Youth Counselor Mentorship Program

Summer of Service

My name is Jalal Mohtashami. I am proud to have served as a member of the Bahá’í Youth Service Corps at Louhelen Bahá’í School. “Keep Flues Clean” is an inscription in the fireplace of the Refuge, Louhelen’s Prayer Room, and to us it symbolizes our constant efforts to develop selflessness in our service. It is about clearing out the soot of racism, materialism, lethargy, and immorality; it demands that we develop regular habits of spiritual cleanliness.

I also had the bounty of serving as a counselor for some of Louhelen’s Institutes for children, junior youth, and youth, and was able to contribute to the spiritual development of the participants. During the Youth Eagle Institute, for example, the youth participants took on active roles of leadership by planning an activity day for the local children. Some friends of the Faith were so impressed by the love the youth showed their grandchildren that they decided to become trained as children's class teachers.

Louhelen, as part of its constant development of the youth who serve and attend its programs, hosts summer-long programs called “Keep Flues Clean: Youth Mentorship.” Keep Flues Clean: Youth Mentorship is about developing selflessness and discipline so that we youth can become channels for the Divine Spirit to flow through into active patterns of service. It is the constant nurturing of our fellow youth as well as children and junior youth. That’s why we will call ourselves Youth Mentors.

All Youth Mentors serve together. At times some serve as counselors for participants and others serve as part of the Service Corps, actively supporting the counselors. All work together to create a spiritually engaging experience for the participants of the Louhelen Institutes. At other times in the summer, when we aren’t holding Institutes that need counselors, we’re engaged in study to enrich our devotion and strengthen our service; practicing the skills we learn in service to the nearby Flint community; and continuing to serve the participants of the Louhelen Summer Sessions. I am very happy to have been a part of this ever-developing community of Youth Mentors, and would encourage all the youth to do likewise and learn. You don't have to travel the world to become a leader in the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. Come to Louhelen and learn together to be Invincible Champions of Justice!