Thursday, 21st August 2008
I’m a (Soul) Survivor
Sometimes, you just have to seize any opportunity that comes along by its neck, and that’s exactly what I ended up doing when I found out that someone from the Youths 4 Jesus (Y4J) group had dropped out of the trip to Soul Survivor 2008, a week-long Christian camp in Shepton Mallet, England.
Comprising of over 9,500 people coming from all walks of life and all corners of the globe, Soul Survivor was not just an opportunity for many to meet and unite with such different cultures, but, more importantly, a chance for all to renew their Christian faith, or, indeed, even become Christians.
I have to be honest, before I committed myself to going to the camp; I was sceptical about it to say the least. Apart from the fact that the opportunity was all so sudden (we left Malta last Monday, and I found out about this the Thursday before!) and hence left me in a confused state, I was rather apathetic about my faith, despite me going to Y4J meetings on a regular basis prior to this trip.
My mother was another hurdle to me going up, albeit initially – knowing my character inside out, she didn’t believe that this would be something that I would enjoy in the least. However, to her credit, she left it in my hands to make a final decision. Looking back, I’m pleased to say that I ultimately did make the right choice – the experience was an enjoyable one and was indeed worth it.
However, recounting the specifics of what happened on a day-to-day basis would be too cumbersome a description. Instead, highlighting how the day was divided is more adequate. Essentially, each day was divided into five segments – two main meetings, one at 11am and one at 7pm; and three seminars at 9.30am, 2.30pm and 4pm.
While the latter was optional and hence not everyone attended, the former was obligatory. The seminars would vary in their topics from Biblical study to theological aspects, as well as applying the Bible to everyday life. On the other hand, the main meetings, held in the Big Top, which was a massive tent that was capable of hosting all the camp’s participants, would generally comprise of worship and various talks. This was massively different to anything of its kind in Malta – it allowed people to get in touch with God in a tangible manner and was also the main catalyst in many people – myself included – in fostering a better relationship with God.
Of course, the change in environment also played its part throughout the course of the week. From the sweltering heat of Malta we suddenly moved into a rather chilling cold that would persist throughout the week; and from the constant sunshine that graced our islands we faced abysmal atmospheric conditions – strong rain, occasional thunderstorms and gale force winds.
Hence, camping throughout the duration of this week was anything but easy for the group of 86 people that travelled from Malta – actually, if there was one thing that this camp served for, apart from getting the participants closer to God, it was appreciating how different our homes are compared to the state that we were essentially living in. It also served to make us realise how sometimes we seem to take things for granted, something that certainly couldn’t be done here, least of all with the increasingly unpredictable weather!
However, while the joys and experiences of camping are generally unparalleled, and the various new friends that I made are treasured, the most crucial thing that I managed to get out of my trip to Soul Survivor was an inner peace that I haven’t experienced in a lengthy amount of time, as well as fostering a better relationship with God. My apathy towards my faith is now all but gone, and I believe that coming back from England, I am not only a better person but also a better Christian. My attitude towards life has now changed; all of this from an unexpected opportunity that I welcomed with open arms. I grabbed the bull by its horns, and I most definitely do not regret it.
Matthew Borg is a second year Law Student at the University of Malta and is a member of Insite – the Student Media Organisation. This blog was produced by Insite – the Student Media Organisation. www.insite.org.mt
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Comments
i also joined matthew in this trip to england this year, its my third year actually going up. what ive learnt from Ss is that you know why moan about our church? instead of moaning what can i do to make the church better? and lets ask ourselves do we seriously have a relationship with our God? cos truly thats what church is all about... then well just get to the point were well have a living church rather than just a cultural one! I mean Ss was great ive learnt so much from there but the thing that struck me most was how each of us can worship God in his own ways freely,,, why cant we get this in Malta... im very shy but during mass or any worship meeting im very free to worship God cos i know that if im free other people would be so lets take the step to free ourselves in our worship what ever that might be..
thanks
ben
Being "good" can have various dimensions to it - everyone can see it differently. As you said, being good can relate to how you treat other people, of course, and it can also relate to how one acts, what their character is etc. Preferably, it should be seen from all perspectives possible.
