JOSEPH
Click HERE to watch Joseph’s 2-minute video
ALANNI
In the past ten weeks of the “Youth Empowerment And Endurance Summer Speaker Series” I learned about “Identity in Christ” by Ms.Amanda Cato, how to “Tap the Leader in Me” by Dr. Anne Desrosiers, I learned “what my calling was” by Mr.Gregory Quarless, I learned that “I can do anything with Jesus Christ” by Rev.Father Trevor from Trinidad, I learned about Stress Management by Mrs.Pauline and I learned about Baptism by Mrs. Darling Edouard.
Together they have impacted my life by teaching me the skills necessary to help overcome challenges and by teaching me how important it is to put God first in all we do.
ASHER
The youth ministry team has been a big part of my life for many reasons. As you may or may not have known, my dad has been affected by the coronavirus. He was not just affected, as you know the covid-19 is a respiratory disease and my dad had the disease in both lungs. My dad had an oxygen level of 60 when it is supposed to be 97+ so he could not breathe. I was so upset that I was just blaming God for everything until my mom’s friend Jacky who attends St. Francis of Assisi-St. Blaise and is the leader of the People in The Desert prayer group sent me the flyer for this youth program organized by the youth ministry team of St. Therese of Lisieux. Here I was able to understand that I am not the only one going through things and that’s when it happened: I was sharing the gospel without even realizing it. No words can explain how grateful I am to be a part of this youth event and has made me very humble to the Lord Jesus. This event has shown me that when Jesus says yes nobody can say no.
I am not close to any of the parishes but Jesus wanted me to be part of this event so he made it happen. Thank you St. Therese of Lisieux youth ministry team. Please keep doing what you are doing. It is changing kids’ lives every second.
ASHLEY
Something I learned was there are different types of stress and the meaning of baptism. The different types of stress are good and bad stress. Good stress means you’re excited about something and bad stress is when something is weighing on your shoulders and there’s too much you gotta do. Baptism is the religious rite of sprinkling water onto a person’s forehead or of immersion in water, symbolizing purification or regeneration and admission to the Christian Church. In many denominations, baptism is performed on young children and is accompanied by name-giving. It’s also a way for you to be reborn to start over. I enjoyed this program even though I attended for only 3 days. Thank you.
BERNICE
From June until this day, this program has impacted me extremely strongly. The event helped me bring out my inner self, and really told myself that it is okay to feel stressed out and it’s alright to let out my emotions sometimes. It also impacted me as a person as well. For example, there was one class explaining that some people can bring you down and really go against you. However, that class taught me about self-esteem and ways to calm myself!. So during this pandemic and while I was in this class, it was a pleasure to be a part of it and without anything to say, this is my Youth Ministry Summary.
CARLYSE
Throughout the weeks of the Youth Empowerment Program, I have participated and listened to many guest speakers who have indeed impacted my life by giving me the tools necessary to be a leader while being a follower in Christ, and gaining a closer relationship with God. For my summary, I have decided to focus on Dr. Anne’s presentation, “Tapping The Leader In You”. In the beginning of her presentation, I felt a connection to her because it appeared that we show similar interests in careers because she is an educator, and I one day hope to be one. She also inspired me to take time to find my interests and work with them because they can one day be the reason for my success. I learned to speak life into myself and to especially mind the company that I keep because a bad influence can play a major role on my downfall.
DAVON & GORDON
Gordon: This is what I liked about the youth ministry. I liked the music, that is the praise and worship at the beginning. I also liked how we talk about God.
Davon: The youth event taught me about the values of Jesus Christ. Also about the topic on stress management, I learned I can get over stress and I can make a stress management board. That I can meditate, I can pray and ask God to help, I can see a therapist.
ETHAN
To summarize what I learned from the youth ministry group meeting, I learned that sometimes you have to know when you’re a leader. From another meeting, I picked up that you must have courage in order to pursue your life goals. Another thing I learned is that there are many ways to relieve stress: you can meditate, exercise, or listen to soothing music. The last thing I learned from the recent zoom is that baptism can really help us cleanse the soul.
