The Diocese took a group of 26 young people by bus to Brisbane for the Ignite Youth Conference in the September school holidays.  Quite a number of the group were return attendees with the others coming along to experience it for the first time.  We had young people from Mackay, Rockhampton, Emerald, Blackwater and Bundaberg in the group, as well as some others travelling individually.   We were very fortunate to have had Fr Andrew Hogan and Fr Gasper Peruvelil accompany the group and to have Bishop Michael join us on arrival for the first evening of the conference.

 The conference theme for 2019 was “New Again”.  The conference is a chance for young people to find out more about their faith and develop it further, to see how it is relevant in our lives today and to see there are other young people living it out.  Their mission is to develop a Church passionate about discovering a real, present God and gathering a generation to be on fire for Jesus.  There were around 1300 young people at the Brisbane conference who took part in engaging workshops, rallies, Masses and other events led by local and overseas presenters.

Here are some comments from our own young people who attended this year:

 “New again in how I approach my faith journey, focussing on my goals and resetting the compass to all for a new change, a new chapter and new renewal of faith as a Christian.”

• “I really enjoyed the friendships, especially among our group.  The Adoration was a very moving experience for me and the workshops, keynotes and rallies were excellent.  Amazing experience that I want to share with others.”
• “My experience of Ignite was that of encouragement, joy and hope.  I had the wonderful opportunity to be a volunteer at the event and through the services I was able to encounter many of the youth and see how deeply Jesus was working in their lives”
• “Four days of worship, these days proved to me that Jesus could empower people.  Personally, I asked for courage and openness of my heart.  I encountered Jesus in every person I met . . . . Ignite has change my life every time for the last four times having been.”
• “Ignite was an excellent experience to learn about God an dhow to help him guide our lives to achieve our fullest potential. . . . . it is excellent to know that whenever we fall short of being perfect, God will love us regardless.”
• “Ignite was a great way to meet other people of similar ages and share the faith, and to deepen / strengthen our relationship with God.
• “Ignite helped me to receive the Holy Spirit and understand my calling”
• “Ignite was such a great opportunity for me to reconnect with Jesus and heal from my past and sins and to be forgiven and reminded that God will always love us, no matter what.”
• “Ignite is a good way to meet new people that share my faith”
• “Ignite hit the homerun for me because it was moving, inspirational and I felt Jesus’ love from the NET team, the people who came and through the donations to the Ugandan people, and it made me float.”
• “My experience at Ignite this year was very exciting.  I really enjoyed praise and worship and Adoration.”
• “It was unlike any other Catholic event I have ever been to and it felt good to know that I am not alone in my faith.”

Keep an eye out for Ignite Conference trip 2020 – “Unleash” 24^th to 27^th September (during the school holidays) in Brisbane: https://igniteyouth.com/conference20