Melaka–Johor Campus Catholics (MJCC) on Mission: What if I say “Yes, Lord!”
This time the mission trip brought them to Belaga Sarawak on the 12th-29th July 2017. This group was led by Stefanus Able and Stephanie Shipley under the supervision of Rev. Frs Andy Lee, John Chia and Sylvester Ngau. The local students came from six universities: UTM, UTHM, UTeM, UiTM Pasir Gudang, MMU Melaka and USM.
The 18-days mission trip has taught us a lot. Small things such as smiles and handshakes made us realise that God’s love for us is everywhere. The warm welcome from the local people, especially by the villagers of Uma Lahanan where we stayed throughout the mission trip, made us feel loved beyond our expectation. For Karen from UTM, this experience of God’s love deep within, made her feel complete for the first time.” Going to different longhouses almost everyday and seeing how our faith unites us all despite the different cultures we have, all in Jesus’s name, was amazing”.
There were a total of 10 villages we visited in this Mission Trip and of course there was a lot of people, a lot of charity works done and a lot of sharing with the kids, youth and also adults especially from the Asap-Tubau Parish. Among the things we did during the Mission Trip was to clean the priest’s house for the Parish which is now under renovation. During the night we had sharing sessions with the youth in different villages about Jesus and Catholicism. We also spent time listening to the villagers’ stories. . We felt sad when we heard how in one village, the headman no longer allowed the Catholics to use the church building so they moved out of that village and had to build a new church for themselves.
We also experienced God’s healing in this Mission Trip. One of our team members had a motorcycle accident and couldn’t walk then on. On the next day, after the Mass, Fr Andy offered to hear Confessions during Holy Hour. She went for Confession, after which, Fr Andy anointed her with oil. A miracle happened when she was healed immediately after that, not only could she walk, she could even jump and lift one of our members! Praise the Lord!
Throughout the Mission Trip, the four FOCUS full-timers and six students also taught us ministry skills and modelled ‘incarnational evangelisation’. Eva Glenn Roberts from UiTM Pasir Gudang was grateful that they helped her grow her faith deeper in God. “They inspired me so much in serving God’s people and I can feel the spirit of the Lord is so present in the work with this team”.
Fabron who comes from Miri town, summarised the entire experience: “How great is our God! It’s so wonderful what He has in store for us if we just say yes to Him. God has spoken to me and have personally asked me to deepen my faith in Him through this mission trip. It was not easy leaving the comforts of my cozy home for more than 2 weeks to somewhere I’ve never been before. The experience gained and the knowledge learned is so much that I need to share it with others! From being able to see Christ in the hearts of the unified villagers to witnessing a healing miracle was just awesome and eye opening at the same time. It was an amazing 2 weeks of “faith reconstruction” I would say, and it has impacted my spiritual life greatly. God works in so many ways that we cannot understand and He will continue to work if we say yes.