Welcome
to the Garden City :-)
The
National team reconstitution that happened in December 2013 has a
special occasion in my life. God gave me an extraordinary
responsibility to lead the Jesus Youth movement in India for three
years. Saying a “Yes” to this was no easy task for me. I was very
nervous to take on this huge responsibility.
However,
I knew, just like the apostles I had to call upon the Lord for help
and the rest would be taken care of. It was this assurance that I
received from above that helped me set forth on this mission. I
could experience the Holy Spirit guiding my sails, setting me in
motion, and leading me toward unknown territories of faith. As I
moved forward, the beauty and majesty of the movement received me
with open arms.
While
traveling to different parts of India, I encountered several
truehearted souls who continue to contribute in unique ways to build
this movement by investing time, money, energy and talents. Each one
contributing beyond his/her own capacity. The guidance that we
receive from the bishops, priests, sisters and other senior leaders
are very inspiring. It is their guidance and the selfless efforts of
every Jesus Youth what makes our movement what it is today. I am
greatly moved and touched by your efforts to build the kingdom of God
and I assure each one of you that God will bless you in a very
special way.
During
the last three years we worked together to build His kingdom in our
nation. We did it with a spirit of faith, hope and love.
Moreover,
to make this journey a more meaningful, the national council had
identified 5 core areas that the movement in India focused on.
Together, as one big family, worked on these areas to get closer to
God.
The
experiences of the previous National Evaluation Meetings in Chennai
and in Mumbai were a time of good learning. The involvement and
contributions of leaders from different parts of the nation was a
great experience. It was those vision defining meetings which set the
momentum for the movement in India for all our activities.
And
now we the chosen group of Jesus Youth leaders from across India have
gathered together for National Assembly 2016
There
are two tasks for this assembly
Election
of the National Council
Feedback,
evaluation and future planning for
a time of reflection, for a time to count the blessings, to examine
our steps and to discern for a right direction from the Lord.
This
national assembly should not be just a time of evaluating our
activities, it is a time of joyful being together, it is a time of
being with leaders from different regions and it is a time of
learning from each other.
What
makes this learning even more enriching is the active presence of
priests, sisters, elders and senior leaders. The interaction with the
senior leaders and the leaders from other region will certainly help
us broaden our perspectives.
I
pray that all the learning that we
will have in the next two days will help us work together to build
His kingdom in our regions and ministries. We shall do it with a
spirit of faith, hope and love. I have deep hope
in what we can accomplish together with God’s grace as we
confidently plan our future as a Jesus Youth family.
Shoy Thomas
