Gap Year

New cultures, people, places, food habits and Gods Tremendous Faithfulness  

In the course of a seminarian’s formation, one is expected to have a regency year (a year set aside to experience the world and gain some experience of pastoral work). I decided to take my regency year (2008/09) immediately after Philosophy as most diocesan seminaries in India do. It turned out to be an awesome year of varied experiences - visiting new countries, experiencing different cultures, getting to understand the universality of the Church & faith practices of the people, making many new friends, tasting different types of food and above all experiencing God and His faithfulness in numerous situations in a very tangible way.

A charismatic congregation

My first trip was to visit and experience the lifestyle of a Charismatic Congregation of Priests in Canada, called the Companions of the Cross. It is the fastest growing congregation in Canada, attracting many young men to live a consecrated life. I had read a lot about them and was keen to experience how they lived out their Charismatic Spirituality on a day to day basis. 

Some priests with Fr. Bob the Founder 

Even though my stay was very short, I gained a very rich experience. They lived in different households, each house having a few priests and a few seminarians unlike many other congregations who lived all together. What moved me was the respect and openness that each member of the household had for each other. They would begin each day with an hour of adoration of the Eucharistic Lord, and their times of community prayer would include a short time of Praise and Worship with the exercise of the gifts, it was awesome. 

Fr. Mark the dynamic priest
who took care of me.

Some of the highlights were, a long one to one meeting that I had with the founder - a very holy and highly regarded priest with a great passion for the Lord, and an experience of a parish mass in true Charismatic Spirit, with Joyful praise, active participation of the whole congregation, powerful preaching and overall a very meaningful celebration of the Eucharist.  I returned back to India being richly blessed.

Preparations for the World Youth Day 2008 were becoming more intense as there were just a few months to go.  Thanks to the internet I could still keep in track and follow up with our preparations from various places. Meanwhile, I was preparing for my next trip, to attend a one month Christian Leadership Training Program organized by the Haggai Institute in the US, a leading leadership training institute.  2 days before my departure I met with an unfortunate incident. I and another community member were beaten up badly by a gang of goons who demanded money. I was injured with a few stitches on my head and ruptured body muscles. Things could have been much worse, thanks to Gods protecting hand that was upon us. I couldn’t make it to the US, but thankfully they moved me to a session a month later.

Haggai Leadership Training

I reached Hawaii a day late because of flight delays and missed connections. I missed the initial icebreaking and introduction sessions. I got straight into the intensive training program. 

Eduardo from Columbia, my roomi

The training centre was fantastic, a state of the art centre, with excellent accommodation facilities - five star standards. There were about 50 participants form 28 different countries. 

We had seven sessions a day beginning with praise and worship, 5 training sessions and the final session in small groups for prayer or reflection. 

discussions over a meal

Every session was geared towards Evangelization, with topics ranging from Discipline of a Leader, Setting and Achieving Goals for Evangelizing, Training Leaders to Train Others to Stewardship, Biblical and Contemporary Models of Evangelizing, Communicating the Gospel in a Pluralist Context, Communicating the Gospel to the Next Generation, Effective Witness in Leadership and Communication. In addition to these sessions, there were times for sport, assignments, presentations and a weekly self evaluation of each topic.  

my prayer partners and sharing group

The training was par excellence. The faculty had experience, each one made good use of technology and communication tools. The organization and administration was next to perfect. Every single moment there was something that I could learn by the way things were organized and conducted. 

presenting the Indian group's strategy

What spoke to me most was about giving the best for the Lord, not compromising even a bit and maintaining the highest standard. It was not just the sessions within conference rooms that spoke but every aspect, space, and person at the centre spoke out a message loud and clear – “give your best.”

The African group's presentation

Saturdays were set aside for sight seeing and visiting the beautiful places of Hawaii; Sundays were kept for experiencing worship and liturgy at the different churches. There was a St. Teresa’s Church close to the centre and I found it a beautiful place to pray and spend time with the Eucharistic Lord. 

a wholesome involvement

We had to share rooms and I was with a young businessman from Columbia, we became good friends. Another good friend that I made was a gentleman from Ghana – an author, radio and television anchor, trainer, consultant and motivational speaker. I had an opportunity of meeting him once again in his own office, back in his own country Ghana, later that year.

At the end of the training, each participant had to come up with ones vision, and set goals - long term and short term, and make a pledge to train a certain number of leaders in the future. The training helped me a great deal and has affected very positively the way I plan, and execute things but above all it has broadened my view of evangelization and how to be effective in the market place. I am waiting to finish my formation years and implement many of the things I learnt.

