre-events of the Gathering that took place just days earlier. The Definitely-Abled Youth Leadership Event (DAYLE) and the Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE), both designed to empower participants through worship, educational activities and leadership development, took place July 12-15 in Detroit. “Love Does” was the focus of MYLE, which brought together 500 young people of color and/or whose primary language is other than English. DAYLE participants — youth who live with a wide range of physical, cognitive and emotional abilities — came together under the theme “Crossing Together.” (Photos/Chris Ocken for The Lutheran)