JAZZLYN
Self control
Self control means to be calm. Some ways I learned to be calm by meditating, letting it out by crying, and I can write down my feelings.
Purpose
What I learned about purpose is that everyone is a leader and belongs on this earth.Everyone has a purpose and everyone’s purpose is different.
Baptism
Baptism is an important part of being a Christian because that’s how you become one. Being baptised is important because it makes you an official child of God.
This event has impacted me because now I know who a true child of God is and how I can get closer to God every day.
JANELLE
I have learnt many things during the course of this program and there are also a few statements that have stuck with me. I remember information from the topics Determination, Baptism, Leadership, Stress Management, etc. Something that I have learned from the topic of determination is that we can always be successful in everything we do as long as we are determined and motivated to be successful and accept the help of God. Information I learned from the topic stress management was that there are different ways to handle stress and you could deal with it both religiously (reading the bible, praying) and non-religiously (stress balls, music, writing). Additionally, something I learned from the topic baptism is that when we wear white during baptism it represents purity and holiness and whenever we put our hands into holy water at church and do the sign of the cross it is supposed to remind you of your baptism.
Something that resonated with me from the topic “Tapping the Leader in You” was the statement “Be comfortable with being uncomfortable” because that is something you really need to do in order to move forward and evolve in life. Another statement that resonated with me was from the topic “What is my Calling and How Can I Achieve It”. This was that in order to find what you are meant to do in life you should let God guide you and that money should not be the main motivation for that occupation.
These youth ministry events have impacted my life positively because it allowed me to learn more about both Christianity and myself. All together this is what I have learned and what has stuck with me throughout the past few weeks. I am so grateful to have been able to attend these meetings thus far.
GISELLE
Things I’ve learned
I learned about God. I learned that He listens to kids’ words when they speak to him. I learned that I need to not shove the feelings inside but I need to find a way to control that feeling and God can help me. But also I can spread out my emotions not only to God but people who I trust such as my family. This was from the topic Feelings, thoughts and emotions.
I also identify that God is my Savior, that God is my provider, that I am happy when I think and feel Him around me.
But I don’t know much because I joined in the middle of this youth church, but I’ve learned a lot and I love it!
GABRIELLE
I learned from the topic, Juneteenth, that black people get judged because of the way they look and act. I have also come to understand that when one black person does something bad it doesn’t mean the whole black community behaves in the same manner and therefore it does not also mean all black people should be responsible for that bad act.
I learned that women, especially black women get judged and are disadvantaged the most out of everyone. This has encouraged me to focus on my studies so as to become a better black young woman and achieve greater heights.
I have learned that God will always be on our side and God always gives the toughest soldiers the hardest battles because He knows how we will be able to make it through, for God loves all.
I also learned that relieving stress is good for your body and your mind and it helps you relax and think about stuff that’s actually going on in life. Also God can help us relieve stress through prayer which is better for us. Amen.
JOSEPH
Throughout the course of this program, I’ve gained knowledge that has been beneficial to me. One of the main topics that stood out to me was leadership. Before the program started, I was a very reserved and a quiet person. But the presentation on leadership taught me to be assertive. It taught me to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. It taught me to speak up and say what’s on my mind. Another topic that stood out to me was the Vision Board activity. Oftentimes during this pandemic, I found myself rid of direction. Every day felt the same and I was beginning to feel lost. But the vision board allowed me to focus on what was important to me. I didn’t feel lost anymore nor did I continue to move without direction. I was finally on the right path to realising my identity which was another thing that I had been struggling with. That presentation was the one that stood out the most to me. It made me realize that throughout my whole life I was doing things to make other people happy. Sometimes even to prove other people wrong. But I learned that everything I do should be because God called me to do so. Now I’m on a journey to finding out who I really am. I am thankful that I got the opportunity to be a part of something bigger than myself. Thank you for setting this program and bringing all of us together. It was truly an unforgettable experience.
