All the excitement of Magis JCAP Meeting Ministry 2019 at Macau had just ended. But, the spirit and energy are still growing inside me. I am feeling nothing else but grateful and thankful to be part of the team, and for all of the experiences that I had from the meeting.
At first, I thought that the meeting was just an event to present and to report the work of Magis Asia Pacific, like any other meeting or conference I have attended. But this meeting was different and extraordinary. I met a lot of bright and dedicated young people who want to create an impact around them in their country. One can tell from the spirit and the excitement while they were presenting their community in front of the audience. Each representative shared their progress and experiences such as Magis Asia Pacific, EYM and The Cardoner Project from Australia. I and Yenny shared the progress of Magis Indonesia. We received a lot of feedbacks from Myanmar, China and Malaysia. They were curious with the program established in Magis Jakarta and Yogyakarta, especially about the immersion program and the Magis Circle that we created.
What make this meeting different is that we were introduced with three rounds of Spiritual Conversation. This method allows each participant to share and to reflect their feelings, ideas, inspiration and actions. The purpose is to mutually enrich spiritual experiences and cordial sensitivity. We ended the conversation by summarizing our group sharing. I was so happy to be in the supportive and encouraging group of Fr. Vincent (Macau), Fr. Titus (Myanmar) and Charlie (Australia).
The second day of the meeting was tough for me. We discussed the issue of Child Protection from Abuse with Mrs. Rosa. After the session, we went through three rounds of spiritual conversation where I shared the pain of my father because of his father’s abuse. The experiences still affect his life till now, and created trauma for me and my siblings. I did not know what encouraged me to share willingly of this sensitive and private issues with the people I just met at this meeting. I was also surprised by support and encouragement I received from the people in my group. I was so happy that everyone of them was willing to help and to support me anytime I need in the future. I felt amazing with the connection and the bonding that I experienced through this meeting.
We also support each community in our own respective country. We realized that every community has their own obstacles and challenges. Before the meeting, I have a plan to create an agricultural community in Bali with the purpose of increasing the productivity of farmers and promoting to the young generation that farming is a fun and promising future with a more advanced technology. I was hesitant and afraid to start the program because to start the program because I was not sure whether the plan will have a result as I expected. During the sharing in my group, I found that I am not alone in this experience. In fact, there are other resources and people who would be available for advices and support. It then makes me realize that we have a potential to create a collaborative effort in the future for the benefit of more people. It was then I find a energized spirit to move forward with the plan of creating an agricultural community.
This meeting opens a lot of new opportunities for each country. I got an offering from the Taiwan Youth Ministry for a year volunteer program. I also want to connect with other community across the country. This fire should continue to kindle because there is a huge potential. I really hope that I really hope the JCAP Magis Ministries could be a sustainable and growing platform for connecting young people and youth ministries of the Jesuits. I would like to thank God, for giving me a chance to renew my energy and spirit through the JCAP MAGIS Meeting 2019. It was a great experience that will change my life in the future.
Let me end by sharing with you the final sentence during three round of spiritual conversation in my group which sums up my experience with MAGIS meeting this year “Accepting our differences, allow us for networking and collaboration, creating a sense of renewed energy.”
Amanda (Magis Jogjakarta)