Hello friends,
So, since this is my first article, I would like to take a moment to introduce myself and briefly explain my intentions in writing this series.
My name is Anh Peter and I am a youth leader of Doan Torrance. The intended audience of this blog series is primarily Nganh Nghia and HT. I am here because I am deeply committed to educating young minds. I find no other vocation as important or enjoyable!
When most people hear “education”, they immediately think of things like Algebra or Chemistry. They’re not wrong. However, in the context of TNF, this isn’t the type of education we’re talking about. At TNF, we are in the business of teaching affection— reminding our kids that life is about loving others and being loved in return. I know this sounds a little cheesy, but hopefully someday you will understand.
Like my colleagues, I interact with children of all ages. From eating lunch with the Au boys to playing jump rope with the Au girls... But, my work is mostly focused on the development of Nganh Nghia— our high school/college age group. From a planning perspective, I love working with Nghia because we are able to get creative and challenging with our content.
This year, our curriculum was far more focused on leadership than in the past. We began to devote more time towards personal and professional development, and away from Hoc Hoi and spirituality. These were things that we found lacking in our current leaders and we wanted to develop these skills early in the next generation. The Nghia were more engaged and we were happy with the results. It wasn’t perfect, but it was progress. Or, at least that’s what we thought at first.
Recently, Chi Brenda and I have been working on the plans for HT camp— a retreat meant to develop the skillset of current and future HTs. I don’t want to go too much into detail, but, the long list of skills fall under three major categories: Spiritual, Relational, and Leadership. An ideal HT should maintain a balance between the three categories as a Catholic, a friend, and a leader.
When we began teaching more leadership, we also began teaching less spirituality. This wasn’t because our students were already strongly connected to the faith and God, but by accident. I actually sense that the opposite is true. Even though we are brought together for a religious purpose, the spirituality is beginning to fade away from our work.
This feeling motivates my writing of these blogs. I want to do my best to teach our kids to be strong leaders, but also how to be strong Catholics at the same time. Each entry will discuss a spiritual topic that pertains to the HT experience.
So, please stop by from time to time, and perhaps we can learn something beautiful about ourselves and God, together.
Anh Peter
