Chantelle Ogilvie says that he role as a student mentor is to show the Gospel in action and allow young high school students transform their communities.
Yet Chantelle Ogilvie's upbringing was anything but Christian, as she grew up in a secular household in which no one went to church. However, one time when her parents were away on holiday when she was about seventeen, she headed for the local church.
"Despite my parents rarely discussing religion, I always had a sense of God," Chantelle explained. "I felt a real need for the Holy Spirit in my life, and I had a vision that the community of faith would make my world a better place."
It was a case of wanting to experience the Gospel for herself, said Chantelle Ogilvie, as she explained this 'experience of God' it in three key phrases:
Being Known by God
Being Loved by God
Being Sent by God.
Mark Tronson asked her how these principles worked out in practice.
"I can take my own life as the example," Chantelle Ogilvie answered. "I have felt known by God through my faith and through my local church. I have felt loved by the community of faith in my church, especially when dark times came, such as illness and the need to solve practical problems. This sense of love helped me make decisions that had Gospel values. Through this I felt sent to tell others of Jesus."
Prompted by Mark's next question about how maturity affects a young person's response to the Gospel, Chantelle reflected:
"Although some are called to overseas mission, in reality most of us are sent into our own communities, living very ordinary lives but lives inspired by the Gospel. In this sense high schoolers (and me as a worker) can make better decisions as we are the incarnation on earth of the Gospel."
Because of her youth, Chantelle cannot remember the hardships there were for ordinary Australians with the 1990s downturn in the economy.
"During the current economic crisis, when times get tough, I see that as an opportunity to live out the Gospel, not as a consumer, but rather as a child of God.
For me this means simplifying my life and focussing on what is really important," Chantelle Ogilvie explained. "This is the message I discuss with young Christians still at high school, to help them see how to shape their lives and their futures."
This Chantelle Ogilvie live television on the Internet can be viewed at
tv.bushorchestra.com and www.safeworlds.net.
Photo description: Chantelle Ogilvie an adult mentor to high schoolers with the 'Australian Young Christian Students' who was interviewed on on the Australian Missionary News IPTV.