Teenagers Encounter Christ (TEC)
It is a three-day program for senior pupils in schools. Youths are on the crossroad of values and this situation makes them to be open to the Gospel.
Is a national/international retreat movement, which offers youths an opportunity to experience the basic message of the Roman Catholic expression of faith, the Paschal Mystery of Christ, while entering young adulthood.
An integral part of the Church youth ministry, TEC seeks to empower youth to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in our world today. All ministries with adolescents must be directed towards the presentation of the Good News of Jesus Christ, as well as invitation and challenge to become His disciples.
The ministry of TEC recognizes the power of the intergenerational faith community in sharing faith with adolescents. Faith-filled, caring adults who act as mentors and witnesses throughout the TEC experience support young people. Through TEC, youth experience a greater desire to belong and participate in the Church.
Building the community is one of the essential parts of the TEC weekend. This helps the students coming from different Catholic schools to experience a “new beginning” within a different environment.
TEC:
helps to meet Jesus in daily life and make Him the center of all our goals and desires;
helps to join the daily liturgy of the Church;
helps students to transform their prayer experience into action.
More about TEC - www.tecconference.org
"Little theatre days"
Since 1997 annually the Association helps Kaunas Jesuit gymnasium to organize Little theatre days. This is a very important festival not only for the students of Catholic schools. Each year more and more students from different schools take part in the festival. That initiates friendship and collaboration among schools. Every year the festival has a different theme.
“Little theatre days” aims at:
motivating pupils’ creative work development;
sharing school theatre experience;
developing interest in theatre and culture events;
encouraging to discover and develop creative possibilities,
looking for new and interesting forms of Catholic theatre.
Global Outreach
Global Outreach is committed to the building of a civilization of love in Central/Eastern Europe as well as in the United States through the formation of young Catholic leaders who are committed to rebuilding the Church.
Global Outreach achieves its mission by means of Catholic student exchanges between high schools and other Church organizations in the United States and Central/Eastern Europe.
In addition to the values of cultural sharing and personal growth, Global Outreach encourages students to grow in their Christian faith and servant leadership abilities with a commitment to the vision of building a civilization of love. The program supports the students in their efforts to grow as persons, becoming healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous and more likely to become servants, especially of those who are least privileged in society.
Global Outreach also seeks to promote links between Catholic leaders and institutions in Central/Eastern Europe and the United States, helping them to grow in their efforts to build a civilization of love through the renewal of the Catholic Church and its commitment to the new evangelization.
National Association of Catholic Schools is responsible for this program in Lithuania. Our duties are the following: to advertise this program, to make competitions and selections of students who want to participate in this program for one year. Since 1999, 25 students from Lithuanian Catholic Schools were studying in USA.
More about this program – http://www.globaloutreachprogram.com
KAIROS
Kairos is the Greek word to denote the Lord's Time. This retreat is an opportunity for pupils to explore their relationship with themselves, their community and God.
The key themes of this retreat are the following:
knowing oneself,
discovering Jesus in a personal way,
recognizing and responding to Jesus' call,
living the message of Christ.
Student leaders offer presentations on faith, spirituality, and self-reflection.
Retreatants are invited to reflect on their own faith journey and begin to deepen their spiritual lives. Conversation, prayer, social activities, and community reflection allow for a powerful and enriching retreat experience. The intention of the retreat is to gather a diversity of students to share their stories and listen to the stories of others with the goal of seeking the presence of God in all things.
There are many spiritual values that naturally flow from the experience of Kairos. Each retreatant learns that he is loved, lovable, and loving. The retreatant comes to see Jesus in a new light, as a real friend, loving and calling him. Each retreatant is challenged to grow in relationships at home, and to deal with personal problems, and as a result, often seeks more caring friendships.
Building of community is also important part in retreat. Therefore students for this retreat are coming from different schools.
Kairos helps:
to know each other and step by step to create community;
to meet Jesus in daily life and personally answer to His call;
to transform prayer experience into action and working experience into prayer.
The motto, “Love is shown in deeds more than words” is a Kairos theme.