Being born and raised in a Catholic family, God had always been a big part of my life, but it never really occurred to me and I never really paid much attention to it. God’s love never really struck me when I was younger either and I did not see a point in why we should believe in Him. Growing up, I used to always dismiss my beliefs and only attended catechism classes for the sake of attendance. I was usually inattentive during catechism classes and would only go just to meet my friends and not for the intention to learn more about God, not only that, I would also sometimes not go to church purely because I was downright lazy.
When I grew older, I became more and more self-conscious about the things I say and whether I am right or wrong, causing me to always be scared of voicing out my opinions and struggles because of the fear of being judged, and the fear of people not understanding or accepting me for the way I am or the way I think. All of this then led me to resort to unhealthy coping mechanisms to distract myself from reality. Every time I was in a bad situation or I was having a hard time, I would isolate myself and try to pull myself together and bottle all my thoughts because of how scared I was of people and how self-conscious I was of being around people. I hated myself for quite a long time, even right now a small part of me still does. But this all changed when I attended the Megaleio Youth Camp back in November of 2018, my first Youth Camp.
Before the Youth Camp, I had already been attending various assemblies and households but was not officially part of MFC Youth, which used to be known as YFL. But through that Youth Camp, I was able to deepen my relationship with Him even more. Through the talks and sharing, I realized that I was not the only one going through a hard time, I was not the only one who used to feel astray before encountering God. I realized that I was not alone and that God had always been around with me, and it was my decision on whether or not I should accept Him into my life. My fellow MFC Youth made me realize that there is no shame in voicing out my struggles and my opinions as they have also gone through similar instances and circumstances in the past. I was beyond grateful and thankful that God was able to bring me into this community and have my fellow MFC Youth welcome me with open arms.
After being in the community for almost a year, I discovered my love for music through multiple Praise and Worship sessions. Being able to convey His love through music during Praise and Worship made me realize that I can serve Him too by joining the Music Ministry, and so I did. I served Him for the first time during the Family Enrichment Recollection back in September of 2019. My desire to serve Him through the Music Ministry became stronger and so I continued to serve Him in my second Youth Camp, Iunctus which was in November of 2019, where I sang one of my favorite songs “Touch the Sky” by Hillsong UNITED. This song was also where I found the lyrics that struck me the most “I touch the sky, when my knees hit the ground”. Even when we fall, or in this case, when our knees hit the ground, we are still able to touch the sky, with God’s grace and mercy, we are capable of anything.
Right now, my relationship and connection with God have been the strongest it has ever been, and I owe that all to MFC Youth. In joining this community, I was able to discover my true self and was also able to reconnect with God again, and I am also very grateful for being able to serve Him through the Music Ministry and also being able to discover my love for music.
Ate Nicole Talam is from MFC Youth Singapore. She is also a part of the Music Ministry.
