Meeting of South Asian Youth Ministry Team
The annual meeting of Youth Ministry Delegates and Members of the Province Youth Ministry Team for the region of South Asia was held from 1-4 November 2020. It was conducted through ZOOM. The animation was done by Fr Miguel Angel Garcia, the Councillor for Youth Ministry and Fr Patrick, the Team member. The Province of Guwahati was represented by Fr. Joseph Teron, (Youth Ministry Delegate of the Province), Fr. Francis Hembrom (Education to Faith Dimension), Fr. John Parankimalil (PD) (Education and Culture Dimension), Fr. Cletus Sebastian (Social Experience Dimension).
The main themes of sharing and discussion were: The post reflection of ‘face to face’ meeting, Educative Pastoral Keys to read GC 28, The Road Map of Youth Ministry Team 2020-2025, and the real situation of Salesian Youth Movement.
51 Salesians from the South Asian Provinces participated and interacted in the sessions. The report of the DBYA 2019-2020 was released by Fr Miguel Garcia in the concluding session. In his concluding words, Fr Miguel summarised the four days meeting in three recommendations:
- Simple, clear and flexible structures of Youth Ministry
- Vocational ministry is the crown of Youth Ministry
- Salesian Youth Movement is to be strengthened at the local, provincial levels and to be made visible at the regional level.
The 4-day virtual meeting with Fr. Miguel Angel Garcia was a learning experience for all the participants. Fr. Patrick Rosaria was the key organiser who did a good job. It was suggested that formation of the supportive team was very essential. This team consists of Director, zonal directors, married youth leaders, youth counsellors etc. This team will ensure the continuity of the spirit of the movement and help in the process of formation and functioning of the groups. The key words were formation, visibility, networking and coordination. The young will be the protagonists and they will lead us.
