Youth Ministry Testimonials

 

" My name in Nicole Servinis and this is my third year being a leader for LifeTeen. Being a part of the youth ministry has impacted various aspects of my life in all positive ways. It has allowed me to develop and improve relationships I would not have otherwise had the chance to build. Not only has it allowed me to share my experiences and learnings with the youth involved but it has allowed me to learn from others and further develop my relationship with God. Being in University sometimes life can get very busy, we forget what is important and don’t make our faith a priority, but being able to have the youth ministry has given me the opportunity to strengthen my faith and make it a bigger priority in my life.

         I have been so inspired by how insightful young people can be. Being a leader for LifeTeen does not mean I am only teaching or facilitating but I am also learning. I would say I have just as much if not more to learn from the teens involved than I have to share with them. The youth ministry allows us to be open, honest, and share experiences and concerns with no judgment. It helps us feel safe and grow amongst those with similar values and understandings."

        As an aspiring teacher, the experiences I have had with the youth ministry have been truly rewarding and helped me develop skills and understandings that I will be able to take with me into my future career and life."

-Nicole

 

 

" Hi, my name is Abbey and I am 15 years old and currently in Grade 10 at St. Brother Andre. I attended Edge the first year that it opened, I was in Grade 6, and I loved it so much that I was an Edger until Grade 8. I am now a Crew Leader for other Edgers and a part of Life Teen, the high school youth ministry at St. Pat’s. St. Patrick’s Parish has almost become a second home for me. My family of Edgers and other Leaders have supported me throughout these past years and for that, I am forever grateful. I am one of the few teenagers who is able to say that on Friday night I won’t be going to that party but I will be at the church, helping young kids in their spiritual journey. In Grade 8, I was asked to speak on behalf of Edge at a youth conference in our parish and I spoke about the beauty of a young child’s faith, as it is developed and nurtured in youth ministry programs like the ones offered at St. Pat’s. My faith has been strengthened through Edge and Life Teen, despite the fact that it can be difficult to find other Catholic teenagers who are willing to  speak about their faith. One of my favourite passages from the bible is found in 1 Timothy 4:12, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” Through Edge and Life Teen, I have come to understand what it truly means to be a child of God, growing up in a family of faith in the 21st century and I have St. Patrick’s Parish to thank for that."

-Abbey

 

 

 

 

 " As cheesy as it sounds, the youth ministry program at St. Patrick's has affected my life in ways I could have never imagined. To be quite honest, when I was in eighth grade, I would attend EDGE nights because I was kind of forced to. At the time, I would have never guessed that i would enjoy being in a church youth group. More than two years later, I can say without hesitation that I love being in this program as a member of LifeTeen and a crew leader in EDGE. Comparing my life to the way it was when I first joined the program, I can definitely see a change in the way I live out my faith. With the influence and support from this youth group, I've found myself building a stronger relationship with God which is absolutely wonderful. I'll admit, I never expected to meet such amazing people here. Clearly, I was wrong. The leaders I've had have been phenomenal and they've inspired me to be a better leader to the younger students in the program. I've made incredible friends and I've built stronger relationships with friends I already had. Together, we've experienced practically every emotion possible whether it be during biweekly meetings, social nights out, XLT nights, Steubenville conference, and everything else you can think of. We get to know each other better, eat lots of pizza, do crazy activities, and most importantly, we support each other as we all grow in our faith. The constant love and support I've been given while being a part of this program is the reason why I can easily say we're 'squad', or if you prefer a more heartfelt term, we're a family."

-Pamela

 

 

 

" I never thought I could be tired of eating pizza, but but after having it every time the people in the youth ministry get together, it has made me never want to eat pizza again.  I became a part of St. Patrick's youth ministry at the beginning of my grade 10 year and I can easily say it was the best decision I've ever made. Many people in my life were a part of the group and I saw how their relationship with God and each other grew. I watched their relationships develop and as a bystander to these changes in their lives, it was extremely clear to me that the youth ministry was the cause of these beautiful developments. As a member of the youth ministry now and having my relationship with God and all the wonderful people grow, I wonder why I hadn't joined sooner. The group is a place that I believe every person can learn and benefit from no matter the age. It has impacted my life in the best way possible. I have friends from ages 11 all the way to 40+ and I always have something to do on Friday nights. Joining the youth ministry at St. Patrick's Church was the best decision I've ever made and I can guarantee it will be the best decision you ever make too.

Honestly though, I'll keep eating pizza as long as I'm still a part of the youth ministry."

-Life Teen and EDGE Crew teen

 

 

 

" The youth ministry has impacted me in many ways such as, coming together with kids my own age who have the same values as my family and I. It has also impacted me by letting me help out in our community helping serve food to the less fortunate people who can't put food on the table."
-Teresa

 

 

 

" Lifeteen has impacted my life by bringing me closer to Christ and strengthening my faith in him. Also, it gave me an environment where I can feel comfortable about speaking what I believe and not having to worry about people judging me. In addition to that, being surrounded by people my age that share the same ways of walking God's talk was another great aspect to know, because it encouraged me to continue being a faithful servant at this young age. Moreover, some of the talks given at this youth group help to guide me in growing up in a spiritual way and there is much laughter involved too, which makes it fun. One of my favourite parts about Lifeteen would be Praise and Worship, because that's the time where we are given the opportunity to give ourselves up to the Lord, as well as express our love towards him through music. In addition, just the common fellowship that happens throughout the night is always great too."

-Isabel

 

 

" Before joining Edge, I thought that my relationship with God was a pretty great one. I knew my prayers by heart, all the main stories in the Bible, and I attended mass regularly. I thought to myself "if I keep this up and I'm definitely going to heaven!"