@ Brian Spleenovich
Perhaps then I didn't understand what you wrote, maybe it wasn't that clearly defined.
I'm one of the 86 people who went on the trip to SS with Matthew. This kind of event only happens once a year, and yes, it truly is a life-changing experience. However, i do not see it as something that can happen in our churches every weekend. In malta there are similar events, on a much smaller scale of course. We, as Y4J try making a bit of a difference such as maybe our Lenten talks at St Julian's Church during the pre-Easter period, and I'm sure God's plans do not stop at that! However what we do focus on more than anything back here in Malta is in fact the relationship teenagers (and any other for the matter) can build with God Himself.
This year at SS I learnt one very important thing: it is useless for us to come back to our countries and just nag about everything that goes on... it is up to each one of us to make a difference! However, any form of change must be made keeping God as the focal point of everything.
Hope my point is clear not confusing
For more information: www.y4jmalta.org
It's not about the homily - well, of course, it plays a part, but it is not the most critical bit of the mass - but about how we don't seem to become more modern and adapt with the times as the years pass by.
As I said in the blog, I attend Y4J. Here, we don't have masses every Monday (which is when we meet), but simply just worship the Lord. At Soul Survivor, this was also done on a greater scale. The former has helped me become closer to God and the latter, well, I described what it did to be in what I wrote. The mass does not help me achieve this when in reality, it is what should be helping me the most! So yes, I believe that there indeed is something wrong here... something has to be looked into.
Perhaps this is also one of the principal reasons for dwindling attendances at mass nowadays. When the Church did its census in 2005, it was found out that approximately 51% of the population (if I'm not mistaken) are attending mass regularly.
This was a massive drop in attendance from the previous time that this census was done, and should have already set the bells ringing (sic) for the Church!
When Archbishop Cremona took up his post, he said that he wanted to be the Archbishop of the youth and get the youth more involved. To be quite frank, I haven't noticed a single difference in Malta's churches since when the Archbishop said this. For youths to be more involved, there has to be an element of change, and while of course youths can be the catalysts of such change, it cannot entirely happen if the Church isn't willing - and it doesn't seem to be at the moment.
As I mentioned, I find Y4J and found SS a tangible way of getting in touch with and closer to God. Unless the Church reforms, I will stick by this.
I feel that the churches in Malta do need a serious rebranding, at least some of them for that matter! For the most part, in Malta's churches, you find a bunch of old priests hell-bent on making the Mass as uninteresting as possible for its people, and then topping it off with a 20 minute homily which, by the end of it all, would have everyone fast asleep! And that isn't wrong?
While I was in England, we had a Mass on the last day. This did not take longer than 25 minutes - and the priest's homily was no longer than 2 minutes of that. I think that the problem with this country - as much as I love it - is that we're not ready to embrace change within the church, we're not ready to become more modern; we just stay stuck in the past.
I'm sure many priests would totally rebuff the idea of introducing modern worship songs as part of the Mass for example, as their idea of worship is when the people sing "Hu l-Mulej" or something similar.
This was something I couldn't find here, and I'm glad I discovered it abroad.
It's difficult to pass self-judgement without being biased, but I'll do my best. I've always thought of myself as being a 'nice person' and if I take into consideration the week that I just spent in England, I feel that I have progressed quite a bit in terms of where my personal faults lay before this trip. Often, for example, I would swear for no good reason and even incorporate swear words into my everyday speech with friends etc - since then, I haven't done this. Those who know me would also agree that I'm quite a tempramental person, and I haven't lost my temper once since when I went up. I'm sure this will happen one time or another, but it's definitely another improvement over what I used to be.
My aim at SS was to get closer to God, a God from whom prior to this I felt distant more often than not... consequently, I feel, as I managed this, I have managed to work upon my various faults and also become a better person. I'm not the most holy person around, but a balance between the two is possible. Hope this helps.
I think some parts of religion are immature, eg homosexuals are demonic, etc... I think that the youth should be encouraged to be good people, not holy people, as the two do not always go together.
It would be good if you could reply to this, as I am interested in what you might have to say.
Thanks, Spleenovich.