IN FOCUS - FELLOWSHIP IN MY LIFE | KAIROS GLOBAL | JULY 2019

Author: Roshan Thomas

Intro: Roshan Thomas shares about how Jesus Youth fellowship helped him identify himself and his call

“How good, how delightful it is to live as brothers all together!” Psalms 133: 1. This has definitely been a meaningful verse to me whenever I think of the joy and importance of fellowship in my life, and that too being part of a Jesus Youth fellowship in particular. 

Why Fellowship? 

Because God is the perfect model of fellowship as we see in the close, intimate fellowship between the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, and He loves being in fellowship with man. And we being created in His image and likeness, can only be truly His image when we realize this beauty to which we are called to!

It was during my campus days through the constant fellowship and accompaniment of many Jesus Youths, that paved the way for me to have a very personal encounter with Christ. And ever since then, every prayer meeting, casual hang out, a phone call or even just having coffee with someone in the movement, has always been an opportunity to encounter Christ. Being surrounded with people in fellowship is a moment of ‘encountering’ Him every day!  It’s like the fulfillment of the Word of God which says “when two or more are gathered in My Name, I will be in their midst” (Mathew 18:20). 

Journeying with the movement has also helped me get a better understanding of who I am and what my identity is. I wouldn’t know where I would be today , if it wasn’t for the wonderful Jesus Youth in my little campus prayer group, my cell mates, senior leaders in the movement, priests and nuns who accepted me as their own even when I was down in the pit of sin, constantly following up with me and helping me get back on my feet every time I fell and encouraging me to keep striving in this journey of faith!

Realizing that I am loved passionately by God and seeing my brothers/sisters in the movement accept me for who I am and with all my frailties and limitations has tremendously changed the way I used to look at myself.

And even today, the more I am with fellow Jesus Youths, the more I allow them to be part of my life, the more I see visible changes in the way I live and identify myself. And slowly but surely, I notice that what we call ‘lifestyle’ of the movement becoming a part of my own lifestyle! In a nutshell, I now find myself identifying myself a Jesus Youth! What was only a fellowship or a platform has become an identity!

Being in a fellowship has always helped nurture personal initiatives and missions. It is beautiful to see many initiatives have sprung out from very casual chats or during a get together or during a moment of prayer in one of our homes! And all this being made possible because of the common platform of Jesus Youth to which we come together. Random initiatives whether it is a small outreach to a nearby colony, parish, neighbor or even organizing retreats, gatherings (small and big) all sprouted out through a crazy dream sown in prayer during a moment of fellowship!

Something that has encouraged me is the freedom we have in the movement to explore, experiment and even make mistakes with the confidence that my brothers/sisters in the movement would be there to still hold me!

Identifying my Call

Like a seed that requires good soil to grow, I have been blessed to identify my call in a deeper way through the soil of fellowship. The witnesses of people around me, their testimonies, moments of prayers, one to one sharing, personal guidance from my Spiritual Director, eldering and constant support from my cell groups have all been moments to further deepen my recognizing God’s specific call.

Saints of the new millennium, Missionary movement at the service of the Church, Youth reaching out to Youth etc are some of the phrases we commonly hear time and again in the Jesus Youth Movement that have deeply inspired me to help discern and identify God’s deeper call:  A call to be a Jesus Youth!

Jesus Youth is home! No better place to run to at any moment or situation of life than to a Jesus Youth fellowship. Every joyful occasion is more meaningful when it’s celebrated with family, every difficult situation becomes more bearable when it’s supported in prayer as a family, life becomes more meaningful when it’s lived as a family. And Jesus Youth is my family!

Roshan Thomas has been actively involved with Jesus Youth since his college days.  He currently lives in UAE with his wife Anu and is part of the National Formation Team in UAE.