Gift Boxes!

By Aaron D'Souza

This is a reflection I had after listening to the homily by Fr. Vella. 
Fr. Vella told us a parable of the man who died and met St. Peter in heaven. I have typed a shorter version of the parable and a reflection .

Parable:
St. Peter showed him around and the man noticed a store house. In the store house he saw a number of boxes stacked up which had his names on them.  Out of curiosity, he asked St. Peter why were there boxes with his name on it. Peter replied ' These boxes contain the gifts which our Father wanted to give you during life on earth. But whenever he came to meet you. You were never there to receive it. So He came back to heaven and stored these gifts in the warehouse. These boxes symbolise all the gifts you did not receive ur entire life'

Reflection:
What I like about this parable is that God never threw the boxes away even after the man died.

I am sure there are boxes with our names written on them. The exciting part is , it's not thrown away.. Which means they ready for delivery even now when we turn to The Lord.

In the past one year how many boxes has he stacked ?.. I wonder?. Can we get our hands on those boxes?Of course we can!! That's the best part... When we turn to Him .. He will be the most excited to give away all those boxes. But, in his time!

Each one of us are special and our gifts from him are unique to us.. He will never share or divide the boxes with others.. So you can be rest assured whatever God has kept for you.. Is meant only for you because you are unique and special to Him.

Therefore wait on The Lord. His timing is perfect. :) ' Patience with God is Faith' . 

Receive those boxes . That will make you and I the 'BEST VERSION OF OURSELVES ' in the likeness and image of God.


Don't you wanna know whats in those boxes? Turn to the Lord! :)

Christmas and New Year Wishes - A Reflection of the Year That Was

By Jack Chui

Each year I receive a Christmas card from a former cell group friend where her tradition is to write a reflection of the year that was on Christmas day and send it to all her friends. I have been a privileged recipient of her cards for several years now and she has inspired me to do something similar - hence this post. I have given few if any gifts to people this Christmas and I hope the following will be gift enough to everyone who has been a part of year/life. It is the gift of Jesus that I really want to give to all and maybe while I'm writing this, it will come through although I won't be writing about it explicitly.

The year of 2013 for me could be summed up as one of amazement and great blessing. If you look back at all my previous posts in the year its not too hard to see the highs and the lows of my journey as a leader in ministry this year. Through it all, God has provided me with enough just when it was required.

We tried new doing new things for the Friends of Refugees outreach. Early in the year we piloted English classes and employment searching services but after one week the refugees didn't come back. We also invited them to a BBQ at the Church and while we prepared a lot of food, they didn't turn up. Such is the nature of the ministry some times. However, where we might have failed in understanding them or where God did not give us a way through there were other things where God gave us a way.

We continued with our monthly visits to the Detention Centre and the released refugees in their homes, but undoubtedly the most wonder came from the Moving Days. All we had done before were simple tasks which involved volunteers, cars and communication, but Moving Day was a big logistics operation the like I had ever been involved in let alone organised. We started with nothing and just came away amazed at how the Holy Spirit drew volunteers, donations, trucks (Man With A Van) and just a way to bring furniture from those who didn't need it, to those with none.

Emmaus Cell Group was my support through the first half of 2013 and the group was growing slowly from strength to strength. Sadly, from such a high, I decided to leave Emmaus halfway through the year so that I could concentrate more on STAY the young adults ministry. From what I've heard, Emmaus Cell Group (which is a parish cell group) have adapted well to their new leaders and I pray that Emmaus Cell group will only become stronger.

Halfway through 2013 I was facing an ultimatum of whether to continue leading STAY or just giving it up with the other leader Jean heading to Singapore. STAY had few if any consistent people coming for cell group on Sundays after morning mass and it was lonely leading a group that mainly consistent of just me... But at the last moment just when we needed it, God came through and brought a few people along with more fire than me. If you read the last few posts, you can read how STAY has amazingly turned around from next to nothing and become a wonderful group/community which has also driven the growth of Friends of Refugees and Firebrandz (STAY's P&W partner).

A lot of STAY's growth has come through a new ministry called Firebrandz. Firebrandz is an overseas group which brings God to young people through music. Aaron had come from India to start up this branch in Melbourne and was a keen but unknown supporter of STAY. With a little help from STAY, Firebrandz has hosted 4 Worship nights, a healing mass and a retreat with great turn outs. the people attending these were also encouraged to come to STAY cell groups on Tuesday evenings. While the ministry is run predominantly by Aaron, I believe God through the people being formed in STAY will lift Firebrandz so that it will experience the amazement that I was able to see in STAY and in Friends of Refugees.

Writing about how great this year and ministry has been might be repetitive after a while but I do this to bring out God's glory. All I had to do was say yes and be there, and God drew the people and made a way for all these wonderful things to work. In all my years in Melbourne participating in Church and then leading I have not experienced so much amazement. It was not my own skills and ability for which brought all this about because it was never this good before.

