Antony Christy sdb CHENNAI, NOVEMBER 17, 2008: ”Go to the youth like Don Bosco, with the heart of Don Bosco” was the challenge Fr. Fabio Attard, the General Councillor for Salesian Youth Ministry placed before the 60 members of the Youth Ministry teams of the 11 provinces of the South Asia Region as they began their 3 day meet on November 14, at Citadel, Don Bosco Provincial House, Chennai. Fr. Maria Arokiam, the Regional Councillor of South Asia, invited the participants “to believe, to be different, to be critical and to be broad” in our thinking and reflection in order to be effective Youth Ministers after the heart of Don Bosco in today’s context. Don Bosco Youth Animation - South Asia (DBYA-SA) convened this assembly to plan the Salesian Youth Ministry project for the next six years (2008-2014) in the spirit of XXVI General Chapter (GC 26) and the priorities by the Rector Major, Fr. Pascual Chavez and his council. Fr. Fabio Attard together with his team from the Youth Ministry Department (Rome) and Fr. Maria Charles, the delegate of Youth Ministry of DBYA-SA, facilitated the process of reflection and deliberation.
The process was very clear and concrete. Beginning from a presentation of the six year plan of the individual provinces and moving on to set priorities for the Salesian Region of South Asia, the assembly drew up a list of interventions that would affect the way an we looked at reaching out to the youth in and around our settings.
The fruit of the meeting was two fold. It was a process of evaluating the plans being made to imbibe the spirit of the GC 26. Secondly, it enabled the participants to arrive at key priority areas of youth ministry today as a Region and propose suitable interventions towards efficacy in those areas. As the meeting concluded by noon on Sunday, November 16, the feeling was one of gratitude for the abundance of inspiration that this meet has offered the Region. The DBYA Board consisting of the Delegates of the provinces and the DBYA-SA team are scheduled to meet today, November 17, to deepen the reflections and finalize the course of action.