Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Description: UNPRECEDENTED RESPONSE TO VOLUNTEER PROGRAM
Author: De La Salle
Last month James Camden, Manager of the De La Salle Brothers’ Share the Mission volunteer program, spent 10 days travelling to Orange, Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Rotorua, New Plymouth, Auckland and Melbourne interviewing applicants for next year’s Share the Mission program.
This year there was an overwhelming response to the volunteer program which involves nine months unpaid service in schools that operate in the Lasallian tradition across Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
“Twenty-four applications were received, seventeen applicants were interviewed and eleven young men and women have been selected. This is a 150% increase from last year and supports the growing trend of young people looking for new ways in which to practice their faith”, said James.
The De La Salle’s volunteer program is a creative approach to working with young adults (18 – 30 years) which has triggered optimism and energy. Share the Mission offers young people an opportunity to see their faith make a positive impact in the world through service to those in need.
James has seen an overwhelming increase in the number of young people wanting to involve themselves more actively in faith, service and community activities following the euphoria of World Youth Day.
“Of the applications we received, an astounding number of people made note of the fact that they’d been inspired by the World Youth Day experience of sharing their faith and were searching for ways to express their faith in a practical sense”, said James.
The Share the Mission program began in 2004 to enable young people and adults to increase their participation in the Lasallian mission and nurture a sense of belonging as “associates”.
Brother Gary Wilson, who helped formulate the program, said “The concept of ‘sharing the mission’ is acknowledging that the vocation of the Brothers is shared by many. As such, participants are given an opportunity to live and work in a Lasallian community and gain an understanding of the Lasallian mission. This potentially could lead to a deeper commitment either as a Partner or perhaps as a Brother”.
Two of the applicants for next year’s program view it as a valuable opportunity for further discernment of the Brothers vocation.
In 2010, the five work placement sites are Luurnpa Catholic Primary School (Balgo Hills, WA), Oakhill College (Castle Hill, NSW), Southern Cross Catholic College (Scarborough, QLD), Mainohana Catholic Secondary School (Papua New Guinea), and John Paul College (Rotorua, New Zealand)
The volunteers will work in a variety of roles from assisting teachers to youth ministry, special education, sports coaching, mentoring, leadership training, extra curricular activities and parish based ministries.
The need for young people to find somewhere or someplace to develop their faith and to discover their sense of purpose and direction in life is real. Increased interest in the Share the Mission program, confirms the Brothers have tapped into something that is meeting that need.