KAELAH
Ways I can grow closer to God
Meditating
Serving in my parish
Praying
Reading my bible
Having faith
During the youth ministry meetings, I have learned so much and my relationship with God has strengthened. It started from discussing having faith in Jesus Christ, all the way down to Juneteenth. I’ve learned how to share my feelings and control my anger by praying to God, and letting Him know, I have faith in everything He does for me. These meetings have been so beneficial toward me and I look forward to seeing what other topics we have in store
JULIAN
I have learned that wherever I go God will follow and watch me for my success. I also learned new things about life such as a better understanding of who and what God is by teachings of our youth leaders. People like Ms. Pauline helped me understand what perfection truly is and how to get closer to God and Jesus.
Through Ms. Pauline, I have learned how to manage stress by doing activities that are calming such as playing a video game or doing yoga. Through Ms. Pauline’s stress management presentation, we made a vision board. On this vision board, my goals for the present are to be positive to others and my surroundings, and for the future, I would like to get a job that would be enjoyable for me so I won’t get Overpressured.
KEITH
What I learned from the Youth Ministry is to always make your presence known. If you don’t make your presence known, then you don’t have the opportunity. When I was little I wanted to do acting, But I was too scared. Now I want to get back into acting because I’m not scared anymore. Also don’t be afraid to take risks because it can either turn out good or bad and you can always try again.
KAYLEE
From our youth group meetings, the three topics that have remained in my memory are fortitude, determination, and our calling and how to achieve it. I learned that fortitude is important to be able to accomplish things you never thought you could do because you have to have the courage to try new things. Determination is important because without it you may not be able to accomplish your goals and you have to be willing to work for it. From our meeting where we talked about our calling and how to achieve it was a refresher on what I already know about what God may be calling us to do and what qualities we need to have to reach it. From all the meetings I mostly remember the speaker, Mr. Gregory Quarless, because he brought up many points that I either agreed with or disagreed with, but there were good points that I agreed with that he brought up.
LONDON
Hi My name is London.
I attend the Youth Ministry meeting every Saturday from 11:00 am-1 pm. For the past 12 weeks, we have been doing amazingly, meeting on different topics and have also succeeded amazingly. Throughout these 12 weeks, I have found motivation throughout me and my surroundings.I have learned I am more powerful on the inside and when I talk to God I am magnificent.
I also learned that God is really in our hearts and is always looking down at us to see how we have grown, lived, worked, and accomplished. Out of all the meetings/topics, my most favorite and inspiring one is “Tapping the leader in you” and “Juneteenth”. These two topics are my favorite because “Juneteenth” really speaks about the slaves and how they worked very hard to make the world possible. And “Tapping the Leader In you” speaks about how we can become more of a leader in society instead of a follower.
Since Covid-19 it has been very sad at times, but because of the Youth Ministry, I was able to bring God closer to my heart and also to my fellow members and that makes me feel proud of the good job of what Ms. Elaine and The Youth Ministry Team have accomplished.
Another thing that I was pleased with is that my grandmother was very proud of how committed I was in attending all of the meetings thus far and the way that the youth have participated. Congratulations to all. I know the youth ministry in my opinion was successful and hope for it to continue. Thankful to Ms. Elaine and the Youth Ministry Team for putting this together.
To conclude, the youth ministry meetings have really changed how I talk, and have encouraged me to look forward instead of backwards. And I will love to continue my journey.
NAKYLA
I think that we can all agree 2020 has been unexpectedly rough on us. So much things have been happening like the pandemic, the rise in police brutality and systematic racism, gun violence, children starving in many countries, Muslims being put in concentration camps in China, lgbtq+ phobic attacks, women being disrespected especially black women, etc. our world is literally going through a genocide and the crazy thing is that it’s been happening for a long time and we are now just realizing. Not to mention it is so depressing just sitting at home and watching history repeat itself. And it has been really hard for me to stay stable and relaxed while all this is taking place. But over the course of these 11 weeks the youth ministry meetings, ran by Ms. Elaine and the youth ministry team, has been a big help with finding peace and hope within the world and myself. We’ve talked about so many necessary topics some of my personal favorites were: “Identity” (talked about by Amanda Cato), “Stress Management” (talked about by Ms. Pauline), “Tapping the Leader in You” (talked about by Dr. Anne Desrosiers) and ”What is My Calling and How Can I Achieve It” (talked about by Mr. Gregory Quarless). Amanda has taught me that identity is who you are what you think of yourself.
