Bengaluru youth take Australian cue to help missions

By Adolf Washington

Bengaluru: Can you imagine 30 youth washing cars in a church campus to raise funds for the ‘Missions’? Well you don’t have to imagine. It happened in November this year in Bengaluru, a southern Indian city.

Young members of Sacred Heart Church picked up cleaning material and washed motorbikes and cars of churchgoers to earn “fast bucks to fund the missions of the Church.”

The inspiration came from Kevin Vieyra, a parish Council member who mobilized the youth under Sacred Heart Youth in Christ (known as SYNC) encouraged by parish priest Fr. Jerome Stanislaus.

Vieyra told Matters India that he got the idea from a parishes in Australia where he often visits on various purposes.

Fr Stanislaus said the parish youth have “reflected the spirit of the universal Church in utmost humility and have set an example for others to follow.” The young people, he added, have thought globally while acting locally. “I am proud of them,” he told Matters India.

The priest of 18 years said the car wash aimed to promote “youth power” in the building up of the local church. Several parishes, including some from other denominations, are already following suit, Fr. Stanislaus claims.

Kishore Manickam, 20, an engineering student and a parish council member, said he was taken up when Vieyra told them how Catholic youth in parishes in Australia mow the lawn, clean vehicles and raise funds for the parish. “We couldn’t buy the idea easily at first, but felt it was worth a try.”

The youth in the century-old church in Bangalore Archdiocese teamed up on two Saturdays (2 evening Masses) and two Sundays (3 Masses) to wash cars and generate funds. They washed more than a 100 vehicles and cashed 30,000 rupees.

Christopher, a 25-year-old graphic designer, said: “It was a new venture but we put hesitations aside and decided to do something for the good of the Church. It felt so good especially when parishioners appreciated and cheered us.”

Vieyra, director of operations of Dyna-Air Technologies, who mooted the idea, told Matters India: “You can leverage small inputs if your activity is Christ-centric.” He expressed joy that their gesture found appreciation from the elders. “The youth became a visible face of being proactive for the growth of the Kingdom of God,” he added.