Young man on fire for God.
By Anthony Barich
A Perth man transformed from drug addiction and promiscuity by the Church’s vision of love and life is heading to the United States next month for training to transform the culture back home one person at a time.
In September 2006, Clayton Walsh, now 25, was sitting in the Joondalup Mental Health Clinic, having hit rock bottom from drug dealing and addiction – a lifestyle that brought him close to death.
In his desperate state he said his first prayer, and, through exposure to the late John Paul II’s Theology of the Body and fraternity with supportive Catholics and family, he has, over the past two years, lived almost exclusively on Divine Providence, having exorcised his past and mending his ways.
In doing so, he has toured several countries, receiving formation through the Emmanuel School of Mission mainly in Rome. Now, he is animated by the mere thought of the life-giving nature of the Church’s teachings and has found an avenue that will channel his energies in a structured way – Generation Life.
Generation Life (GL), a recent phenomenon started in Philadelphia, is a movement of young people committed to building a culture of life by spreading the messages of life and love to other young people.
“One of the appealing aspects of this trip is the formation it will give me to bring this necessary message of love, as it was intended to be, to our own shores,” Clayton said. “Our culture, for the most part, isn’t creating or maintaining an environment that teaches us how, or allows us to be strong men and beautiful women.”
It is within this confusion that Clayton feels called, alongside many others, to create opportunities and to rebuild the value of life in society. GL has made a commitment to sexual purity and desire to influence their generation to do the same, respecting and protecting the sacredness of our sexuality and its bonding and procreative purposes.
Its primary outreach is through classroom education, where young adults bring this message to middle and high school students. During the 2006-07 school year it reached over 26,000 students in the classrooms with the pro-life and chastity messages.
Results from classroom surveys indicate that 60 per cent of young people they encountered have had a change of heart and made a commitment to chastity, saving them from harm and heartache associated with pre-marital sexual activity. Clayton has experienced the worst of this, and found that his personality was even restricted as, in his former life surrounded by drug dealers, any change in attitude is met with suspicion. Living with the Emmanuel School of Mission in Rome re-animated his personality and creativity.
In Philadelphia, he will be trained as a group leader to work in one of GL’s many ministries, including a pregnancy assistance clinic it runs, ‘beach missions’ like one it hosted near New York last month that drew 1000 youth, sports events and retreats.
While his GL commitment is a one-year term, he is open to whatever opportunities he finds, though he would love to return to Australia and use his newly found skills in Church ministry. GL is similar to Perth’s Respect Life Office, which promotes and defends all issues relating to the culture of life in parishes, schools and media throughout WA.
In three weeks he needs to raise just over $10,000 to cover his expenses, though he says prayer is also a valuable gift for his ministry.
Contact him on claytonwalsh@gmail.com or on 08 9304 2778.