April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
CLIFTON PARK EVENT
Young adults will speak on time as missionaries
• Lauren Numrich of St. Ambrose parish in Latham was profiled in The Evangelist last year (see www.evangelist.org) as she prepared to leave for a year of missionary work with NET Ministries in Australia; and
• Michael Reda of St. Philip Neri parish in Northport, N.Y. (on Long Island), was an intern with Campus Crusade for Christ for 10 months in West Bengal, India.
Each will speak at St. Edward's about their experiences; the youth-focused evening will also include Mass, dinner, eucharistic adoration and reconciliation, plus Christian music by Tori Harris and Daniel Bell.
Ms. Numrich and Mr. Reda gave The Evangelist a glimpse of their upcoming talks.
AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE
Arriving in Australia in January 2014, "I knew I would be working with youth, which is my greatest passion, so I was pretty eager," Ms. Numrich said.
"I stayed in a little country area in far North Queensland called Ingham - population, roughly 5,000 people. [It] takes all of three minutes to drive through the main street. Around the outskirts [are] country roads with an endless horizon of sugarcane fields, surrounded by beautiful mountains, and beaches nearby.
"Everyone knows one another and all their business, but it makes for one massive family. My team and I worked predominately with high school students, but we did primary school ministry, as well. We occasionally traveled into Townsville, the nearest city, or camps within a couple hours' drive, for retreats or leadership camps. "Our ministry was done through talks and teachings, as well as leading day retreats, religion classes, youth groups [and] overnight or weekend-long camps. Most events would start off with icebreakers and lead into an activity paired with a witness talk.
"My experience of Australia was 'good as' [an Australian expression of enthusiasm]!" I was living in a very tight community with four other young adults. I was separated from my friends and family longer than I ever have been. Australia is similar to America with many things, although Australia is such a laid-back country. The most challenging cultural difference initially was the 'lingo' barrier: While Australians speak English, they certainly don't speak 'American.' The major difference is the general outlook on life.
"My personal faith is constantly shaped by the people in my life. I am a strong extrovert. I get to know Christ in my life more intimately with each person I get to know better. I encountered Christ most frequently in the four members of my team, as I was with them practically every waking moment. They supported me and encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone. I encountered Christ in Ingham, where everyone talks to each other. From the people who bagged our groceries to the new face in the pub on a weekend, there was always someone new that reminded my heart how blessed I was to be in Ingham.
"The people who most deeply touched my heart and powerfully transformed my faith, however, are the students my team and I would work with each day.
"[Now,] I am looking for a job. I am still passionate about youth ministry. I feel called to work in youth ministry full-time. Whether that is as a youth minister for a parish or doing some form of campus ministry, I don't know. The availability to simply be present and the desire to build relationships and a strong, faith-filled community that my [own] youth ministers offered changed my life and my faith forever. That is exactly what I am praying God gives me the grace and opportunity to do for others."
INDIAN CULTURE
"[As] an intern with Campus Crusade for Christ in West Bengal, India, we spent three months in a small factory town called Asansol and seven months in Kolkata, a city of about 13 million and the capital of the state," Mr. Reda told The Evangelist.
Campus Crusade for Christ wants "to reach the educated, future leaders of nations; they wish for 'every student on every campus to at least know one person who truly follows Christ.' Our typical day would consist of evangelizing to non-Christian students, fellowship and discipleship to Christian students, brainstorming strategies with the Indian staff members and taking time to absorb it all.
"With the vast majority of people in India belonging to Orthopraxic religions -- Hinduism, Jainism, Islam -- there are only a handful of people who understand that salvation, forgiveness, spiritual healing and resilience cannot be earned, only planted by faith in God, watered by His teachings and honed through the execution of those teachings in our daily lives.
"I was careful to always listen as well as speak, and although many [people I evangelized] didn't make the choice to follow Christ, I learned a lot about Islam and Hinduism by talking to people.
"I had taken private lessons in the language, could read and write the Hindi/Sanskriti text enough to get by, familiarized myself with religious and economic demographics -- I did my homework. But no amount of research can prepare you for mothers begging for money with newborns in their arms, kids digging through your pockets for whatever they can find, the noise of 13 million people in close quarters, the occasional dead body on the sidewalk....It was pretty intimidating for a few weeks.
"When we reached Asansol and found apartments, it started to feel like home. The road to getting over cultural differences such as the view of money and learning how to coexist with the poverty was a long one, but by month four or five, I had come a long way.
"Probably the biggest impact on my faith while I was there was my friend Chinlop, a student at Jadavpur University. Our personalities and interests were very much in sync, and it made communication so easy -- which is not something that comes around often in a country with upwards of 50 different languages.
"From him, I learned [about] the equality of everyone -- that we are all fallen people and are in the same boat, regardless of individual circumstances -- and the importance of surrounding yourself with people you can support as much as they support you. My coworkers on the Indian team also helped me out a lot in this area. I miss those guys every day!
"[Now, I've] started my first semester of graduate school at Long Island University-Brooklyn in their masters in mental health counseling program. I don't think I would have been ready to work full-time and go back to school if it had not been for everything I went through in India." [[In-content Ad]]
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