REJOICE, FOR GOD IS FAITHFUL | KAIROS GLOBAL | MARCH 2021

Author: George Devassy

Intro: A second generation JY, George Devassy shares how a life entrusted to the Lord was repaid by God’s faithful and ever-present love.

Blessed Beginnings

Soon after the advent of charismatic renewal in India, my parents were among the first generation to choose the renewed lifestyle. Being the first breed of renewal kids with an ‘alien parenthood’; we sometimes were confused ‘baby aliens’. Our family traversed a path in contradiction to the baby-boomer parenting that focused on educational excellence and financial stability. Soon I started living a dual personality trying to please God and at the same time satisfying the demands of a world filled with relativism. But as a teenager I encountered the bridge I was searching for – Jesus Youth, a spirituality which was both joyful and youthful. Many parents in renewal struggle to see positive spiritual results in their children. Although prayers, ministry work and renewal activities will be fully blessed, there is a need for something they can connect with. The Jesus Youth movement helped me realise that life in Jesus is a never-ending celebration with eternal goals. Though the teens’ ministry was not formed yet, I had the privilege to join the movement early and this bridge helped me to form an identity in Christ, in my faith and in the Catholic Church.

Walk, run and sometimes a marathon too – but with the Lord!

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). If God created us unique then surely our walk with the Lord is also unique. As a Jesus Youth I had a deep personal encounter with Jesus and at the same time I could uncover the great deposit of faith formation from my family. My journey as a JY has brought a lot of blessings, including being the Campus Coordinator of Bangalore, missions in Thailand and South-East Asia, and travelling to more than fifty countries meeting young people. God brought me to my life's greatest surprise when I was elected as the second International Coordinator of the movement at the age of twenty-six as the Word of God says in Isaiah 55:8-9 my thoughts are not your thoughts. Maybe God needed a donkey, and I made a good one! 

The Word of God says, the joy of the Lord is our strength and I realised that this joy was abundant when we journey towards where the Lord has called us, for his glory. Being with young people was something that made sense to me and being able to share Jesus with them was the greatest adventure. The beauty of serving a perfect God as an imperfect servant is that he always watches your back. Even the failures on this journey he turns into blessings. Whether it was travelling alone in buses for days in the Himalayas or flight journeys which seemed endless or sitting alone in prayer meetings/programmes where nobody turned up; I felt surrounded by God's omnipresence. Even when surrounded by many youth during programmes or sharing my experience at big conferences, I felt the intimacy of God’s love. Every time I got too comfortable with the world God would call me back, as in the book of Haggai 1:4, how can you live in panelled houses when my temple lies in ruins. I used to respond (sometimes not fully convinced) with the song, blessed is one day in your house than thousand elsewhere (Psalm 84:10).

Handling difficult experiences as a family

In his letter, Pope St. John Paul II wrote, families are key to building a civilization of love, in which families are able to give and receive love at individual and societal levels. I see my life as a blessing from God which has different seasons, each with its own set of pruning and growing. As a teenager I enjoyed my life in the Lord like there was no tomorrow, as a youth I chased my dreams with Jesus and as a family it is a desire to give back to the community of what I had received. 

When I was discerning my vocation, I was asked to write down all that I dreamt for in a future life partner. I wrote with great faith but little expectation; when I finally got married to Nimmi, I realised that I was blessed with all that and a lot more, in abundance. All our pregnancies were battles of faith in the life-giving God. Somehow on most of the mission trips I made, Nimmi and the kids would be in a storm and the calm always came after it was done. The first wedding anniversary we could be together was the fifth one as I was away on programmes; for our first child’s delivery I was trying to fly back, trusting that all would go well. The list goes on about being different from most families but so does the list of miracles that showed the glory of the Lord we serve. The Holy Spirit is the only one who can help maintain the balance of prioritising faith formation in our family with going out to evangelise the world. Being in a world we do not belong to (John 17:14-17) has its own complications but can be celebrated with an eternal hope. I left my lucrative job for three years of full-time ministry and then started a business with nothing. But God blessed me in ways more than I could expect as he is never a debtor. I had my own storms in all areas of life, but I realised what the Word says in 2 Maccabees 8:18 that we do not rely on weapons and daring but God’s protection. Even when everything and everybody goes against you the Lord keeps his promise as in Psalm 23, my cup overflows ... in the presence of my enemies. I feel I am spoiled by his love as he has given me everything, I have ever asked for or even remotely thought of – but at the right time, his time. 

I remember being sad at being unable to see the Holy Father at the World Youth Day in Germany because we had our first Thailand retreat on those same days but finally ended up spending a lot of time at the Vatican during my term. One of my greatest fascinations was the Holy Land and I finally ended up having an office there. The Lord even helped me accomplish the dream of being an evangelistic businessman. Any prayers unanswered were miraculous ways he was protecting me from unknown problems. It’s said obedience is better than sacrifice but when you obey God you realise you are blessed because of his sacrifice on the Cross. From the smallest desires to the greatest dreams the Lord has been faithful though I, mostly have not. Giving our life to HIM is the easiest and most logical decision to make as a human being.

What makes you persevere?

When I look back there are few things that have kept me going. A support system of the fatherly love I always got from God, my dear Mother Mary’s protection, my parents’ faith formation, my Jesus Youth family, which was always with me, my pastors, religious sisters, elders who guided all throughout. Being a Jesus Youth is my lay vocation and community which I literally live in no matter where I go. My relatives were shocked during my wedding to see how JYs from all over the place came and helped in everything. Being a JY is a true experience of Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love). I really felt that every JY, no matter what position, is formed ‘from the grassroots, by the grassroots and to be of the grassroots’. I am always motivated by the missionary life of St. Paul; externally there were times he was stranded or making flying visits to communities but internally his GPS was triangulated to heaven. Our dear Archbishop Abraham always said we are called to practice the ‘ministry of presence’ and mainly our presence at the grassroots. I started my life as a Jesus Youth teenager from a small prayer meeting and now I am back to the same with ‘connect’ prayer meeting in Cochin. Like the cycle of life from childhood to old age, the journey of faith formation also continues from grassroots to grassroots. I pray that the Child Jesus inspires us to persevere in this short life here with the eternal vision of heaven. Believing in the permanent promises of God towards the greatness of being childlike. 

George Devassy was the second International Coordinator of the movement and is presently the Managing Director of an MNC. He lives with his wife Nimmy and their kids in Kochi, India.