LED STEP BY STEP: 40 YEARS OF GRACE AND MISSION | KAIROS GLOBAL | OCTOBER 2026

Author: Manoj Sunny

Audio

Intro: Jesus Youth International Formation Director Manoj Sunny reflects on how the movement has grown into one spanning continents.

When I look back on the last 25 years of our movement's journey, especially as we prepare for the GO conference in Rome, I do so with a grateful heart.

I still remember the beginning of 2000. A real question was on our minds: should we even use the name Jesus Youth in other countries? In most of them, only small groups gathered for prayer, and we weren’t sure whether to carry that name beyond India. But slowly, quietly, it began. It started in the UAE, and then spread across continents.

When I look at how the Lord has spread the movement to so many nations today, I see only His faithfulness.

Small Beginnings and the Pauline Method 

From the beginning, we followed the Pauline method – building a few strong hubs and then reaching out to the countries around them.

We began with the UAE for the Gulf region. I still remember a meeting with a few people from Oman and Kuwait, and slowly beginning our work there. Over time, it spread to almost all countries in the region.

In the same way, we began with the UK for Europe, the US for North America, Australia for Oceania, and Singapore for Southeast Asia.

From the very start, we wanted to share the faith. Even when only a few gathered for prayer, we were convinced it was not just for ourselves; we had to reach out to other places. That conviction was there from the start.

I see the years from 2002 to 2005 as the time we became an international movement. We were still only small prayer groups, uncertain in many ways, but with a big heart for mission.

Love Beyond Borders

Then came greater clarity. From the beginning, we knew our call was not only for Indians. We wanted to reach people everywhere. Despite our limitations in language, culture, and our own inadequacy, we believed that people in the movement could still connect with others and reach out to them.

That led us to a period of consolidation. In 2006, 2007, and 2008, we held five continental conferences titled ‘Love Beyond Borders’, because we had seen the movement crossing borders, languages, and cultures.

We held conferences in Thailand for Southeast Asia, in Jerusalem for the GCC, in India for South Asia, in the UK for Europe, in the US for North America, and in Australia for Oceania.

One of the most beautiful things that happened was that we had local, non-Indian participation. It varied – in some places 10-20%, in others up to 50% – in almost all the conferences. So it was no longer a purely Indian gathering. It was already crossing cultures and languages.

A Sacred Detour: Serving Our Mother Churches

This was when the two Oriental Churches from Kerala, the Syro-Malabar Church and the Syro-Malankara Church, began spreading worldwide. New eparchies and missions were being established everywhere.

Since the movement began in Kerala, most of our early leaders belonged to either of these Churches. They were asked to serve and became actively involved in building up the Church in different parts of the world, forming parish councils, and developing catechesis and youth ministry.

So our attention shifted more to the Indian community than to a multinational, multilingual outreach beyond our Indian identity.

This happened very organically and without intention. It was what the moment required, and we willingly responded to the needs of the time and to the call we received from our Mother Church. It was a detour taken in obedience.

The Silver Jubilee: Every Jesus Youth a Missionary

Another moment that deeply influenced the movement and bore real fruit was the Silver Jubilee.

We prepared carefully for a whole year to be reconciled, to cleanse the spiritual dust and complacency that had accumulated over a quarter of a century, preparing our hearts to receive fresh grace for the next 25 years.

This concluded with the Jubilee Conference, with around 23,000 people from all over the world. During that conference, we adopted this motto: 'Every Jesus Youth is a Missionary.’

I strongly believe that it restored a missionary focus to the movement. That was one of the Jubilee’s main fruits.

The other grace we received was to prepare a systematic, step-by-step formation that articulated the riches the Holy Spirit had deposited in the movement over the previous 25 years, and presented them in a contemporary context. A formation aimed at missionary disciples in the movement.

Looking back, this too had a deep influence, making each person in the movement more missionary in nature. This Jubilee grace and this new motto led us into the next phase.

Priests Born From Our Charism 

Another sign of maturity came in 2010. During the International Year for Priests, we began discerning priestly vocations formed within the Jesus Youth charism – priests ordained for the movement, to serve the Church and the movement.

In 2016, we had our first two priests ordained for the movement. The journey continues. Today we have six priests, two deacons, and several more in formation.

Pontifical Recognition: A Charism for the Universal Church 

That same year, 2016, after an eight-year journey of dialogue with the Holy See that began in 2008, Jesus Youth received Pontifical approval as an International Private Association of the Faithful with juridical personality – the first from the Indian subcontinent and the second from Asia. It was not just a legal title. It was Mother Church telling us, this charism has a place in the heart of the universal Church.

The Last Ten Years: Going Out to Every Culture 

When I look back at the last 10 years, I see the direct fruit of that Jubilee grace. We began to build intentionally, focusing on breaking cultural barriers and reaching out.

In almost all the countries where we have planted mission in the last 10 years, 90% of the members, and in some countries 100%, are non-Indians.

And the beautiful thing is, they take ownership. They do not see Jesus Youth as an Indian movement or something imported from elsewhere. They receive it as their own – as part of their own language, culture, and tradition. It is very beautiful to witness.

In the 50+ countries where the movement is present today, at least 20 have no Indians at all, with fully local leadership. For me, this confirms that the charism of our movement belongs to the whole Church.

Becoming Young Again: A New Generation Takes the Lead

Another beautiful sign I see is in the generations. When the movement began, even though we had married people, the majority were young people, students. Over the years, many of those young people who got involved stayed and continued to journey with the movement, because they found it the best platform to live their vocation as a Catholic, as a Christian, as a missionary. So the number of married people increased steadily in almost all countries.

Unintentionally, I think the focus on young people was reduced over the years.

But over the last 5-6 years, I see a huge difference. Most countries are now intentionally investing in teenagers and young people, bringing them into leadership and helping them take ownership of the movement.

It is something very beautiful. A bright, promising young generation of leaders is emerging in the movement now. The movement is becoming young again.

From the Pillars of St Peter's to the Heart of the Church

Finally, when I look back, I cannot forget those early trips to Rome for my first meetings in the Vatican.

I still remember the days I spent sitting beneath the huge pillars of the colonnade in St Peter's Square, waiting between meetings. In a suit and tie, I would wait 2 or 3 hours for the next one. When the police asked us to move, as we were not supposed to sit there long, we would take a walk and return. I survived on just bread and water, which was all I could afford at that time.

From those very small, simple beginnings to now, when we will be holding a conference of 1,000+ leaders from all over the world in Rome, it has been an extraordinary journey. And we will also have a private audience with the Holy Father! 

Every moment, every day, I have seen the Lord’s faithfulness. Our God has been walking with us, renewing again and again the first prophetic promise He gave us: ‘I will lead you step by step.’

I have seen it in the last four decades of my life. And I know that the generations after me will also witness it.

He never asks us for great strength or great strategies. He asks only for our faithfulness, our availability, our complete yes to Him. He did the rest then. He will continue to do so. If we offer a radical obedience to His word, if we are docile to the work of the Holy Spirit within us, if we have absolute faith in Him, we will see marvels that will astound us, the unending signs and wonders of the Holy Spirit that await each one of us.

Manoj Sunny is the present International Director of Formation of the Jesus Youth movement.