My keynote during Jesus Youth National Assembly 2016

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