CFCI Bangalore held its first youth camp, “Do you wanna to Discover Jesus? (DJ)” from 31st Oct to 2nd Nov 2014 primarily for the youth of “Our Lady of Sacred Hearts” Church.
Once the catchy music and dance drew them in, they were introduced to three days of fun, laughter and an opportunity to start an intimate relationship with God. The icebreakers, “as we walk to the left” helped them get to know each other and warmed them up for the first talk “God’s Love and His plan for us“, where they learnt that God cares for them and holds on to them like a father holding his child and that he is always there to look after them and desires to have an intimate relationship with them.
This was followed by a small time of rosary where the participants were lead in a procession through the campus, another game and the second talk, “Who is Jesus Christ to me?” where they learnt that sin separated them form the Father’s love, but Christ suffered and died to bridge that gap between them and the Father.
The next day the participants woke up to some vibrant music and recap of talk 2 for group discussion where they were able to discuss various topics related to the talk, followed by a talk on “Repentance, Faith, Healing and Forgiveness“. This was followed by a small skit showed them the effects of sin and the power of prayer to overcome it. They were then led into a time of healing.
While the youth already knew about confession, a session on it helped them clear a few doubts they had before they were given time to examine their conscience and make a good confession. The ‘One to One‘ discussions helped them open up about different areas they struggled in, while the collage that they prepared simultaneously helped them consolidate all that they learnt in a creative way.
Participants were then introduced to “Receiving God’s Gift: The Power of the Holy Spirit” after a game on how to free praise. During the pray over, they were encouraged to surrender their lives to God and ask Him to stir up His Spirit in them. By the end of the day, each of them had a unique experience to share, where they experienced a sense of peace and knew well that they had experienced God. Another night of games helped them cool down after a very eventful day.
On Sunday the youth were encouraged to live their lives in union with God and in the power of His Spirit in the talk “Growing in the Holy Spirit“. A time was set apart where they wrote letters to their parents, which were then exchanged after lunch when their parents arrived. Before mass the participants came up and testified before everyone their experience during the program, how their perspective of God has changed and that they would like to continue on this journey that had begun. The three day camp came to finale with a beautiful sermon during mass by the parish priest of Our Lady of Sacred Hearts church Rev. Fr. Charles Babu and a time of fellowship with parents.
Through the camp, God truly worked in every individual. It is by His grace that we were and will be able to take every step in Discovering Him.
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