16 ROSEMARY STRET, INALA, QLD,4077 TEL: 3714 9509

GURU NANAK SIKH TEMPLE (GURDWARA) INALA INC.

NEWSLETTER #4

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.

I am sorry that this newsletter is late, due to some personal health problems.

We have some very exciting news.

Sikh Youth Camp 2013

Gurdwara hosted a very successful Sikh Youth Camp on 13 July 2013. The credit must go to the SCY

organising committee, which included Nicky Gill (langar), and the SYC core team that comprised of Parmji

Kaur (Ranee), Dr Ajit Kaur, Deepa Kaur, Harvinder Singh, Narinder Kaur and their volunteers and Speakers,

Dr Jagatjit Singh and Sr Bhajan Singh Bains, and numerous sevadaars. The Gurdwara management

committee is very thankful for the wonderful effort. Here is a brief write-up:

The Guru Nanak Sikh Temple Inala Qld held its inaugural 1-day Sikh Youth Camp (“SYC”) on Saturday, th

July 2013. The SYC was organised by a core team of volunteers from the Brisbane and Gold Coast sangat

who are passionate about disseminating Sikhi knowledge to the youth in the hope of instilling keen interest

in the Sikh religion and its teachings. The theme of the SYC was “Gurbani Is Jag Mein Chanan”. The SYC

received an overwhelming response with 66 registrations for youth participation, of which three quarters

were participants from Brisbane and a fourth from Gold Coast.

The participants of the SYC were divided into 2 categories of ages, explicitly, youth aged 6 to 9 years and

youth aged 10 to 16 years. The categories were named Jatha Nikkay Bahadur and Jatha Miri Piri

respectively. The participants gained Sikhi knowledge in a proactive learning environment under the

guidance of learned community elders and formed new friendships.

For the Jatha Nikkay Bahadur, the morning sessions included an introduction to basic Sikhism where they

learned about the Nishaan Sahib, the 5 “kakkars” (artefacts) of Sikh faith and the proper practise and

etiquette in the Gurdwara. Meanwhile, the older Jatha Miri Piri was introduced to the pillars of Sikhism that

included the selfless service of “Seva”. There was an interactive session on Seva which gave the Jatha

participants the opportunity to discuss various kinds of communal service that the youth could participate.

Later, the Jatha youth practised Seva in the langar hall serving lunch and tea to the participants, parents,

organisers, visitors and volunteers. During this time, the young Sevadars bonded as they worked together

and demonstrated appreciation of Seva. Both Jathas were also taught “shabads” and performed “kirtan” in

the “Darbar Sahib” with much enthusiasm. The youth were provided with “karras” (bangles) as an

encouragement to adhere to Sikhi.

16 ROSEMARY STRET, INALA, QLD,4077 TEL: 3714 9509

The afternoon session included the screening of a movie and discussion about the “Chotte Sahibzadey” for

Jatha Nikkay Bahadur and a session on “Gurbani & You” for Jatha Miri Piri. The session on “Gurbani & You”

triggered a healthy discussion on how the “Bani” influenced and benefited our lives. All participants without

karras received one from Harvinder Singh who had kindly donated them.

The event ended with games for the participants with much merriment and fun. The games further

strengthened the friendships everyone had made at the SYC. Every child was a winner at the games. The

day ended on a high note with the presentation of Certificates of Attendances to the participants by Dr

Sidhu, the President of Guru Nanak Sikh Temple Inala Qld.

Rashwin Kaur, a 14 year old SYC participant had this to say: “I would like to thank everyone who helped put

this camp together. I know that it took months to organise and put together. It was very enjoyable and I

learned about Sewa and Gurbani as part of the Miri Piri Group. Sewa is not only restricted to helping out in

the temple and at home, it can be as easy as giving a smile to a person walking by. I also learned the three

duties that a Sikh must carry out, namely Naam Japna (Chanting God’s name: Waheguru), Vand Chakna

(Sharing with others and helping those in need) and Krit Karna (earning an honest living). We played games

while learning how to work as a team and cooperated with each other in order to complete the activities.

Everyone had a lot of fun and we will all look forward to the Sikh Youth Camp 2014”.

Guru Nanak Sikh Temple Website goes live!!

Please go to www.brisbanegurdwara.org.au and all the info is there. SYC photos can be viewed on the

website. Unfortunately, though I am the “webmaster” for the site, and from the old school, my

technological skills are really limited. It will take me some time to grasp the ins and outs and be able to

16 ROSEMARY STRET, INALA, QLD,4077 TEL: 3714 9509

upload documents and photos. I am still taking lessons from the developer of the website, Sarvjit Goraya.

He has spent months on this and we are very thankful to him.

Event Bookings

We now have a central contact point for bookings: info@brisbanegurdwara.org.au, for functions (public

and private). Anyone making a booking has to provide the necessary form, which includes information as

to how much the person wants to this be displayed on the site, (name, what the function is for, venue,

date etc.) The website shows future bookings so that the Sangat can plan and book accordingly.

Please note: The booking will not be confirmed until it is accepted by the management committee, and

the person making the booking is so notified.

The website is in its early stages, (version1 !!) and needs a lot of improvements. We sincerely hope

sangat members will make comments, give suggestions etc., via the email above.

Upcoming events/programmes:

These will now be posted on the website.

For those getting this newsletter for the first time, the previous newsletters are found on the website. The

Sangat is humbly requested to pass this info to all their friends and relatives etc. who you think may not be

receiving this newsletter. If they contact info@brisbanegurdwara.org.au , I will add their names to the

email list

Sangat da dasa: Mukhtiar Sidhu

26 July 2013