"Come Discover Life," they said in Wellington, New Zealand. "You World Needs You," they told them in Melbourne, Australia. "Walk as Children of Light." That was the title of the meeting in Jobannesburg, South Africa. "Finding Our Place in the World" drew them to Perth, Australia. "Challenge '90: Living the Christianity That Heals" was the signal from Sydney.
Five meetings in July 1990, all sounded variations on a theme: young people have a significant role to play in our world—a role as healers. The meetings, sponsored by local Christian Scientists and The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, reached out to anyone between the ages of twelve and thirty. The Johannesburg meeting drew not only from South Africa but from other African nations as well, such as Zambia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi, Mauritius, Swaziland. The Australian and New Zealand meetings also invited participants from the Pacific Basin area.
Some themes and events were common to all of the meetings: discussion groups on topics ranging from relationships to the environment, talks given by young people, an opportunity to attend a Sunday church service built around the Lesson-Sermon from the Christian Science Quarterly, opportunities to see such videos as "Mary Baker Eddy: A Heart in Protest" and "A Global Voice" and to listen to tapes of shortwave broadcasts from The World Service of The Christian Science Monitor and The Herald of Christian Science. The Clerk of The Mother Church, Virginia S. Harris, spoke at each of the meetings. Of course, each planning group made room for those special times for participants to get to know each other and share.
