Learning to face life’s challenges

Dec 06, 2019

South Johore Youth Rally
Teenagers and young adults attended a rally which focused on building an integrated Catholic personality able to face challenges in all facets of life.

Themed Acts 29 – We Are the Next Chapter, organised by the Young Adults of the Church of the Immaculate Conception (CIC), it was held at Majodi Centre November 22-24.

The 116 participants came from seven churches from South Johor. Their purpose was the deepening of their relationship with God to discover the call for evangelisation.

The participants were called to reflect on the Love of God and to respond to it by their actions and lives.

The session started with Mervin Ratnasingam welcoming the participants and asking them to stand up and take charge of the youth ministries in their parishes.

Mervin elaborated on the catechesis of creation and original sin and showed how a poor understanding of the foundational truths of Christianity could lead to a distorted relationship and understanding of God.

His wife, Lydia Lim, spoke on the theme Enlightened by Christ the King. She walked listeners through their life journey, highlighting in the process key points: How we react when we are disappointed and broken; what Christ reveals to us in the scripture and in the Eucharist; and what happens after the encounter with Christ.

The youths were then separated into groups for a discussion on their understanding of the account of the apostles’ journey with Jesus to Emmaus, a salient experience in their comprehension of what Jesus’ life and teachings  meant to them and how this empowers them for evangelisation.

Another speaker, Felicia Samuel, shared her testimony of her own “journey of Emmaus” with Jesus.

She said, “There is something deeper that God wants to impart into the lives of the youths, which is their identity in Christ.”

She also shared on how she overcame the challenges in her own life as a youth, growing in her faith and relationship with Jesus.

Lydia then encouraged the youths to reflect  on their relationship with Jesus and what their personal journey to Emmaus is.

Speaking on Empowered to reign over the challenges by young people and in the youth ministry, Jeremy Gavin shared on the challenges that our young people encounter today, such as social media, sexuality and apathy, and also the challenges encountered in the Youth Ministries.

Jeremy also shared on the realities of these challenges and how the influence of the world is very strong on youths today, that God’s truth and love can be easily ignored.

He said, “The young people can face up to these challenges with the grace of Jesus Christ the King, by being deeply rooted in the Word of God and trusting in His time and will.” The session ended with the young people identifying ways that they can make a difference in their own youth ministries and communities. Participants acknowledged that despite the challenges ahead, with God at the forefront, all things are possible.

Empowerment and Evangelising

Empowered in our Relationship
In another session on Empowered in our relationship (Boy-Girl Relationship) Mervin and Lydia presented on the dignity of being male and female, and the importance of appreciating how men and women are wired differently and how these differences will show up in our relationships.

They went on to share what love truly means. To emphasise these points and give the youths a real life example, they invited Donald and Fidelis Culas to share on their relationship and their journey of 31 years together.

Empowered in our Sexuality
Mervin and Lydia also spoke on Empowered in our sexuality: Upholding the gift of sexuality in which they elaborated on what God’s design for our sexuality wasand how the world has distorted the constructs of sex and sexuality.

They gave a glimpse on how social media and the movies glorified sex outside of marriage and how, as Christians, we need to uphold and honour God’s gift of sexuality and to preserve ourselves for marriage.

They went on to clear up the myths our parents shared with us about sex when we were growing up.

They addressed important points on the Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality, pornography and masturbation. They created a safe space for the youths to ask questions and about sex the correct way.

Evangelising for Christ: Evangelising the next Chapter
The session on Evangelising for Christ: evangelising the next chapter, Lydia, Jeremy and Felicia helped the youths find solutions to rejuvenate their youth groups in their respective parishes.

Lydia said, “How do we put God at the forefront of our lives and ground ourselves in the word of God and use our talents and time wisely to be able to serve the Church.” She added that it is vital to take what we have learnt throughout this camp and put it to use.