Pictured: Sophie McNaught
In April 2018, people from all across the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane converged upon St John’s College, Nambour to experience a youth rally I helped run called Activating Joy. The night started off with DJ Raf hitting the discs, followed by emmanuelworship and finally a talk from Fr Rob Galea. Fr Rob talked about how although we are imperfect, we can find joy in God. He mentioned a story about how much he loves chocolate cake and how one time he ate too much which made him unable to go to the gym, something else he loves to do. After three days one of his friends picked him up and took him to the gym and got him back into his usual routine. Without his friend, he would not have gotten back on the saddle so quickly.
Friends are such an important part of our journey with Christ. God puts these people in our lives for a reason; to help us not stray from the path God has for us, or to show us new things, or even to teach us lessons. But whatever the reason our friends are in our lives they are there on God’s account. This reminded me that I should treasure my time with my friends and family.
I am so glad I got to be a part of Activating Joy. This event was the first charismatic faith experience for some of the young people and it was such a privilege to see their faces light up when Fr Rob was singing God Will Reign or when the DJ Raf copied the dance moves of one of the participants or when emmanuelworship were playing one of their songs from their new album, Ventus.