World Youth Day (WYD), Australia

As soon as I got back from the training, I had to give most of my time into the final preparations for the events in Australia. Our community was organizing a 2 day "Firebrandz" international conference for youth in Melbourne prior to the main event. 

participants of the Firebradz conference

It was a real challenging task to get everything together, the accommodation, food, transport and the whole coordination of the event itself but it was even more challenging to work with many people at different levels, with different beliefs, different styles of functioning and at times even with different objectives. It was tough, because at times I had to work against my convictions and submit to authority in obedience. At times I knew that God had to work a miracle to make things go well, and Yes HE did. The conference had people from about 12 countries, and it was a beautiful experience for many.

Mumbai band - 'By Grace' in performance

In the following days we participated in the Days of the Diocese program organized by the Diocese of Melbourne. Our band “Revive” and the “Torchbearers” Band from Mumbai were opening the Days in the Diocese celebrations for the diocese of Sandhurst. Since there were no other official commitments during the next 3 days, I caught up with some much needed rest, settled up things after the conference and worked on our trip to Sydney and our commitments there.  We had issues with our transport to Sydney and accommodation at Sydney that kept us on pins till the last moment.

ICPE Philippines

We had a nice pilgrim journey from Melbourne to Sydney, stopping at a few places for a time of prayer and a bite. On reaching Sydney, we had to work on getting our places for accommodation sorted out, we did have some trouble with it and to add to it we discovered that our baggage was delayed and we would receive it only the next day, for some it even took 3 days by the time we tracked it down. 

Fr. Victor and group - the executive team

Our bands were performing at 2 places and they had to get their passes and practices organized. Meanwhile many of us from the community were involved with the prayer teams during the Stations of the Cross and the “Receive the Power Live Festival” – we had problems receiving our authorization passes because clearances needed from the Australian Government were delayed. It was quite a bit of running around, taking care of the sick and others who had problems at the accommodation centre. In spite of all this I did manage to attend some of the main events.

Receive the Power Live Festival
at Sydney Harbour

Some events that were really inspiring and moving were Christopher West’s session on Theology of the Body at the Sydney convention centre which was packed to capacity. The Receive the Power Live Festival an outreach program by the Charismatic Renewal of Australia featuring Hill Songs and Mat Maher with Bishop Joe Grech’s short message, UK former gangster - John Pridmore’s testimony and Adoration with Benediction at the end, it was a real thriller. 

Pilgrims from far and wide 

It was a very moving moment when over 150000 people just got down on their knees and adored the Eucharistic Lord as He was exposed. Later, many youth came to us to for prayer and we prayed with them. My spirit was lifted high and it was the best outreach program that I ever attended. A similar situation occurred at the Night Vigil on the Race Course grounds with the Holy Father and about 400000 people. There was an immense silence during the holy hour and adoration during the vigil. With the final mass, WYD08 was over and a major part of my responsibility too. On our way back from Sydney we stopped over in Singapore for 2 days with the Indian group and spent some interesting time at Santosa Island and did some shopping.

School of Missions, Germany

As soon as I got back after the WYD, I had to apply for my German visa to attend a 4 month School of Missions organized by our community at our Mission centre in Germany. The visa process took an extraordinarily long time, which made me doubt whether I would get my visa. The program had started and I still hadn’t got my visa, I kept praying and deep within I had the assurance that everything would be fine. In a weeks time I got my visa and left.

German centre in the midst of the Black Forest.

The School of Missions is three months of solid foundational teaching and training followed by a month of hands-on evangelization. The program focuses on the individual’s relationship with God and with the Church, while offering the missionary lifestyle as a valid option for today’s Catholic youth. Input is received through daily lectures as well as small groups, one-on-one ministry, team work, liturgy and community living.

when it snows, it pours.

There were nine other participants. The centre was situated in the midst of the beautiful black forests which provided a lot of opportunity for quiet, serene and reflective walks. I was keen to gain the most of this time and participated keenly and actively. Some of the sessions and group dynamics were really helpful. It was a nice experience of community life in another community. I was given maintenance as part of my work duty, which made me work out in the cold German winter much of the time. I really loved the winter and the snow. The only trouble was, to shovel off the snow frequently.   

Presenting India - Namaste

There was the big celebration of Christmas that came in between, and I loved the preparations for this great feast. The liturgy was very tellingly celebrated with the meaning of each week of advent meaningfully brought out.

The masculine side, dressed to kill

Christmas and New Year passed and we started preparations for out-reach, to creatively share the good news of Jesus in schools, universities, parishes and groups -  in Austria for 2 weeks and Hannover, Germany for 2 weeks. 

It was a rich experience; one moving event was a prayer walk that we did one night in the city of Branau - Hitler’s birth place. It was in this same city that we met a priest who reached out to people at the discos. His point of opening a conversation with the youth was a miraculous medal of Our Lady that he would present, and start by telling them of the significance of the medal. 

Preparing for International Night

Through this ministry he has helped many youth come back to Church and to an active Faith. In our stay at Hannover we were hosted by a family, the service and welcome that this family offered us was very touching and inspiring.

sharing a message at a school.

