Melaka-Johor Diocese youths plan for the year ahead

Nov 12, 2014

By Deacon Adrian Ng
On October 19, youth leaders of Melaka-Johor Diocese attended the annual Youth Council Meeting in St Theresa’s Church. Key leaders from the English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin and Tamil apostolates participated in the meeting.

During the meeting, the youth groups reported on the many events that they had organised since October 2013. Besides weekly youth gatherings such as praise and worship, youth BEC and sports events; camps like Kem Emmanuel (Bahasa), CHOICE Weekend (Tamil & Mandarin), Persons are Gifts (English & Mandarin) and Youth Encounter (Tamil) were organised to deepen the faith of our youth. The English Apostolate highlighted their leadership programme Project David as instrumental in training future leaders among the youth. The delegates were encouraged by the Tamil Apostolate’s revamp and of their hospital visits. Another interesting project was Project S by the Mandarin speaking youth of St Theresa’s Malacca. ‘S’ stands for ‘study’ and youths were encouraged to pray and study for their exams; free tuition was also provided for those in need.

Being with other youth groups allowed the leaders to share their ideas and ask for advice to solve their problems. Three of the delegates who went for the Asian Youth Day shared their moving experience, especially in walking the trail of the martyrs. The upcoming diocesan and international level events such as mission trips, Malaysian Catholic Campus Student Day, MJD Youth Day and vocation camps were also presented. All youth groups were encouraged to work together to ensure the success of these events.

As requested by Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium, the Youth Ministry of Melaka-Johor diocese is focused on reaching out to make disciples of all nations. Our meeting this year helped to keep us in one mind and spirit in building the kingdom of God here on earth. Let us all strive to be extraordinary youth, shining in Christ’s glory.