Why I love Boys’ Clubs!

I love boys’ clubs! I love boys’ clubs because they are authentic!

I love boys’ clubs because not just bad things happen in boys’ clubs!

Good things can also happen in boys’ clubs.

Boys clubs are not just a place for mischief but they can also be a place for character development and positive role modeling.

Once upon a time there lived four teenage boys who were abducted from their country and taken to a far away land.

They were taken away from their land because of a mistake that was not of their making. Actually, they were abducted because the people of their land refused to listen to wise counsel from the wise men of the land.

The people had been warned severally that if they refused to change their ways, their enemies would conquer their land and they would be taken into captivity. The king, his officials, priests and prophets had gone against the established law which had sustained them for years.

The prophets accused the people of prostitution, marital unfaithfulness, murder, partiality in passing judgment, corruption and worship of unknown gods.

So the four teenage boys – Dano, Shadi, Mish, Abed – found themselves in a foreign land.

The king of that land gave them new names in order to brainwash them and make them forget their land and their God.

One time the king put up a statue and ordered that all people should worship the statue of gold. Those who failed to do so would be thrown into a blazing furnace.

But Dano's friends refused to bow down to the golden image. They continued to worship their God just like they used to do before they went to exile. For this defiance, they were thrown into the blazing furnace but their God saved them. Dano himself was thrown into a den of lions for refusing to worship the king. God rescued him and the lions did not kill him.

What does this have to do with boys’ clubs?

Well, Dano and his 'boys' did what many in their circumstance would not have done. Their being together, kind of in a club, was for support. They withstood pressure from the king. They did not denounce their God even when their lives were in danger. They would simply have given in to pressure from the king and saved their lives. But they did not choose this soft option.

They exerted positive peer pressure on each other. They encouraged each other. When they were under pressure, they stood their ground and made tough, but wise decisions. They did not allow themselves to be carried away by temporary pleasures offered by the king.

The story of the boys’ club is the story of Daniel and his friends found in the book of Daniel in the Bible. They excelled in all they did. Their coming together brought the best out of them.

Daniel 1:20 says: “In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom”.

The lives of the four boys became a witness to the king and after observing them for a while, the king proclaimed in Daniel 3:28a, 29: “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego…Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way”.

What a testimony from a pagan king! The four teenage boys did not disappoint. Their attitude and resolve helped to change the attitude and heart of a pagan king!

So, boys clubs can also help to shape our character and be a place for positive influence. A coming together of young people does not necessarily mean that it must always end in a scandal.

We can have positive things happening when young people come together.

That is why I love boys’ clubs.