In Jesus Youth, why is this emphasis on Self-awareness? (BJRE009)
In Jesus Youth, why is an emphasis on Self-awareness?
(By Dr. Edward Edezhath - Published in Kairos Magazine in 2018)
One of the first memorable training sessions in the movement was held by Fr. Gino Henriques in January 1982. At that time, he was the National Service Team (NST) Chairman of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in India. He was a well-known management specialist and leadership trainer. After taking up his responsibility in the NST, he started challenging different teams to streamline their vision and working style. His historic sitting with the Kerala Service Team in September 1981 resulted in appointing a working team to formulate a vision for youth coordination. One of the main suggestions of the working team was to give comprehensive training for the youth leadership.
The first Self-awareness program
This path-breaking leaders training was held from 22nd to 26th January 1982 at CRC Manjummel, near Cochin. About a hundred select youth from all parts of the state came for the training. Kerala was already divided into 14 areas or zones, each with a coordination setup, including a team. These zonal teams selected the participants, and they were asked to meet and come prepared with a dramatic presentation when they came for the training. The idea was that they would already know one another in a creative setting and look forward to some activity during the bigger gathering.
The four-day training mainly focused on self-awareness, and this was an eye-opener for all. Until that time, the programs were mainly Bible-based theological reflections and music-rich prayer sessions, but Fr Gino’s approach was more of self-analysis with a firm basis on the Bible and psychology. During the sessions, every ten or fifteen minutes, we would go into buzz groups to share and listen to the bits of insights we had. Indirectly, this brought in a lot of personal openness and also very effective community building. Those days were so very enjoyable and insightful. In the Charismatic Retreats of those days, there was already a practice of setting apart one session for emotional or inner healing, often followed by an adoration to pray over past hurt experiences. The present training was somewhat similar but with greater breadth and depth.
Some of the insights from this training have been used so often during the ensuing years, as well as all of Jesus Youth programs: People are unsteady and vacillate in life because they lack self-awareness. God experience has to deepen through times of reflection and reworking of personal life through growing awareness. Who am I? We have to ask this question continuously. I am unique. But from our early childhood, we are often compared with others, and we, too, compare ourselves with others. This often results in feelings of inferiority and unhealthy competition. The antidote: remember that the loving Father has created us in His ‘image and likeness’; each of us is very special and beautiful. Discover that beauty. When we learn to accept ourselves, we will accept others as well. This self-acceptance is thus the basis of healthy mutual love. The Discovery of my specialty and the gifts the Lord has given me, in turn, leads to finding out my special call in life. We build communities and ministries by discovering our personal charisms and connecting them with the gifts of others around us.
The follow-up training
The four-day program was so life-changing that everyone who learned about it wanted to undergo such training. As Fr Gino was the main resource person, all the sessions had to be in English. Still, as most leaders were from rural areas with no proficiency in English, there was also an immediate need to have one program in the vernacular, Malayalam. Among the people who attended the January training, a few got together to prepare for another leader's training in the same manner as the first one.
The Malayalam self-awareness training was held in July 1982 at S H College, Thevara, and about 250 people from all parts of Kerala attended. Several participants from the first program helped in the second training as resource persons and volunteers. They were all very actively involved in everything from provision buying to cooking, serving, and washing. In other words, the whole program had an atmosphere of a joyful family setting. This rich ambiance and very effective sessions made the program another milestone in building the state's Charismatic youth network.
One unexpected outcome of the July ’82 training was forming the ‘First Line Group’. With the help of our senior team member C C Alicekutty, I made a list of 18 very active leaders who organized the training and asked each of them if they were interested in forming a committed fellowship that will grow together and does ministry. They all eagerly agreed. The group started meeting on the third weekend of every month. This group continued to meet for about 5 years and laid the foundations of the fast-growing network, which, in a couple of years, began to be called the Jesus Youth movement.
An attitude and a life orientation
After the initial rapport-building time of the First Line, we thought of giving training to the growing ranks of leaders in the movement. In early 1983, a team prepared a four-day training package. It was called the KYP – Know Yourself Program. The twin emphases of this formation initiative were self-awareness and leadership training. Here, our emphasis was also on imparting an attitude of reflection and a joyful lifestyle. The input sessions were broken into short reflections followed by quick buzz group sharing. The whole training was the outreach of a big, joyful team with no place for experts and ‘visitor-speakers.’ There were a lot of sing-along times, games, and discovery journeys. The prayer sessions and training in the use of charisms of the Spirit gave much spiritual depth to these life-related youthful learning times. For a crowd very much used to talk-filled charismatic missions, this was a surprising as well as life-transforming time of change.
All this happened almost 35 years ago. But that surely set the tone and style of a movement. This was a shift from ‘preaching’ to ‘reflection’. Often, spiritual instruction can be others telling us what we have to do.’ After a time, this ‘others telling us’ can create some puppets of believers. But a reflective culture helps me ask who I am, who the Lord is, and where I must go. Difficult questions may arise in the path of such a search, but openness and loving fellowship will lead to a richer life of faith and commitment.
This topic and the dynamics of self-awareness have continued to build the Jesus Youth movement. In its different shades, the topic finds a place in almost all training. This reflective cum awareness dynamics has built the very foundations of Jesus Youth. Personalizing one’s faith and emphasizing a daily personal growth plan has led to the idea of the six pillars. Starting with the 1982 Self-Awareness Training, the formation programs have become quite creative and very much out of the rut. Since then, there has been a clear emphasis on finding my personal call and preparing for my unique mission. The topic and the life orientation of self-awareness should always enrich lives in the movement.
Comments
Post a Comment