who we are
How it began
Stefan and Tutzi, our lovely pastors and the two goofballs in photo, had been in Marana Tha` Catholic Charismatic community for many years. They kept growing older, and youths kept appearing and as time passed they felt the need to cater for the youths of their families. So every now and then (having three kids under the age of 10) they would invite the youths to their house and hold small meetings geared for their specific needs.
Time kept passing, and the group of youths meeting in their basement became steady and kept growing slowly.
On one occasion, during a discussion on their spiritual growth, God made it clear that the way forward was for youths to reach out to their friends. So Stefan and Tutzi discussed and dreamt and said: “What if we had to organise a Lenten weekend retreat for youth?” It was January 2000 and they targeted their first weekend retreat called “The Bungee Jump of your Life” for March 2000.
From then on, there was no turning back. After the successful weekend, the youths met the following Saturday… and the following and the following…and the rest is history!
Stefan and Tutzi say: “Personally it was the biggest bungee jump we could have ever taken, because juggling God’s will, family needs and youth isn’t always easy!”
Y4J became the youth section of Marana Tha Community and remained so till September 2006. Since then, Y4J has become an independent youth group within the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Malta.
What now?
Every Saturday is dedicated to one or more Y4J meetings (all depending on your age) where youths come together to grow as one community with God. Throughout the year we have different events and opportunities which all focus on this same thing - building our relationship with God which in turn helps us build relationships with each other.
From that one Lenten weekend in 2000 Y4J has slowly, but surely, grown and evolved into what it is today; catering to the needs of pre-teens, teenagers, young adults and married couples. We couldn't be more excited to see what God has in store for us!
Take a look around our site to really get to know what we're up to!