What is the JYSEP?

The Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program (JYSEP) seeks to inspire young people, parents, and community members to work together toward a better world. Over the past 20 years, the program has grown from a small grassroots program in Puerto Tejada, Columbia to now being found in countless cities, towns, neighborhoods and villages in more than 150 countries around the world.

The Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program trains teens and young adults to mentor younger peers aged 11 to 15.

Each week, mentors and junior youth put their heads together to study materials based around moral and spiritual concepts and talk about how to navigate a complex world, resist negative forces in their lives, and promote social progress.

Trainings and ongoing support help teens and young adults learn and grow as mentors for the program. In the groups they are helped to start, they engage participants in meaningful conversations, arts and crafts, and youth-led service projects. Mentors also build friendships with parents and gain practical skills such as lesson planning and coordination.

Inspired and sponsored by the Baha’i Faith, the program thrives through the participation and contribution of people from diverse backgrounds and is open to all.

Junior Youth Groups

The Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program is organized around the concept of a junior youth group.

"They are being given the tools needed to combat the forces that would rob them of their true identity as noble beings... "

Elements

Junior youth groups meet once a week, though sometimes more, typically over a three year period and study materials that have been specifically developed for ages between eleven and fifteen. 

Studying occupies only a portion of the time the junior youth spend together. During the rest of the time, groups consult on and plan service projects, participate in sports, and engage in cultural activities, such as drama and crafts, suited to their immediate surroundings. 

In addition to these weekly meetings, groups attend special events and undertake acts of service to the community.

Environment

The group offers a space in which the junior youth can develop patterns of thought and behavior that will characterize them throughout their lives and understand the world around them.

The atmosphere of these groups strives to be joyous and friendly where the junior youth can enhance those qualities and attributes that a life of service to humanity requires. In such a setting, the members of the group, free from the fear of criticism or ridicule, can express their thoughts on complex questions.

They learn to listen, to speak, to reflect, to analyze, to make decisions, and to act on them.

Become an animator

What is an animator

We call facilitators of junior youth groups 'animators' because their role is to bring joy and life into the activities of the group. An animator serves as a true friend and wise advisor to the junior youth, and is careful to not act in a paternalistic way. Animators must relate to the junior youth not as children, but as young people with capacity and a growing ability to contribute to building a new society. The group must foster conditions that inspire service to the community, while making sure that an attitude of self-centeredness is not evoked. Their interactions with the parents of the junior youth must nurture a collaborative spirit and attempt to extend the positive environment of the group into the home and community. 

The effect of the program on the animators has been equally significant. Many find that the concepts and conversations they hold with the junior youth inspire them to lead a more integrated and joyful life. Animators find that as they grow in their own ability to reflect noble qualities and live principles of justice, honesty, and love, the effectiveness of their service increases.

Qualities of an animator

Typically an animator is an older youth, aged 15-30, but it is not limited to that age group.  However, junior youth tend to look up to youth and repeat behaviors of those youth they see around them. Since youth are closest to that stage of life they can relate to a lot of the feelings, problems and emotions that the junior youth are experiencing and likely have practical tools to work through circumstances that may arise.

An effective facilitator of these groups is patient and willing to treat the junior youth with the same kindness, respect and love which they would treat someone their same age. Animators are careful to not treat them as less important or less valuable than an adult member of society.

It is important to have confidence to facilitate group discussions and the flexibility to incorporate the ideas and desires of all the group members. Humility is needed to engage in a process of community development characterized by action, reflection, consultation and research. It is important to be consistent with attendance to the junior youth group as the junior youth, their families and the other facilitator you are working with rely on you to be there.

How to become an animator

In order to become an animator, you participate in a training geared to build capacity to work with junior youth. The training focuses on personal growth and looks at the potential of this age group, the important and unique role of an animator, and some practical skills, such as lesson planning, encouraging desirable behavior, and establishing bonds of friendship with parents of junior youth.

Animators are accompanied to start new groups and are helped during the group's first few meetings by program coordinators or experienced animators. They also participate in periodic gatherings of animators to receive continual support and work together to enhance the overall program.

History

The junior youth program began in Dallas in 2009 with the first groups starting in Vickery Meadow....following 

Over the years, the program has grown to include 100 junior youth in groups throughout the city of Dallas.

Inspiration

A BAHA'I-INSPIRED PROGRAM STRIVES TO RAISE CONSCIOUSNESS TO HIGHER LEVELS.

The junior youth spiritual empowerment program, a Baha'i-inspired endeavor, draws upon an evolving conceptual framework of Baha'i principles. Though the moral concepts in the materials that the junior youth study are inspired by these teachings, they are not religious in nature, nor do they treat subjects that are explicitly Baha'i. Our vision is not teach and enforce the laws and teachings within the group, but rather to use the profound moral standards outlined within it to strengthen in friends the will to take charge of their own development and contribute to the progress of their communities.

The materials used in the program incorporate spiritual and moral themes that promote such a process of transformation. Further, the texts include not only readings, but also exercises that address language skills, critical analysis and higher thought processes, moral values, and social action.

Baha'i's see that the crucial need facing humanity is to find a unifying vision of the future of society and of the nature and purpose of life. Such a vision unfolds in the writings of Baha'u'llah.

Baha'i's believe that throughout history, God has sent to humanity a series of divine Educators—known as Manifestations of God—whose teachings have provided the basis for the advancement of civilization. These Manifestations have included Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. Baha'u'llah, the latest of these Educators, explained that the religions of the world come from the same Source and are in essence successive chapters of one religion from God.