The cell group is a means for us to lean back and give up our worries and troubles.
Holy Trinity Community (HTC) cell group is a very useful activity from which I can gain various benefits. One of them is the chance to experience the growth of my faith together with fellow believers who have a similar goal: to get closer to the Lord. And for sure, it can change my point of view of life to be better and more positive in the religious aspect, as well as my daily life in my studies and works.
My name is Febronia, Febro in short. My journey in finding HTC Melbourne was quite long, for about a month. How come? Well, I didn’t have any acquaintance within HTC, and there was only one Indonesian in my university faculty.
In the end, I found a friend who knew about HTC from the Indonesian Catholic prayer group, PDKKI. As I came to one prayer meeting on a Saturday, it turned out to be a joint event amongst the cell groups from all over Melbourne. There, I met some new friends who were also first timers to the prayer meeting and had just arrived in Melbourne. In that event, I found out about the coming retreat that would be held by PDKKI and HTC.
I came to the retreat along with my new friends. There, I met more new friends who had been in cell groups. Listening to them, we were becoming more interested to join.
Coincidentally, there were new cell groups being formed and they needed new members. We joined a new one which at that time hadn’t had a name, but we called it the Saturday cell group and now has become The Prophe Elijah’s cell group.
I strived to find HTC because I had been a member of the Singapore HTC when I undertook my undergraduate degree there. Then, when I continued to take my graduate degree in Melboure, I searched for a Catholic community here. So, I had already known about HTC.
Growing and Learning
There are many benefits for joining a cell group. The main one is for my own growth of faith. By joining a cell group, I met people who could facilitate the growth of my faith, as we are called to learn and grow together through teaching and also praise and worships.
In the cell group, we meet individuals who have various talents for growing faith and for doing ministries, such as playing musical instruments, so we can learn from them. On the other hand, we are also given the chance to sharpen our talents and to serve in the prayer ministries, teaching, as well as leading the praise and worship so our cell group mates can also learn from us. Essentially, we grow and learn together.
The cell group is also a means for us to lean back and give up our worries and troubles, especially if you are an overseas student like me, far away from your family in Indonesia.
My cell group is my second family, who give me the morale support and encouragement that is very important for my faith growth. Therefore, it is very important for me to find a community.
God Is Waiting
A few months ago, I was in far from good situation. Fresh graduated, I had a difficulty to find a permanent job while the COVID 19 pandemic struck. Meanwhile, staying home was very monotonic. My everyday life was directionless and goalless. I did not have much motivation to nurture my life quality or my personal relationship with God.
It’s true that my family and my cell group mates were very supportive through their prayers. I also realized how fortunate I was. I should have been grateful for my health and the support I received from the systems around me. However, it felt so difficult to be positive and to move forward.
Within this uncertainty, through one of the cell group session, one teaching and some prayers that were said by one of my cell group mates touched my heart. At that time, it wasn’t actually a particular word and to be honest, the theme was also a very common one. However, I felt that God spoke to me that He is always waiting at the same place for me to come and stay with Him. I felt sad, ashamed yet also happy because God is always waiting, always with me wherever I am and in whatever situation, even when I forget about him.
This wonderful experience made me thankful for being in a cell group, even though I often come to the cell group meeting as an obligation and routines only. But now I long for the cell group meetings, because here I can spare my time to talk to God and I can exchange some ideas and share my experiences with my cell group mates about what I go through.