"A great experience"
Six months after the partner church consultation, Joel Martin Jebaraja from the Indian partner church TELC summarised what has stuck with him and his church from the international meeting in South Africa.
It is now six months since the partner church consultation of the Ev.-luth. Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM) in Johannesburg/South Africa. Over 30 delegates from the ELM's partner churches worldwide met here. One of them was Joel Martin Jebaraja. He took part in the week-long conference as a youth delegate from the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church. Looking back, he describes how the PCC changed him and his perspectives, but also the ideas he developed for his church as a result of the conference:
The PCC 2024 meeting was a great experience on both a spiritual and personal level. As it was my first international conference it was an icebreaker for me. It helped me to know about my potential and the pros & cons I needed to work on. This opportunity gave me a chance to meet different people from different countries with different personalities. This conference helped me to learn more new things which I didn't know before attending it. The most important thing which I learned from this conference is to say “NO” to people and to stand by what is right and wrong. On a spiritual level I learnt a lot about how to read and meditate on texts from the bible and had the opportunity to observe theologians doing this. At the end of the conference, I was full of confidence and energy to do God’s work in the upcoming days. I am sure that God chose me for this conference for a purpose and he used me as a tool for his will to be done. I am forever grateful to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, our Bishop Rev.Dr. Christian Samraj, Youth General Secretary Rev. Joshua Nimalan and members of the church.
What I would like to do in our church:
- I would like to translate the PCC Youth Resolution into Tamil Language which has all the steps which should be followed in our Church & Congregation.
- I would like to start a self-funding project among youths to support the wellness and education of people in need who are associated with our Church.
- I would like our Church to be more involved in societal activities like donating blood, organ donation programs, keeping our environment and society plastic & pollution free, regular awareness campaigns on Drugs, Aids, Pollution, etc.in our society and in our nearby schools and colleges.
- I want a common platform or app for our Youths to communicate regularly. It should be a platform where everyone can voice their opinions in an audio, video or text format. People can give valid feedback and any complaints anonymously in that app which will be addressed directly to the Youth General Secretary and the Bishop.
- I would like to bring a system inside our church where equal positions like Youth Secretary or Treasurer are given to Females.
- I would like to encourage more females to study Theology.
- I would like our Church to participate in Prison & hospital ministries again in the upcoming days.
- I want the church to conduct workshops based on skills and leadership for Youths of all TELC congregations annually.
- I would like the Pastors of each congregation to conduct Bible study on weekly basis especially for the Youth.
