A Time to Love

For us youth, it is very rare to find a knowledgeable someone who is willing to guide us and talk to us about the finer aspects of our lives; and anyone who has ever been a teen will know what a trying stage of life it is. Every National Youth Conference (NYC) I have attended has taught me a great deal more than I knew and this NYC was no different.

The NYC 2011 ‘A Time to Love’ was hosted for the first time ever by Gujarat at Zaroli and was attended by almost 500 participants. It was wonderful to see so many people of different ages from different backgrounds come together at this NYC, some to work at making it the amazing experience it was and others to partake of this amazing experience.

The entire three days were filled with various activities, competitions, talks and a chance to bond with and get to know our brothers and sisters from all over the country. The talks were interesting and intriguing; they managed to convey to me exactly what it means to love and what it means to be loved. The talks opened my eyes to what is God’s plan for us. All the four talks at the NYC served to open my eyes to what God’s plan for love is. It helped me realize the important role that love plays in our lives and the importance of the people who love us. The open forum was another part of the conference that was extremely enlightening. It is not every day that there is a well informed panel of people there to answer all our questions.

Partying to folk music from all over India was an entirely new and novel experience for me and to see all the youth, no matter where they were from, dance and have fun as one big family, gave me an uplifting feeling of unity. The various activities, games and competitions held through the course of the three days gave me a platform to discover my God-given talents that I would have otherwise never have known of.

Even though I am part of CFCI-Youth, I know that I still need the constant support of the CFCI family and opportunities like the NYC are just what uplifts me and keeps me focused on the right and away from the wrong. At the end of the three days I came back refreshed, full of God’s grace and my new found knowledge of love and lots of new friends.