My plan was to go to Ghana after this to get to know my Bishop, Cardinal Turkson who will be our Patron and to get familiar with the diocese that I would be incardinated(belong) to.  I was not sure whether I would get my visa for Ghana from Germany, many of them told me that it can’t be done and I can apply for a visa only from my home country. I had prayed a lot and was again reassured that I would get through. I decided to give it a try and sent in my application, I got my visa the same day without the slightest of difficulty. I praised and thanked God so much for the Awesome God that HE is.

Pastoral and Cultural Experience, Ghana

On my way to Ghana, I had a stop over at Dubai, to meet my sister and her family. As usual, it was great to be with family and be treated to family love and care. I had a very short stay there and left for Ghana. It was the first time on African soil and I was keenly looking forward to it.

I reached Ghana on the 4th of March, 2009 and one of our community members from Ghana had come to the airport at Accra (the capital city), and we traveled to Cape Coast about 3 hours by road. I stayed at the Cape Coast Archdiocesan secretariat for a month and then moved to a Parish in a village called Asikuma. We dint get to meet the Cardinal for a long time since he was away on his international assignments. We were under the care of the cardinal’s secretary – a young and dynamic priest.

with some of my friends at the Parish

The food was very different and we were warned to drink only bottled mineral water. I was blessed with a tremendous openness to eat what was served. In addition to rice and bread they mainly eat Kenkey (a ball of steamed wheat flour), Banku (mashed corn made into a paste and boiled), Fufu (a pounded sticky paste of a mixture of kasava, yam and corn) and fried plantain with a red beans.   I longed for the days when it would be rice.  A majority of people understand English but most often they converse in their local tribal language. The language spoken in Cape Coast is Fante and some speak Twi. I did pick up a few words of Fante.

it dint seem to trouble me much

Some interesting things were; that each one has the name of the day they were born in, inserted into their name, the kids call me “Obroni” (white man) or “Quesi” (Sunday a special day) since all white men are considered to be born on a Sunday.  The main mass on a Sunday would be for at least   2 1\2 hours and for feasts it could go for even 4 to 5 hours. Their liturgical celebration is vibrant; there is lot of singing and dancing.  The collection is in a dancing procession, every single individual will offer their little tithe, even the kids. After this whole procession is over, there is another procession of offertory, where people would offer various things to support the priests ranging from vegetables and fruits to mineral water, toiletries and soft drinks.  A sermon for half an hour is quite normal.

We met the Cardinal during one of his flying visits back to the country. Quite oddly, we met him on the highway while he was on route for another international trip. He was very humble, simple and free unlike what one would expect a cardinal to be. We chatted for a while and he carried on. It was quite a livening experience and very comforting, knowing that we would be officially under him. We did get a few opportunities to meet him later too.

the traditional men's outfit

In the parish that I was posted, there were 3 priests taking care of the main parish and 22 outstations. They took good care of me; the parish priest was a very fatherly man and he would take me around and also spend time to explain the culture and practices of the people. On weekdays I helped the Spanish nuns who ran a hospital next door with some computer work. I made a lot of friends, especially with the kids; together with them we started to landscape and beautify the surrounding of the church with a garden. During my stay at the Parish I once fell sick with Malaria and I was really knocked out. Thankfully with the hospital next door I was immediately treated and I recovered within a week.

Fufu - in the making

Meanwhile, my founders (of the community) were trying to work out my admission in Rome. The seminary where we were assured of an admission was directed to close down by the Vatican and our study in Rome seemed doubtful. We started to look at other options of India and even Ghana. I prayed and again I was assured that Rome would work out. Most seminaries had closed admissions, with one last hope our founders tried at the Pontifical Urban College. To our amazement, in 2 weeks everything was through and the visa application papers were sent to Ghana. Again it was a testimony of Gods faithfulness and his provision, because we were even provided with a full scholarship. The Ghana visa had to be changed to   a temporary residence permit in order to apply for the Italian visa from Ghana. It was a trying and testing wait as the scheduled time to reach Rome had passed. I knew that the Lord will work things in His time and everything will work for my good.

As time passed and as I kept waiting for the visa, I said goodbye to all in the parish that I stayed in, and moved to the Cathedral parish in Cape Coast. I would carry fond memories of the loving and welcoming people in the parish and the priests I met.

Finally on the 13^th of July, I left Ghana. I managed to make a quick dash to Dubai for a day to see my sister and then to India for 2 days to greet my whole family and then left to Rome.  It was a great blessing to have had this opportunity to meet my whole family. I reached Rome on the 17^th of July 2009 to begin a 3 year theology course at the Pontifical Urbaniana University while staying at the Pontifical Urban College within the same campus.

‘Gods ways are not our ways,’ I could not have ever dreamt of having such an awesome regency year. The simplest thing I did was let God Work, and that was it. Once again I realized what an magnificent, glorious, faithful and how real my GOD is.