  I heard about Edge from a couple of my very close friends. They told me of how they were going to go as well. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to mingle and hang with my friends. Little did I know that Edge changed my life.

        When I first started going, it was all fun and games. All the talks were about everything I already knew. I began treating this program as an excuse to just be with friends.

       Then as I grew, I started to absorb the teachings from the youth group. Slowly, but surely, I felt the Holy Spirit grow in me. I can actually pin point when my relationship started to deepen. I attended Edge camp 2014.  The experience was so eye opening, and my take on a good relationship with God completely changed.

      I went into Edge camp thinking that God was an all-powerful, anger God who would consider me imperfect if I committed a sin against Him. But coming out of Edge camp my thinking was completely different. I learned God was never going to abandon me. God was always watching over me. God is the most forgiving. Most of all, God became my best friend. All the testimonies, masses, speeches and learning activities brought me closer to the Lord. 

         The wonderful thing about groups like this is you grow closer to God but not on your own. You are surrounded by people who have the same thought in mind, to have a solid relationship with God. With that you all help each other deepen each other’s faith. By doing this, you gain wonderful friendships while you work towards creating a friendship with God.

         I’m now in high school and have moved on to Life Teen. Being high school, it’ the common belief that sticking to your faith is going to be difficult. But with Life Teen, I find that my faith continues to grow and become a big part of my life. Without Edge or Life Teen, I don’t know where I would be. I wouldn’t want to know. I’m absolutely ecstatic that God has made Edge and Life teen a part of my faith journey."

-Kayla

 

 

 

 " Honestly, when I first thought of a testimony I was pretty nervous because I didn't know what to write, that I would write something totally unnecessary but I'm writing what I feel from the heart. I was raised in a community with role models and people to look up to and people to set examples. My family was the typical "catholic family". When I was about in grade 3 or 4 I attended a Christian summer camp but I didn't really understand anything about praying over or worshiping. I honestly thought you had to cry when it was your time to be prayed over. I didn't grasp the concept of praying or being catholic. It was only until maybe grade 7 or 8 in EDGE, a youth group that I started to embrace my Christianity. I thought our faith was about memorizing prayers and just reciting them, but I was totally wrong. Our faith is about preaching to others and sharing Gods love to others who feel like no one loves them. Youth group has helped me so much because there are people who understand our struggle as people of God and they relate and teach us what we need to learn in order to carry out God's will   for us. I attend my community, One with God Community, twice a month. I have Life teen every other Sunday and I help out at EDGE on some Fridays. I have grown in faith dramatically, I don't know if anyone noticed but it’s definitely a good thing. My mom has been a great supporter along with my dad and brother. They have been great examples showing me what's good and bad. Our religion is something we have to share with others, not to keep to ourselves. Today I have a regular prayer time and I have more trust in the Lord now. Honestly, you need to have motivation, confidence and trust in the lord to carry out his plan for you. This is a commitment that you have a choice to say yes or to say no. God gave us free will, use it wisely. God paid a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't pay. God bless."
-Catherine

 

 

 

 " If I could describe faith, I would say that faith is not something that you can describe through one glance or by simply observing. Faith is more than a tool, faith is more than a way to learn or be accepted, faith is a commitment, a way of living...a lifestyle. I definitely learned this the hard way when I started high school, I felt alone in my faith because everyone at school confirmed to the secular world and either did not care about their faith or didn't believe in God and for once I was part of the minority. I was truly lost in my faith and I felt I didn't have anyone or anything to rely on and that affected me more than I'd like to admit. It's the hard truth, you don't know what it feels like until you’re in the position where you feel your faith can't bring you any further and I couldn't really talk to anyone about it......then came along Sergio haha he and his upbeat attitude was really uplifting especially with his extreme radical way of living out his faith. With Sergio's arrival and then my increased participation in the church I started to change...it was a good thing really, it was just unexpected and sudden. LifeTeen and Edge became highlights of week especially since I was able to get to know my fellow leaders better and build lasting relationships with all of them. Another life changing factor were the kids part of Edge, their boundless energy, positive emotions and willingness to learn more about our faith spurred me on to further my own relationship to God. Which I am pleased to say is progressing more and more each day! With LifeTeen I was able to connect with other teens facing the same problems and I was taught that life will never stop knocking you down, but with the help of Jesus and my brothers and sisters in Christ I was ready to fight for my faith even if the meant going against what the world was telling me. Going to LifeTeen has helped my relationship with God and has given me the courage to go on a mission trip in the summer of 2014 and because you that I met the some of the most amazing people...Donny, David, Josh, Elise, Elisha, Maggie, Colleen, Stephanie, Andrew, Jonathan, Doty, Kuya JR, Elizabeth, Katie, Mr. Kramer, Mr. Adelman....through these people and many others, God has shown me that this life is not meant to be walked alone, but side by side with those who love, care and believe the same things as you. So I would like to testify that God has all control over my life and I'd like to thank everyone who is and continues to be a part of my faith journey, because my faith is something I can't live without, it's as important to me as breathing air and I wouldn't change that to the world. I'd also like to mention my parents for being the ever steady rock that's helped to support and build my faith on. I hope that my testimony has inspired some of you to go deeper in your faith and feel free to come talk to me if you are ever struggling, after all everyone needs someone to lean. Finally I want everyone to know that we can't do anything without God for He is the one who rules overall and He loves us so much our mortal minds cannot comprehend how much it actually is.

Lord I believe, help my disbelief."

-Matthew