A small Report

Campus Vibes ’09 – the National Campus Leaders’ training was a really blessing for the Campus Ministry. The programme which was held at Athmadarshan, Aluva, Kerala from 2009, May 30 – June 7, had a participation of 31 campus leaders from 9 states of India. It has certainly helped the ministry to broaden its vision & mission. For the leaders from all across India it was a platform to clarify their doubts & to get recharged with new dreams & plans.

The very first day of the programme had a fabulous & creative Icebreaking; the participants really tasted the highly spiced green chilies of Kerala, along with their own strange & innovative tribal languages. Siljo Thomas, the JYNT coordinator visited the Vibes ’09 group and motivated them to get the maximum out of the training.

The first two days of the Campus Vibes gave a spiritual orientation for the participants. The retreat & reflection day were led by Fr.Abraham Pallivathukkal, Fr.Cheriyan Nereveettil. Babychayan & Dr.Appu Syriac.The participants really enjoyed the bliss of silence, on those days.

The training modules started on the 3^rd day of the programme. The morning slots had an exercise & warm up session followed by jogging. We all enjoyed the morning time as it had small time slots for discussions on relevant topics.

The programme had one whole day for the group to visit Old age home & a colony in Alwaye, which was near to the training center. The experiences we had there were marvelous indeed to sharpen our view on the 6^th constant of the JY movement – Option for the Poor.

The evening programme modules of CAMPUS VIBES ‘09 mainly had time to learn more on the E-world, time on storytelling about the major initiatives of the movement & how it emerged. Internet facilities were made available and the participants were allowed to access Internet at allotted time slots of the programme.

The training programme mainly covered sessions on Paradigm Shift, Presentation skills, Public speaking, current Youth Trends, Ministry building orientation and Film reviews were also included in the training part .The main resources were Adv.Raiju Varghese- JYIT member, Manoj Sunny – former JYIT coordinator, George Devassy - JYIT coordinator, Dr.Chackochan Njavally, Shelton Pinheiro, Vipin.V.Roldant, Dhanya Paul JYNT member etc. All these sessions and discussions on the current Youth trends and on the struggles they face, eventually helped them to seek out solutions. These discussions & conclusions have really helped them to dream higher for the 25000 plus campuses in India and to think deeply on their roles & plans that they have for the ministry. The dream sharing session made them to think creatively & to plan effectively for the ministry in their regions. Many studies and research on Church were also done during the training days.

With innovative & vibrant ideas, each day of the training programme were made beautiful by the young leaders. Holy Mass celebrated at the banks of the river Periyar by Fr.Shabin & the beautiful & quiet Taize prayer done in the garden outside the venue, made the training programme more wonderful. The Vibrant team of Campus Vibes ‘09 came out with an amazing theme song at the end of the programme.

The second last day of the Campus Vibes witnessed a fellowship gathering of many senior JY leaders. The fellowship group including, Beena Manoj- senior JY & member of Rex Band, Chackochan Njavally, Soney Noble- the first Campus Ministry Coordinator, JY regional coordinators, elders of the campus ministry of Kerala Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, religious persons who support the movement including Fr.Bitaju & Sr.Thressiama – the animators of JYNT, JYNT members, National campus team & Teens team members and many regional ministry leaders were with the participants that day. The group had a beautiful time of sharing on the history of the movement & of the Campus Ministry. The fellowship group of more than 25 senior JY leaders coordinated by Dr.Edward Edezhath- Senior JY animator, has worked out well for the 31 national leaders.

The last day was mainly meant for ministry planning. .The planning session was indeed very useful and many regional gatherings were also planned in the coming days as a preparation for National Campus Meet ’09.The final anointing Holy Mass was celebrated by Fr.Abraham Pallivathukkal- former JYIT animator. With Hearts full of Joy, Dreams & prayers the Vibes ’09 has gone back to their Vineyards to do more wonders for the Lord!