Korlu Soriba’s Testimony

Hello, my name is Korlu Soriba.

From Nov 26-29,2009. The United Church of Canada held a consultation for racialized youth in the United Church. It was designed to be a one time consultation, to gather together diverse voices and hear thoughts on who we are as a church. The ideas and recommedations from this consultation will directly affect the developments to future programs, ministries and policies. This consultation was a chance to carefully listen to the unique perspective of racialized youth in the United church. The consultation focused on interculture community building, telling stories and hearing the thoughts of those who have gathered. There were 22 youth from age 13-20 and 4 adult who attended this conference. Some of the important things that were discussed were: Developing a convenant, and a way of being together. The meanings of our names and the aspects of our culture. Vision of what the church could be, what we need to be ourselves, identities among 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation youth. Recommendation that we would make to our church, and writing a letter to the moderator. As a youth in the United Church, I feel blessed to have opportunities to attend special youth meetings such as the consultation. It helps me with my faith and it also allows me to see things from different perspectives.

The people I met at this conference made me feel as if I had known them forever. It was easy to get along with everyone because they were all friendly and very sociable. I had a great time and learned a lot from this event. If anyone wants to hear more, I will be delighted to answer all questions.

Thanks for your attention.

Korlu Soriba.