Chosen 2019

A people of his own
~ 1 Peter 2:9

The Intake Camp of the CFCI Youth, Siolim, was held at Casa Pallotti, Bouta Vaddo, Assagao-Goa from May 10th to 12th 2019.

The camp theme “Chosen” describes the spiritual house God is building with Jesus as the foundation stone. Those who trust in Him are also living stones used to build the house. In addition, we individually serve as both, the priests and the spiritual sacrifices, our lives offered to the builder. Thus we must live good lives, as strangers in the world, engaging in the battle against our desire to sin, preparing to go home to be with our Father.

The camp consisted of 5 sessions held over a three-day period and was attended by youth from Siolim and Calangute. The camp began with an orientation for the parents, followed by an icebreaker, which helped the participants to get to know each other. A number of praise and action songs were introduced to them by the Music and Dance Ministries.

The first session was given by Ingrid on ‘God’s love and His plan for us‘. A small sharing was given by Andrea on how God worked in her life and God’s plan for her. The second session was about ‘Who is Jesus Christ to me?‘ This session was delivered by Carol, while Dareena shared about who Jesus is to her in her life. After every session, there was a Group Discussion(GD), where the participants were put into groups guided by their GD heads, who helped and encouraged them to share their personal experiences of how God was working in their lives, and what they took back from each session. The first day concluded with Entertainment Night that was conducted by Cylag & Sanchia. The participants thoroughly enjoyed the games, activities and action songs on the first night of the camp.

The next day began with Mass in the morning, followed by some lovely action songs led by our Music and Dance ministries followed by the Faith Walk -Trust Fall activity which was conducted by Celran, Nathan & Venito. Soon it was time for Session 3 of the camp which was about Repentance, Faith, Healing & Forgiveness. This session was conducted by Aaron followed by a testimony given by Venito.

After this was a small break which was followed by the teaching of worship songs and the Inner Healing session conducted by Ingrid. Interactive teaching on ‘free praise and songs’ was given by Brendon and the Music Ministry. Soon it was time for the participants to prepare for their Confessions before that Valisa addressed the importance of the Sacrament of Confession and examination of conscience. This was later followed by confessions and ‘one to ones‘ with their respective GD heads. The participants could freely open up about the struggles they faced in their personal lives and find support and a listening ear. The same evening was Session 4 given by Brendon on Receiving God’s Gift: The Power of the Holy Spirit, after which the participants learned how to free-praise. Many participants expressed that the pray-over session was a Christ-filled experience and they later even shared about feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit for the first time and many experienced comforts and healing too. This was followed by dinner and later on the Entertainment Night of the second day of the camp, which had a lot of games and fun conducted by Valisa & Celran.

The final day of the camp began with some energetic and exciting action songs led by the Music Ministry. Later, Myra and Avila gave a talk on personal prayer followed by letter writing, where the participants had to write a letter of appreciation, love, gratitude and concern to their parents. After this was finally time for some outdoor games, where the participants had a great time playing atta-polo, water balloon, relay games and ring, handball etc. After this was a juice break which helped us gain back our energy and to beat the summer heat. The last session of this camp ‘Growing in the Spirit‘ was addressed by Erica. Soon it was lunchtime. Post lunch, the participants’ parents joined the gathering for Mass which was followed by a Praise Fest and fellowship.

The camp would not have been successful without the help of Fr. Patrick Furtado (S.A.C), the ever helpful Seminarians, the CFCI Couples Intercessory Team, Tito Leo and Tita Teresa-our energetic Formators and the Service Team. Through this camp, the participants learned that each one is ‘Chosen’ for a purpose and many received the different Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

It was an altogether wonderful and beautiful experience for the participants as well as for the service team.