By: TONY MARKS
Editor
Ordinary people in all ages and are commissioned by Christ to spread His Gospel to different segments of society, especially the youth. Groups of ordinary young people called Life Team was formed to answer this commission to spread God’s word to other teenagers.
One of these Life Team groups was recently created at Our Lady Queen of All Saints Catholic Church in Ville Platte, and tasked with leading the group as youth minister is Julianne Reed.
“The way I got involved in ministry is kind of ironic,” Reed said.
Her brother Nick approached her with the idea as he was discerning a call to the priesthood. Reed said, “His spiritual director asked what he can do to spread the Gospel where he was in life, and he thought about campus ministry.”
“Going into high school,” she continued, “I prayed and went to Mass, but I hadn’t really encountered our Lord. The spark wasn’t there when Nick came to me with the idea. I was like absolutely not and thought this is dumb and a waste of time. We prayed enough at school as it was already. My mom, Jessica, said if I didn’t support this then I would be punished. I guessed it was better than being punished.”
Reed’s first attempt at campus ministry was starting F.O.U.N.D. at Sacred Heart High School. “I didn’t expect a good turnout,” she admitted, “but we had so much support from the students, the parents, the teachers, and just the whole community.”
She continued, “As graduation approached, I was starting to realize how much I loved campus ministry. I loved being in charge of it. It was really sad to know I was walking away from it after all the work I had put into it.”
After graduation, Reed was hired as youth minister at OLQAS. She consulted with Fr. Mitch Guidry (pastor of OLQAS) and Fr. Tom Voorhies (pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church), and they all agreed to bring Life Team to Ville Platte.
Reed’s first order of business was to form a Core Team to help her run the youth group. Each of the five people she contacted answered the call in various ways and have had their faith deepened by joining in the ministry.
Cade Fontenot
I personally call it almost a miracle because originally this was not my thing. I was kind of the person who would be in the back. I never wanted to be seen or known. I wouldn’t put myself in front of people. I had recently made a retreat in Lake Charles. Probably a week or so after that, I got a text from Julianne saying we are starting a new group for the youth. I said I would check it out, but I wasn’t certain if I would do it.”
“I was trying to find every excuse not to come here at all, but there was a part of me that said just go. I went and finally got to meet all the members, and I was starting to get a little more comfortable.”
“I have more or less been on-and-off with the faith over the years. I’ve struggled. Everyone does. No one is perfect. Just hearing all the other kids open up helps me to slowly become more vulnerable and open up myself. I just learn how to better myself.”
Savannah Fontenot
“It was kind of crazy how it happened. I went home one Sunday after Mass, and I was talking to my parents about how there’s nothing for teenagers around here in church. We don’t have any youth groups of retreats. My mom said maybe I could talk to Fr. Guidry about starting one, and I was like whatever.”
“The next Sunday in church, Julianne got up to talk and said she was starting a youth group and she needed help. After Mass, I ran outside and said I wanted to help. I was very excited about it.”
“I used to not be so open to letting God decide what I’m doing like the mission trip to Honduras. I was forced to do that, and, now, I love it. Since then, I’ve been open to everything.”
“For me, I feel like Life Teen is helping me learn to be more selfless. This isn’t about me, and it’s not about what I want to do. I’m doing this for God. I’m doing it for these kids and helping them grow in their faith. If I can give up my time to play on my phone or go hang out with my friends, then I can do this.”
Vic Parks
“Julianne sent me a text a couple of months ago. I was like no. I wanted nothing to do with that. Two weeks later, I turned around and said yes. I am very glad I said yes because I get to meet a lot of nice people. I feel proud to be a part of this team because of the mission we have and the spiritual upbringing of the children of God.”
“It’s helped me find a purpose in my own life knowing that I can come here and at least try to change someone’s life. If my future doesn’t work out or something happens to me, I can die knowing I did something great.”
Grace Johnson
“In high school, I always felt very called to youth ministry, and it was something I always wanted to do. But, I felt like that was something I was going to do after college. I felt like I was not in the place to do it. I had heard about Life Team and have a lot of friends in Lafayette who do Life Team. I was going to do this at St. Pius X in Lafayette because it’s really big and already established. But, then, Julianne texted me and said she was trying to get Life Teen in our parish.”
“At first, I really didn’t want to do it because I thought that was going to be a lot of work because youth groups haven’t worked out in the past for our parish. I was praying about it, and God was saying if this is what I’m calling you to do then you have to be fully open to this and not be just partially open.”
“I surrendered and said I would do it over here, and it has been really awesome just to see all these people whom I have grown up seeing at church. I just never got to know them, and now getting to know them an getting to see how God’s working in their lives has just been really awesome.”
“It has deepened my faith because now I want to be the one who actually follows Christ despite what everyone else is doing. Just deepening myself in prayer and actually having that relationship with God has helped me, I think, to be a better minister to these kids. Getting to see these kids open up is really inspiring.”
Jolie Aucoin
“I was actually just going to be one of the kids coming, and then Julianne asked if I wanted to join Core Team. When she asked me, I thought it would be a good opportunity to be able to serve God’s children, guide them closer to Him, learn more about myself, and get closer to God by doing so.”
“Learning how to be resigned to God’s will and giving myself totally for these kids and for God has deepened my faith. It’s a struggle, and it’s hard. But, I’m learning a lot from them. I just hope they’re learning something by coming here.”
For Reed, she has also grown in her faith since being hired as youth minister at the end of July. She said, “I like seeing other people come to know Christ, and I’ starting to see that. What’s deepened my faith is seeing these people being committed. They’re not getting paid to do this. They’re volunteering. Seeing their commitment and their faith pushes me to deepen my faith. They definitely hold me accountable.”
Life Teen at OLQAS is open to teenagers from OLQAS, Sacred Heart, St. Joseph’s, and Belaire Cove. Teenagers from First Baptist Church and Grand Prairie are also encouraged to attend.
As Reed concluded, “The most rewarding part is it’s definitely a humbling experience for sure. I think just to see these kids show up every week and want to learn about the Lord and to have the parents’ support. The amount of support I have received from the community is really rewarding, and it forces me to pray and forces me to seek out the help of spiritual direction whenever I need to. And, that’s humbled me when someone asks for help.”