Goa, India: Young Mill Hill Missionaries Meet

The gathering of Mill Hill Young Members Meet – India Region took place from 6th – 10th of November 2023 at Casa Pallotti, Assagao, Goa. There were 11 young members, and the Regional Representative chaired the whole gathering. One member couldn’t join us due to pre-scheduled schoolwork.

First Day:
A seminar was organized on the theme of “Transformational Leadership”. It was led by Mr Emmanuel Braggs, a dedicated and active member of St. Patrick’s Cathedral Parish and a well sought-after resource person from Pune.

The Church, simple and weak, is built on the mercy of God. Such a simple Church today, more than ever, needs holy and honest people. Leadership is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that has been studied from various perspectives and frameworks. One of the most influential and popular approaches to leadership is the transformational leadership theory, which focuses on how leaders inspire, motivate, and empower their followers to achieve higher levels of performance and satisfaction. But to do this, one must realize that transformation must be reflected within and outside me.

Above all, transformational leadership is nothing but moving to a higher level of change, beginning with oneself. In other words, the door to change only opens from within. Mr. Emmanuel has, through his thought-provoking sessions and creative outbound activity helped us to see where each of us is at and what needs to be transformed in us. Overall, it was a very impactful seminar that challenged us to look within and be open to change and transformation from within with the motto of M.A.D in everything (make a difference).

Second Day:
The second day was divided into two parts. The first half of the day was dedicated to group discussions in which members were divided into groups to share their experiences of the mission so far, especially the joys, opportunities, and fulfilment they’ve experienced in the mission, as well as the challenges and struggles they have faced in mission. Moreover, they were also helped to reflect on how they envision the future of Mill Hill in India and how they can significantly support one another towards living a missionary way of life on a daily basis.

The session was moderated by Joseph Okwara, who diligently helped the members to share in smaller groups and then have them report it to the larger group where members shared, listened to and challenged one another in our struggle of living out our common shared vision of the Society.

In the second part of the day, we took up the agenda to share and discuss some of the burning issues and concerns of the members and the Society at large. The meeting was chaired by Emmanuel Nzenze, and Chainkya was the secretary of the meeting.
We shared and discussed what it means to be a Mill Hill Missionary and how each one is called to enhance one’s personal charism in the light of the Charism and Motto of our Society. The significance of Teamwork and the impact of Formative years were emphasized and are to be taken seriously. The need to expand our presence and pioneering new missions and of how young members can be a source of support towards Self-Reliance and the need to do some specialized studies by the young members to be at the service of the missions and the Society at large were also discussed and recommended.

Third Day:
On this day, we had an outing in the city of Goa, the centre of India’s beach tourist destination. It was a day well spent being together, and we had a lot of fun visiting various places like the Church of St. Francis Xavier, Museums, the Church of St. Joseph Vaz, Pillar Campus, and Dona Paula Beach, followed by a sumptuous Fish Thali lunch at Copperleaf Restaurant and finally ended the day by enjoying a good swim at Baga Beach.
Overall, it was a well spent three days gathering of Mill Hill Young Members – India Region.

We thank the G.C for enabling us to have such an important gathering as part of the ongoing formation of our members, where we get to take stock of our lives, experiences in mission and communities and reflect on how we are and what we have done so far and where we need to go so as to become transformed from within in our journey of witnessing to God’s love as missionary disciples of Christ in the loving service of God’s people.

Tomvenki Yellavula, mhm
Regional Representative – India Region.