Sandhurst Youth Ministry’s Jessan Tano used to spend her days responding to terrorist threats, intercepting drug operations, and escorting heads of state through volatile terrain. As the only woman in her SWAT platoon in Davao City, one of the Philippines’ most high-risk policing areas, she knew all too well the weight of a bulletproof vest and the uncertainty of coming home.
But nothing in Jessan’s law enforcement career prepared her for the series of firsts she experienced in regional South Australia: a church deconsecrated, a conversation with an atheist (she had never met one before), Mass with only four other people, or hearing a grandmother weep because her grandchildren hadn’t been baptised.
“I grew up in a place where the community has a healthy relationship with the Church,” Jessan says. “In the Philippines, even if people don’t go to Mass, faith is part of everyday life; it’s in the way people talk, gather, live.”
Jessan’s shift from holding a gun in Davao to Youth Ministry in Bendigo is much more than a career change — it’s the continuation of mission. “We came here because God kept opening doors and this is where He sent us,” explains Jessan.
Jessan and her husband were visiting her husband’s brother, a priest serving in the Diocese of Port Pirie. When Jessan expressed her sadness about the faith life of locals, her brother-in-law encouraged her to share her faith and story in Australia. “Many people here need what you carry,” he told her.
“In Australia, most people have their material needs met — and many of their wants too,” Jessan reflects. “But that means the spiritual hunger is different. You don’t feel the aching need for God in the same way. In the Philippines, God is our hope. Here, I want to help people find that joy, that peace, that sense of belonging.”
When a Youth Ministry position opened in the Diocese of Sandhurst, Jessan applied without knowing much about Bendigo, what her husband would do for work, or how they’d make it work. “I prayed, ‘Lord, if this is Your will, let it happen, and it did.”
With her husband, Jessan relocated to Bendigo with their suitcases and a strong sense of mission. “We see ourselves in the shoes of the apostles,” she says. “God sends us where we are needed. And when the door opens, we walk through it.”
At heart, Jessan sees her work in Sandhurst as the same mission she’s always had — just on different soil. Whether in a squad car or a parish office, the goal is the same: to lead people to hope.
Jessan's journey in the Youth Ministry began in Trento, Agusan del Sur, a small town in the southern Philippines, where the Church was her second home. At eleven, a Society of the Divine Word (SVD) priest invited young people to stay after Mass to hear about a Youth Ministry Camp. She stayed — and never really left.
“The Church was my playground,” she says. “Youth ministry gave me everything: purpose, identity, protection.”
That grounding became Jessan’s rock, especially years later, when her life took an extraordinary turn.
In 2012, Super Typhoon Bopha devastated parts of the Philippines. Jessan, then in Norway as a Cultural Exchange Ambassador, flew home to help. Amid the chaos, local police noticed her leadership and encouraged her to apply to the Police Force.
“I said to myself, ‘If I’m accepted, that’s God’s plan.’”
For the next ten years, Jessan served in some of the Philippines’ most challenging policing environments — first in the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Unit in Davao City and, later, in the Presidential Security Group, protecting national leaders.
“Every day, I didn’t know if I’d come home,” she says. “I didn’t choose that life; there were so many difficult situations — I believe God led me there because He needed me to do something and He gave me the strength to stay there.”
Jessan was the only woman in her SWAT Platoon. Her colleagues called her “Sister” — a half-joke and nod to her unwavering faith. “They knew I prayed; they knew I talked about God. If something went wrong — a colleague died in an operation, or someone’s marriage collapsed — they’d come to me. I couldn’t fix things, but I could console them. It wasn’t me consoling, it was God,” reflects Jessan.
After nine years in high-risk roles, Jessan and her husband, a Captain in the Force, hoped to start a family. So, Jessan requested a transfer to a less physically demanding post and was assigned to the Women and Children Protection Centre.
There, her focus shifted from raids and tactical response to care for those most vulnerable — survivors of domestic violence, children subjected to abuse, and young people pulled into petty crime.
“It changed me,” she says. “It made me want to understand social work and how to build better communities.” The work was heartbreaking, but it was deeply human. “I thought, ‘If not me, then who?” says Jessan.
She remembers the ‘pink room’, a specially designed interview room for young children who had survived sexual abuse, and the countless times she needed to be a steady presence amid someone else’s trauma.
It was during this time that Jessan began to feel unwell. She was diagnosed with a serious illness, and the dream of starting a family faded quickly.
“At one point, I was so unwell, I prayed, ‘Lord, please, just let me breathe.’ That’s all I wanted.”
It was a turning point.
“I survived. But after that, my husband and I stopped making plans. We just followed God’s lead.”
Today, Jessan is part of a small but passionate team serving young people in the Diocese of Sandhurst in Regional Victoria. She brings her trademark grit, warmth and joy, all of which she credits to her involvement with Youth Ministry over her formative years.
Jessan was formed by two helping hands that shaped both her character and her calling: De La Salle John Bosco College and Santa Maria Parish. Spending her primary and secondary years at De La Salle John Bosco College instilled in her the values of compassion, respect and service—guiding how she relates to others. At the same time, it was in Santa Maria Parish, under the care of an Society of the Divine Word (SDV) priest, where her journey in Youth Ministry truly began.
“They knew what attracted teenagers,” said Jessan, who admits that as an eleven-year-old, she first joined a camp simply to make friends. “They start by building rapport, creating a community through social activities and sport. They aim to create good Christian citizens.”
That early experience of being welcomed and known became a turning point. Together, the school and the parish became spaces of growth—one moulding her heart, the other igniting her mission to serve the young and the Church.
Jessan hopes to introduce the Salesian style of youth ministry into Sandhurst. “I have such a strong faith because of Youth Ministry,” says Jessan. “Youth Ministry built a solid foundation for my life and gave me a compass for decisions. It’s brought me quiet joy and hope, despite many difficulties, and I want to share that gift with others,” says Jessan.