I think God was preparing me through the many trials and opportunities of the past so that I could experience and witness the joy of such fruitful ministry. I have a learned a lot in my years leading Emmaus, STAY and Friends of Refugees and I know that I'm a little more wiser now having learned from others and being taught by others. All this has been leading me to a mission - and that is to bring God to people - in particular young people. I have been so privileged to see God draw people closer to him through cell groups, Firebrandz worship/retreat/mass and the refugees outreach. Some people have even been drawn through this humble website.

I feel like I'm Joshua in the battle against Amalek. I'm the one out the front of the battle doing the work and receiving all the glory, but the battle was really won by God and the intercessions of Moses on the top of the hill (Exodus 17). There is no way all of this could be done by my hand below, but through the prayers of the few or many that are praying for me and the ministries. I wish to thank everyone for their prayers and I hope that if you are not able to witness some of the great things that have happened because of them that you might get a glimpse of them through the writing in this blog. If that was 2013, then I'm a bit scared of what 2014 will bring in terms of the new challenges that might be set (2013 challenges were a stretch and beyond for me) but I say bring it on! because then God's work will have be to even more powerful through us.

It has also been a very blessed year for me not just because of the wonder and amazing things which have happened in ministry, but I've also been able to sustain a relationship with my girlfriend. Prioritising can be hard with so many things on and so I'm very blessed to have the time for ministry and importantly her support to be able work for God's Kingdom here on earth. I think the arrangement now permits me to be able to lead and be very involved and so I will continue fighting the good fight while I can because one day, things will change and I may not be able to any more.

So this Christmas/New Year message is one of thanks - for your prayers, participation, support and contribution to all the ministries I've been involved in, that you will be blessed with His love, joy and peace more than I have been so blessed to have witness this year. That 2014 will be one of greater glory for God and that the gift of Christ which is the intention of all ministry is spread deeper in your hearts and in more people. That those who are struggling like the refugees and their own problems will find solace in an unconditionally loving God. Wishing you a most blessed Christmas and a joyful New Year.

What To Do?

By Jack Chui

I can look back at some of my earlier posts in the year and reflect fondly on how STAY has just transformed in just six months. People from church and sometimes outside of church have been coming up to me to tell me what an amazing group STAY is and then congratulate me on building such a wonderful community of young Catholic adults (no mean feat by the track record of other groups out there). I might receive all this glory as the leader, but all this credit really goes to God because I did very little in making STAY what it is today.

A friend from STAY recently told me about the patron saint for Priests - St. John Vianney. He was apparently not a very smart guy, barely making it through the seminary out of sheer persistence. His superiors took the safe option and sent the newly ordained and incompetent young priest to a remote parish (today known as Lourdes). When St. John Vianney reached there, he just prayed and prayed for many years - there were only a few people attending mass at the church. He also heard confessions for 16 hours a day and somehow, many were drawn to the parish and the whole town was converted to the amazement of other priests and his superiors.

I feel like I am like St. John Vianney, except much worse - I haven't been praying and I'm not 100% devoted to STAY or God. Yet the people just came, but not like before ... they actually "STAYed"... My aim and mission for the whole year was quite simple - just keep the ship from sinking... One of my gifts apparently is persistence - stubborn persistence sometimes and so I'm quite good at just keeping things going. That's all I really did for STAY...

Through little if any work of my own, the Holy Spirit brought new people to STAY, such that few if anyone in STAY from a year ago is still here today. They love STAY more than me and are so hungry for more of God that as the leader, I don't know what to do to meet their thirst or our simple goal of bringing God to young people. Because all I know how to do well is to keep the ship from sinking.

STAY is not in survival mode any more, and I've never been a part of a group as energetic and lively as this one. We have almost 20 people attending cell group each week (diligently for most) and at this run rate, STAY could have 40 people in mid 2014 and 60 people by the end...  I never imagined STAY would be more than 12 people at best given how few in number young adults are attending mass, and let alone having the time and will to attend a cell group. Its scary to imagine how much more of a powerhouse STAY can become (thankfully I don't have much imagination) because while its a nice problem to have - lots of people, it will come with more work and complexity of more relationships.

While keeping the ship afloat, I have been directed by the newcomers in STAY and they have been taking a lot of the initiative to run worship nights (Firebrandz), outreach for the refugees (Friends of Refugees), prayers and outings for the cell group. They have much more ideas and fire than me and I wonder whether it is time for them to take more control of the rudder to steer STAY towards to the will of God. I think I've not said no to any of their ideas. I have done my role faithfully, and while I have been advised not to stop until God waves the big red stop sign, I wonder if I should take more of a back seat so that the newcomers are not held back to take STAY forward. I have also thought about whether I should lead both STAY and Friend so Refugees or only one...

It might also be a good time for God to push me outside my comfort zone to try new things for His Kingdom so there might still be purpose for me to continue being a leader of STAY. My mission might also be to encourage people to become leaders and take on some of the cell group leading which I currently do. What to do ...? Already on the cards is a worship/music group for STAY/Firebrandz to play for Sunday mass and perhaps Firebrandz - to start in January 2014 while the regular worship bands at church take some time off after serving during Advent. Another initiative STAY had run in the past is a retreat in the 2nd half of the year.

