Dear friends, This is continuation of the sharing on the experiences of the last group of Jesus Youth which had gone to World Youth Day (WYD) Toronto, Taize, Lourdes, Assisi and Rome from India.
When we were preparing to participate in the World Youth Day, we used to pray earnestly for obtaining/renewing our passport in time, for the visa, for our families and businesses/ jobs, our health, journey, JY international gathering, Rex Band programmes in UAE, USA, Toronto, WYD, etc. Before we started our journey, we had received a message to offer all struggles/ delay regarding our travel to the Lord for the salvation of sinners. This was a constant motivation to us throughout our journey and it added meaning to the delays/ difficulties faced in the journey. After overcoming it, we would remember the number of souls which would have been saved due to our sacrifice, and how thankful they will be about it. It was a joy to think the kind of happiness in heaven over one sinner that would repent and turn to Jesus. He has said that even though there are a 100 sheep and one is lost, the shepherd would turn back to find it and as he finds it he will rejoice over it, more than the 99 who were not lost. As we started our journey to Pondichery from Ernakulam, our bus staff remembered that it was already the last day of the month and they had not yet paid the tax and hence it would be impossible to continue the journey and cross the Kerala border. There was an uncertainty of about 1 and a half hour and the staff tried their best to do something about it. They offered to take us by 3 taxis, but we did not find it the best solution. At the same time, being a holiday, it was not possible to arrange anything and we had to reach Pondichery for the French visa by 7.30am so that we could get the visa stamped and return by eveining. The JYs had come from different parts of Kerala for going to Pondichery and 3 of our members were to start their journey to Toronto in 3 days time. All of us seemed to be upset when Mr.George remembered that there was a message to offer travel delays for the salvation of sinners. On hearing this, our faces lighted up and we found meaning for the trouble and some went back to the bus and started praying the rosary for the salvation of sinners, while others waited at the telephone booth. The latter contacted Ceetly at Trichur and in 10 minutes, another bus was waiting for us at Trichur to take us to our destination. Another bus was also getting ready by Jose Olickal. "Yes, God is good, all the time" as I am hearing it through the audio at this moment. At the French Consulate, as we waited for our interview, we prayed the rosary outside the door which was a touching experience. Throughout our pilgrimage, the rosary was a constant method of prayer. Mr.Tojo, who was running a home for the street children at Pondichery had made all arrangements for us. We had visited the home and praised God for how much a Jesus Youth like him could do for the unwanted and condemned. I will be posting more sharing in joynet in the following days. I have not included sharing of others in this mail, but only mentioned about George and Jose. I am sorry the id of Ceetly George Mechery [EMAIL PROTECTED] that I posted yesterday does seem to be correct. I shall send the correct id shortly. Love and regards John Wilfred Cochin/ India **************************************************************** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to this mailing list, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************************************
