Fruits of the Don Bosco Bicentenary

By Mr. Matt Humpreys

Sydney, Australia - At St John Bosco Parish in Engadine (Sydney Archdiocese), we began dreaming of ways we can keep young adults connected to the Parish after they had left their secondary school. After many sharing of many drafts and reworking of ideas we came up with a model which we call SENT, a name which comes from the call of Jesus who sent his disciples out into the world as living witnesses.

We invite young adults (20-30 years old working or studying university) to make a one year commitment in the following areas:

• Formation - Meet up once a week for a faith formation (late evening) on different topics. The sessions go for one hour and we try to involve as many different presenters as possible to share something about our faith and Scriptures (= photos are taken from a recent formation session of ‘praying for other person’, given by one member of local group of Renewal in the Holy Spirit)
• Prayer - A weekly prayer morning where the team prays for each other and reflect on the Scriptures for the coming Sunday's Eucharist (=early morning, before going to work or to study).
• Presence - Visiting a schoolyard or playground once a week to be preset to young people (=mostly the local Salesian primary or secondary school or youth center).
• Ministry - Involvement in at least one Parish youth ministry (youth group, music, prayer groups etc).
• Prayer Partner - Each young adult is also assigned an older prayer partner from the parish who prays for the daily and sends them encouragement once a week.

We are currently in our second year of this program and have had 10 young people make the commitment each year. It has been a great way to keep these young adults connected as a group and support them in their faith journey. The young people who have been part of the program have often also been leaders in many of our key youth programs within the St John Bosco Parish.

You can follow SENT group member also on their FaceBook: SENT or SYM Australia

NB: As a matter of fact is very difficult to find in our Salesian setting faith groups of young adults. Ongoing renewal of our Youth Ministry does request us to find creative ways how to involve young people after graduation from the Salesian secondary schools or teenager parish youth groups. We expect to share many more SENT group - like experiences.