YBC changes the heart and future of a child
Jezuela is a rambunctious girl who exudes the joy of a child who knows Jesus. Rarely a moment passes when a smile is not stretched from ear to ear. Her dark brown eyes sparkle as she speaks about her favorite YBC lesson - the resurrection of Jesus, who she’s quickly grown to love.
“I like very much that God died because he wanted to save us from our suffering. He didn’t have to suffer on the cross – He’s God. But he did because He loves us,” says Jezuela.
The lessons she has learned about the life of Jesus Christ have influenced her future goals.
“After I read the Youth Bible Curriculum, I decided I want to be an archaeologist. I want to dig up ancient things everywhere that show stories from the Bible,” says Jezuela. “Since YBC, I have a greater desire to learn Bible things. I am searching to learn more.”
“After I read the Youth Bible Curriculum, I decided I want to be an archaeologist. I want to dig up ancient things everywhere that show stories from the Bible,” says Jezuela
When asked what she would like to change about the program, she shakes her head adamantly and says, “I like everything. I don’t want to change anything – not one thing,”
Every Monday, Jezuela and her eight-year-old brother, Stvro, join about 25 other children to learn about Christianity using YBC. They gather around wooden tables set within the historic St. Vladmir Monastery, where doors once shut by communist soldiers now invite the community to the richness of the Orthodox Christian tradition. .
Jezuela sits among Albania’s newest generation of believers. Until the early 90s, her parents, like those of the other children, were forbidden to believe in anything other than the communist regime.
“I was a Christian before I read YBC, but now I have a bigger desire to learn more about our God and the stories that are in His book. I also behave better now towards my brother and parents,” she says.
“I was a Christian before I read YBC, but now I have a bigger desire to learn more about our God and the stories that are in His book. I also behave better now towards my brother and parents,” she says
Jezuela’s father, Ilir, 35, mother, Alma, 28, and grandmother, Maria, 64, praise YBC for the positive impact it has had on both Jezuela and Stvro. They are not only more obedient children; they are more faithful followers of Christ.
“But what is most special is that they come home and teach us what they learned in YBC. I am old, but I have learned something!” says Maria.
Each night, Jezuela and Stvro pray prayers they learned from YBC books.
“I really like learning prayer. I pray to behave well,” says Stvo.
Jezuela and Strvo also went to their first confessions as a result of YBC lessons, which taught them about repentance.
Maria rejoices in the opportunity her grandchildren have to learn about their faith. She recalls a time of much less freedom, when she was forced to practice her Christianity in secret.
For nearly six decades Albanians were denied their right to believe in God or adhere to any type of religion. Christians, who primarily observed the Orthodox tradition, suffered intense persecution. Their churches were either destroyed or converted into bases for the communist regime, as in the case of St. Vladimir Monastery.
When the regime fell in Albania, missionaries streamed into the country to help restore the Church. They collected Bibles and curriculum from other countries and Christian traditions, which they translated into the Albanian language. Yet these materials were neither designed for children nor related well to Orthodoxy.
Six years ago, YBC began filling this void in children’s Bible curriculum not only in Albania, but in other former communist countries as well. The books have been contextualized to reflect the culture and traditions unique to each country. While the text largely remains the same, the artwork, for example, varies to include each country’s most revered saints and iconography.
YBC pedagogy uses a student-centered approach centered on discovery, interaction and application. Learning through discovery helps children learn though involvement and their own experiences, rather than receiving a truth that is handed down by the teacher, which is the traditional teaching method.
“YBC is designed for children. The way it explains the different themes of the Orthodox faith makes it easy for the children to understand,” says Ekaterina Papadhopuli, World Vision Albania’s Christian commitment manager.
YBC is designed for children. The way it explains the different themes of the Orthodox faith makes it easy for the children to understand
The curriculum is a series of age-specific books designed to have long-term impact on both children and their families.
“We want children to be able to transmit their faith to their children,” says Ekaterina.
World Vision is partnering with Churches of the Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant tradition in various countries to produce YBC materials and train the teachers who use it.
YBC now exists in Albania, Armenia, Bosnia, Lebanon, Georgia, Romania and Russia.