It was 3 a.m. A young girl was hammering at our front door.
‘You have to pray with me!’
The father of her baby had just been stabbed by his best friend over money. Because he was a drug user, the medical staff at the hospital couldn’t stop him bleeding. So he died on the operating table.

He was just Nineteen years old.

If your idea of ‘youth work’ is a cosy club on Friday nights with tuck shop and table football, think again. Young people today are facing choices and challenges never heard of a generation ago. Drink, drugs, and chaotic home lives mean that many give up on school or face exclusion.

Youth workers today find they are called on to be a mix of mentor, teacher and encourager.

One such team of youth workers is based in a deprived area of inner city Bradford. e:merge is a Christian youth work organisation whose aim is to inspire young people to improve their lives – beginning at their point of need and helping them to realise their potential.

e:merge has regular contact with over 500 young people both inside and outside school hours. Based in a converted church, the project receives funds from grant making bodies, some individuals, and local and national government contracts.Team leader Jan de Villiers and his wife Sharon have pioneered the project for over 14 years. He tells Challenge readers of some of the joys and frustrations of his role.

'‘I felt strongly that I wanted to work with young people in the urban context.I don’t think there’s any question that working here is more than a job. You can call it a vocation, a calling, a lifestyle – whatever. The point is you can’t do it as purely a nine-to-five.We work in an area where aspirations are so low. Young people are growing up in houses where 2 or 3 generations of parents haven’t worked.We deliver the kind of youth club activities but more importantly we enter into a relationship with the young people to move them on.

We provide employment programmes; help them find work and access education. We work in schools with young people close to exclusion and then, of course, we have a substantial youth congregation. A number of them will move over to exploring faith and what it means to have a relationship with God.'

Jan explains how it started for him.

'I grew up in a Christian home on a farm in South Africa. I went into the police force for four years. I made a serious commitment to making Jesus the Lord of my life – that means all of it and I would do whatever he tells me to do.'

Jan joined a Christian mission which took him first to Bradford and then Montreal, Canada, where he not only gained valuable experience but also met Sharon, an English teacher. Three years later they began married life.

The couple still live and work in Bradford with their two children.The reason that Sharon and I are here, the reason why others who work here stay, is that if we didn’t stand up for these people, who will Jan, Sharon and their team know that there are no quick fixes. They’re in it for the long haul.

'We firmly believe that God is a long-term God,' says Jan.
Many things about the lifestyle we have chosen are hard, and many things about the way we are perceived by others – including the church – are difficult and frustrating. But when you reckon it up, being here with young people and becoming someone who is a positive influence on their lives is a privilege. It’s amazing to see, when a person starts to realise that the way they have messed up their lives is not permanent, without any possibility of turning round. They have hope; they have forgiveness; they can change. You can’t put a value on that. It may be hard, but it’s not a hardship.'

So do they see Jesus through you?

'We very much believe in that. I think it was St Francis of Assisi who said “Preach the gospel in all the world, and when necessary use words.” That it is very strong in our ethos. We’re not shying away from preaching the gospel, but we very much believe that we are the book that these young people read. We live here; we are part of their community. We want to show them that Christ is real and he brings change into our situation.'