To whom much has been given more will be required. The scriptures confirm this in the book of Luke 12:48. It was in this light that 60 young boys and girls from different age groups, ethnicities and nationalities gathered at the Mariapolis Victoria (Man)situated in the western part of Ivory Coast from the 3rd to the 8th od August 2022 to testify these scriptures through life experiences. Gathered around the tittle (Hombro Mondo) and the sub themes “Dare to care for yourself, the others and the planet” sparked in these young people the desire to be United world ambassadors in their perspective hometowns.
It was an atmosphere full of life, love and light and with this, the young people realized how important it was to be formed morally, spiritually, emotionally, educationally, and psychologically to be ready to face this new era. More and more the world is demanding and influential and not standing tall in these areas bends and breaks the most important part of the body which is the soul.
With the spirituality of the focolare movement which is geared towards may they all be one, that fed the young souls these days together with practical activities and experiences on the themes like having confidence in themselves, believing that they are unique and talented, and realizing that it all had to start from the seed they grew inside of them, made a revolution in many hearts.
It was important that they loved their inner most selves before presenting themselves to the outside world. After loving and caring for themselves, they could be in the rightful position to loving the others without being influenced by their peer groups. Lastly, if they were able to surpass the above two stages, they could love and take care of planet or the mother earth which was as important as the others. To do all these it was important to have goals and objectives in life and to choose the rightful instruments that will lead them to these goals.
As mentioned above, nothing was left out. At this age many young people are interested in Entrepreneurship. This time it was given to them with the light of the Economy of communion which fascinated them and instilled the desire in them to want to do business with a new culture and to see the present economy with new eyes knowing that their contributions counted.
In the same line, it was realized that, to stand out healthy in the world of today we must be good examples of using the media. Some vital tools were given such as “Mary the model of communication” this together with dialogue sparked in them the desire to be the young people who would through their actions, testify that it is possible to use the various social medias in a positive way and why not testify that God is love as they had all lived during the 5 days together.
Nothing was taken for granted as practical activities filled up some days so as not to remain with theory. These activities such as planting of beautiful trees, working on the farms to grow natural medications for malaria (Artemisia) producing composte and fabricating solid and liquid chocolates brought out the genuity in the young people and left them with the idea that nothing is impossible if they believed in themselves and if they put God first in everything they did.
The five days of life, love and light came to an end this time not only with enthusiasm but with young people who stood up right with concrete ideas and desires to contributing to their world and bringing the everyday changes that they were called to in making the world a better place. We all left with the slogan Worrying and complaining is not the answer but excellence and contributing positively is a solution.
NJI MABIH