Other people’s opinions are not valid when tied to your identity. Only you AND God knows why He created us or why he made us this way. And that is important for many to know because a lot of people, including myself, listen to other people’s opinions which isn’t healthy. Ms. Pauline has taught me that stress management helps you break the hold stress has on your life so that you can be much happier, healthier (physically and mentally) and more productive. The goal you want is to have a balanced life. To do that you could pray more, read the Bible or meditate, anything to keep God in your everyday life. He is always there for us. Dr. Anne taught me that being a leader doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. Make mistakes, making mistakes is how you learn and teach others. you’re growing/maturing at the same time and that’s something you should never be ashamed of. You have to know yourself and keep getting to know yourself. Strive to learn from everything and everyone. Strive for excellence, even though you might not get it, it’s good to know that you tried and set a good example for yourself and others. And last but not least, Mr. Quarless taught me that it’s okay to not know your calling or to know what you want to be in life which is something I struggle with. You just have to keep in mind all the things you enjoy doing whether it’s singing, dancing, art, writing, etc. Whatever you are passionate about is what is good for you. God will guide you through it. He knows us and he knows what’s best for us. These topics have impacted me and improved the way I look and think about things. and I am forever grateful that I got a chance to take part in this. Thank you Ms. Elaine and the youth ministry team for this amazing opportunity. I hope that we can continue this journey and grow with each other as well. God bless ❤ .
NEFERTARI
’ve only been to two classes but so far I’ve learned that God is good and that you should always have faith in God. When you are feeling down or something is bothering you don’t worry because God has a plan for you.
MADISON
From this event, I have learned how God can impact our lives. I have also learned how we can change the world by believing in God. I have understood from this event that I can be whatever I want to be with God right beside me. This event has impacted my life and it has shown me that with God all things are possible. In conclusion, I want to say that I am grateful that I was a part of the event and learned so much from it.
ROSENEY
Youth Group is a place of developing our relationship with the LORD with others. I have been attending Youth Group for the last three weeks. During the first week, we learned an ongoing topic, stress. This is my favorite topic. We learned what stress was, the types of stress, and how to deal with stress. For example, in my opinion, bad stress was a tension that filled the mind. This tension may cause situations such as headaches, low energy, aches, pain, along with loss of sleep. These are some of the side effects of being stressed. However, we also learned that stress had a positive side, such as happiness. In knowing what stress is, how it affects your body, and the different types of stress, we are able to counter it. Many participants created a board called the Stress Vision Board. This board would summarize how an individual would fight back stress. For instance, when I’m feeling stressed, I would listen to music, pray to the LORD for strength, or call a friend. I enjoyed this topic because I am able to ind a way to relieve stress, in my way. Learning ways in which I would be able to fight back against the tension in my head, the bad stress, is also the reason why I enjoyed this topic.
SARAH
During this summer I participated in a youth empowerment program and it really changed my perspective on things, and I also learned a lot of informational facts, and different ways to cope with real-life problems. One thing I learned about is Juneteenth. Juneteenth is one of the most important days in American history. It’s about Black freedom. It’s about emancipation. It’s about America finally abolishing one of its greatest 2 sins-slavery. I learned that it is very important to celebrate so that we remember all the people who lost their lives during that horrible time. Another thing I learned about is fortitude. Fortitude is the strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage. During this event, I also learned different ways to show fortitude, and I also learned what the Bible says about fortitude, and this really has had an impact on me.
I also learned about ways to deal with stress. Stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. I a lso learned that there are two different types of stress: good stress, and bad stress. I also learned ways to deal with stress. One way I learned was to make a vision board. The point of a vision board is to put things down that you want to do, things that motivate you, anything you want! This has had a very positive impact on me. Thanks to all of these things, I have tried to become a better person and put God first, and I would thank everyone who had a positive effect on me. Thanks for listening!!!
Sincerely, Sarah 🙂