My testimony and 2nd anniversary of gratitude
July 24, 2025
From SEA to Success: What Are We Really Preparing Our Children For?
July 24, 2025
On Thursday, 12th June 2025, following Saturday evening mass, the newly confirmed candidates of the Scarborough Roman Catholic Church in Tobago gathered at the Parish Hall for their ‘Blueprint’ Lock-In Retreat. This special overnight retreat which lasted from 7:00 pm to 5:30 am was successfully led by their six catechists along with six guest speakers: Fr. Peter St. Hillaire, Fr. Matthias Malumba, Ayanna Valere, Hayden Belton, Jerome Alexander and Anna-Maria Baptisite. This retreat focused on core aspects of Theology of the Body in five different sessions with breaks and refreshments in between each session.
The evening began with a welcome dinner followed by opening prayers and remarks from Fr. Peter St. Hillaire and Fr. Matthias Malumba. In their message to the newly confirmed candidates, they reminded them that their millstone of Confirmation was not the end, but rather the beginning of their journey as young involved adults in the Catholic Church and that the each session was aimed to help them with different challenges they would face in building and living out their faith.
The first session led by Ayanna Valere and Hayden Belton, explored the topic of Friendship and Dating. The speakers highlighted the biblical wisdom found in Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 and other verses about the strength found in godly relationships. They emphasized that setting and enforcing healthy boundaries were the foundation of friendships and also respecting the boundaries of others.
After the break, Hayden Belton began the next session on ‘Premarital Sex and Abortion’. He spoke about the beauty and seriousness of the covenants of marriage, warning against the emotional, spiritual and physical consequences of premarital sex, particularly soul ties. He also addressed abortion, explaining that life began at the point of conception and that life itself was very sacred to God.
The fourth session on ‘Pornography’ was delivered by Jerome Alexander, a representative of the organisation ‘Fight the New Drug’. He presented statistical data on the rising levels of pornography viewing in Trinidad and Tobago and also spoke on the effects of pornography on a viewer’s brain, relationships and its wider link to societal issues such as human trafficking. His session ended with various sites and organisations listed to help persons break the addiction and also correctly inform others about the topic
The final session, led by Anna-Maria Baptist, addressed the topic, ‘Suicide’. By examining various aspects of the life of Jesus through the lens of being fully human, she explained how we were called to handle suffering and disappointments in our lives. She then stressed on the worth God sees in human lives, noting that Jesus did not commit suicide but instead sacrificed his life for us so that we could have life in him and with him. She ended by sharing the early warning signs of suicide ideation, reminding participants of the support which can be offered by their home family and the church family in the issue and sharing helpful websites and emergency contact information which could aid in the issue.
Early Friday morning, the retreat concluded with a reflective ‘Sip and Paint’ session where participants were invited to express what stood out to them the most in the comprehensive, long but fun retreat they had participated in.
-Chinedum Nwokolo
