Pastor Marcel Balootje has delivered a pointed message on what he believes Aruba’s youth truly need — and he began not with the young people themselves, but with their parents.
“Not all young people are bad, not all young people are violent,” Balootje said, citing 2 Timothy 3:1-5, before turning to what he described as the root of the problem: the behavior of parents.
He pointed to broken marriages, single mothers and irresponsible fathers, arguing that many parents today are more interested in putting on a “parental show” — trying to be younger than their own children — than in living up to their responsibilities.
“They want to live their lives and put their responsibility as parents aside,” he said, adding that the example parents set in word and attitude leaves much to be desired.
Balootje posed a series of rhetorical questions: Who should a young person look to, if parents hold the God-given mandate to raise their children decently, as Proverbs 22:6 teaches? And who is supposed to correct a child — the crèche, the school, the police, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, a psychologist, or the parents themselves?
A parent who truly loves their child must correct that child, he said, and not let things get out of hand. “You cannot indulge a child so much; do not spoil the child.”
He argued it is impossible to raise children in a home without God, insisting that God comes first. He asked what example a child receives when disrespect and violence are constant at home, and how young people are supposed to live when parents fail in their duty to care for the household and their children — when what dominates instead is partying, drunkenness and mischief.
Balootje also addressed the familiar saying “Mi mes ta mama, mi mes ta tata” — “I am both mother and father” — saying the phrase must change where there is no father in the home: single mothers should ask God for help to be the father of their children.
He criticized what he called a modern trend of having children outside of marriage, with each partner then going their own way — leaving the young person to fend for themselves as well.
“The value of marriage and family must come back. Prayer must come back into the home. We must return to the Lord’s path, as a family,” he said.
He warned parents not to let the internet be their child’s mentor and not to raise a “digital child,” urging them to pay real, physical attention to their children.
“Keep in mind that spiritual life begins at home, and not in church,” he said. “If there is no good instruction at home, there is no respect anywhere.”
He added that when speaking with young people today, adults must use clear, understandable and respectful language — so that the young receive respect in return.
Balootje closed with scriptural anchors — Ephesians 6:1-2, Colossians 3:20, 1 Peter 5:8, John 10:10 and 1 Corinthians 15:33 — and a final line: “Your conduct is your passport, your license for life, your key to the future.”
Source: 24ora
