Generation to Generation
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire,” William Butler Yeats said that. How then can one generation help educate another? What can Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1980), Millennials (1981-1996), and Generation Z (1997-2010) learn from and contribute to each other? After all the kingdom of God isn’t just about you and me, it’s about us. It’s generational.
Mother Groups are a great example of how generations coming together can change individual lives and even generations to come. Mother Groups are women who come together to help educate and encourage younger girls. They share life experiences with them. They speak truth to them in a world that would have them believe lies. They do practical things too in some cases teaching life skills, in others even providing feminine needs. In return, the younger girls give these older women respect and purpose at a time of life when these values can be hard to find.
The girls share stories, ask questions, and seek guidance. The sad truth is that many of these girls do not have mothers of their own. In Africa 800 die every day in childbirth. These girls are raised by sisters, aunts, uncles, other families. They need a mother in their life. Mother groups fill that void.
Will the women in Mother Groups ever see their invest in these girls provide returns? Maybe not, but that’s not the point. The point is that we were made for a relationship with God and to serve others. Mother Groups are teaching young girls about how to do both.
