Cathríona Kelly, Parish Coordinator, Parish of Graiguecullen/Killeshin, Diocese of Kildare & Leighlin shares her experience as a leader with young people in her parish: ‘I’m just home from our Diocesan JP2 Award ceremony and wanted to share this story of one of our parish recipients Afia Jahin Isha who received her Gold Award this evening.’
In the past I have been asked at our national meetings of Award Coordinators what it’s like to have non-Christian participants in the Award in our diocese. This is the first year we have had a non-Christian participant in our own parish group. I got to see first hand how it can really work and sheds such a positive light on our religion when experienced from the perspective of someone with ‘from the outside looking in’.
Afia is of Muslim faith and has been involved in our parish for the year as a steward. Here are a few quotes from Afia’s JP2 end of year reflection:
“Being a steward at St Clare’s church has been a really nice experience for me. I enjoyed waking up every Sunday and going to the church and opening the doors for people and greeting them with a smile.
The part that I liked the most was talking and getting to know more people. It really made my day when someone gave me a little smile even if we didn’t know each other. While being a steward in St. Clare’s I
also learnt a lot of communication skills and I also learnt more about how Christians pray and their beliefs. It was truly a great experience and everyone was very welcoming and I’m really grateful for that.”
“There’s many reasons to get involved in this Award. It helps you to communicate better with others and participate in a lot of things that you don’t even realise are going on in your community so I think it’s a really good opportunity everyone should take. Being a steward in your church can really help you with communication, self-esteem and confidence and the same goes for all the other roles that I see my friends involved in.”