Saturday, February 25, 2012

The power of youth

I think it is quite easy in today's society to think that we aren't that important and our individual voice doesn't matter, particularly for children and young adults. I came across a nice story recently about a little girl here in England, aged 3 1/2 who'se voice sparked a change across all of Sainsbury's in the UK.

In May 2011 she wrote a letter to Sainsbury's asking why Tiger bread is named after a Tiger when it looks much more than a giraffe and should be called Giraffe bread. Three weeks later she got a letter back from Chris King Sainsbury's Customer Manager aged 27 1/3 saying that it was a great idea. Fast forward a year and add in a bit of social pressure via a group on facebook and petitions to change tiger bread to giraffe bread and what do we have....



 For anyone who doesn't know what tiger or giraffe bread is, it is a typical white bloomer loaf where rice paste has been spread on prior to baking resulting in the splotchy effect as seen here:


Anyway, I found it cute and encouraging - that a 3 year old could spark a change.

Throughout history and the bible there are so many examples of children and young adults having a big impact on society and playing big roles. For example David was a boy when he killed Goliath in the bible, Josiah became King of Judah when he was 8 years old. Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a pastor by the time he was 16! Sixteen!! Then, not only that, but by the time he was 20, his church was also the biggest in England at that time. Vince Havner "the boy preacher" started sending sermons to the newspaper at 9, was a licensed preacher at 12 and was ordained at 15 preaching for 80 years! Billy Graham as 19 when he spoke at his first meeting about what God has done for him, and has since spoken to over 90 million people across the world.

So, nothing is impossible if you don't at least try!
Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.

1 Timothy 4:12 (New Living Translation)

3 comments:

  1. Good post. Thank you for explaining what tiger/giraffe bread is.

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  2. hehe no worries! I figured not all would - I didn't know what it was before I came to England, I'd never heard of it! :)

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  3. this is a great post. something that really needs to be retold and remembered. which reminds me, i have to go to sainsbury tonight and see if i can find it!

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