I'm looking to study a professional course for my work early in 2014 of which I attempted last year and didn't pass. It would require a lot more study than trying to fit study around my many commitments and so my other worry is whether there are people willing and with the time to do more for STAY ... I think and hope that I underestimate the group and their abilities - it is time for God to shine more through the members of STAY. I pray that I can be not so proud to ask for their help.

Hampers for Refugees - Beyond my Expectations

By Jack Chui

Last Sunday which is my last Sunday in Melbourne for the year we went to for our last refugee visits for the year. As part of Friends of Refugees, throughout the year, I have been scheduling visits to the refugees staying outside detention about one Sunday a month. Its not a difficult event to organise as all it requires is volunteers with cars if possible and a list of addresses/families to visit. Previously it was hard to find new families to visit but with our links the Detention Centre and a relationship with Red Cross we had heaps of addresses (some which were too far to reach...) and then it was a case of not having so many volunteers to help with the visits.. Still - God provided 'enough' to see us through.

A month before, Andrea from STAY who had come with us a few times for Moving Day raised a brilliant suggestion to make some hampers to give to the refugee families. I had not thought of what to do leading up to Christmas for the refugee home visits so it came as a welcome suggestion. Last year, Father Peter had bought $1000 worth of Christmas cakes whom a refugee family made to sell and we gave those to many families.

I had no idea how to put hampers together, but if Andrea could lead the charge then who was I to stop her? I think I am a bit tired of doing most of the work in preparing and this idea looked too much for me so it was nice to let Andrea take the lead with this one. My expectations of it was similar to last year - to visit about 20 house with a few cars to wish each family well and Merry Christmas but boy was I in for a shock...

Andrea through STAY managed to bring the rest of STAY along the mission to raise funds, design and purchase the hampers and plan the delivery of the hampers. The big group went ballistic in asking friends and the church for donations so much so that I was a bit worried about what to do with the excess funds (I don't like to hold donated money because it should be used). They raised more than enough for 40 hampers and 20 presents for the children at which I told them that it was probably enough and that it would be too much to do any more!

One worry for limiting them was the number of families we knew we could reach and distribute them. Each time I was notified of how much we received and how many hampers we could create meant that the distribution list and paths would need to increase. I left poor Nicole to deal with most of the changes and I probably caused her more grief with my additional requirements and unresponsiveness to her questions. Nicole went the extra step to contact the families to let them know we were coming on Sunday to visit them - a step I had not put into my process myself as I was used to visiting unannounced.

I'm glad that I let the group rather than myself lead this project because I realise that my ambitions were limited and would have limited the potential of the Secret Santa. With the greater number of people (that I was too proud to ask for help) they could do so much more and their aims were sky high. They went to shopping centres all around Melbourne just to find the right items within budget to fit into the stockings and boxes. There was more than enough donations to give each family a $30 food voucher which would be flexible for the family's needs. They also gathered 9 cars to be able to make the deliveries in one afternoon and enough volunteers for at least 2 in each car - I have never had so many volunteers help out for such one of our events!

What resulted was what I and probably many who were able to help deliver the hampers could describe as a wonderful day. Each car had 'only' 5 addresses to visit all around the same location which meant we could spend some time with each family rather than stay at the door to give them the present and then run off again.  Most of the time I would be managing the timings or the moving of items such that I would not do much if any of the talking to the families, so it was nice this time to be able make myself uncomfortable and engage with the family to just be their friend.

I expected about 25% of the addresses to have no one home and therefore some of the hampers would not be given away, but in the end only few hampers were left because just about every family we had planned to visit welcomed us in. I had plans to give the rest to Father Peter so in his other visits, he could give them to those families but this wasn't needed. The experiences I was privileged to hear about were all very positive and it was a joy to hear from them and how some were touched the experiences. I hope to share some of these in the next post.

Through it all, I kept in mind that the hampers were not the focus of visit. This is not to downplay the good work that was put to getting them together. The main gift I wanted to give was that of Jesus because at Christmas, I'm reminded, more than the presents that I don't need or want to receive, is that I need the gift of Jesus to be renewed in my heart and also to share it with the refugees who need hope more than material needs. I wanted to also give them my time and company which I think is my most scare resource in my busy life. While it might be a precious gift for me to give and some of the refugee families may not appreciate it as so, I think it gives Jesus a chance to reach them through me and the volunteers.

The hampers were of great aid in breaking the ice to visit some of the families and it they were received warmly. I wish to say a big thanks to the production team for bringing it together and preparing the way for such a wonderful and smooth day for all the drivers and volunteers. I know I've named Andrea and Nicole in this but my thanks includes everyone who helped out big or small. Thanks also for putting up with me and my tense moments. I am so glad that there are people much better than me at doing all these things and that they are so generous in helping in this last visit. Thanks also to the fundraisers and the people who donated - I hope you can see through this blog the good and amazing things which come from your generosity.

God has worked his wonders through us once more through STAY and Friends of Refugees. Thanks be to God and thanks also for the prayers which made this day most wonderful and beyond my expectations.

Some photos of the of the team creating the hampers -