Thirty students attended the annual World Vision Youth Conference at the Brisbane Convention Centre in early June 2017. A mountaineer who had recently scaled Mount Everest opened the conference. He captivated the students with his story of endurance—and then revealed that it was all a hoax! He was simply a World Vision field worker. His convincing story stunned the students.

He challenged the students about believing what they hear about refugees without knowing the facts. With the advent of the term ‘fake news’, it was a timely reminder for the students to know the true story behind a refugee before casting judgment.

The focus for World Vision this year is the Syrian refugee crisis, which has seen millions displaced across Europe and the world. Students gained key insights into their role as global leaders and were inspired by stories from the founders of social enterprises Thankyou Water and Taboo. Each student was gifted a book called Chapter One, written by the founder of Thankyou Water.

Northside alumni are leading the way in this field, and no doubt, our new crop of young leaders are already dreaming of how their lives can make a difference. Sudanese refugee Abe Nouk asked the students to find their ‘why’ and allow it to guide their vocational choices. A timely reminder to us all.

Image Credit: IFRC, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0