2009
Exposure visits to orphanage and orang asli village an eye opener
The Love Squad members of Church of St Francis De Sales, Sitiawan,
visited the Rumah Wawasan, an orphanage, on 15 Mac 2009 where
they had games and fellowship with the occupants of the homes.
They also visited the Orang Asli village, Suak Padi, the following week.
Parishioners comprising mostly of the Sarawakians and Sabahans joined
in as well. Some of the parishioners found the trip meaningful as they
have never been to an Orang Asli village.
By James Amman
2008
28th September: Parish Migrant Sunday
The PHDC of St Francis De Sales organized Migrant Sunday at the parish recently.
Before the real day of the event, the Indonesian workers had been practicing singing
at their work place for 3 weeks. They consisted of workers from around the Manjung
district in the oil palm plantations, poultry farm and vegetable farms.
One day before the event, they had come to the parish to do some ‘gotong royong’
work to clean the church's surrounding. At night, the PHDC organized a BBQ and
singing session with the workers. Some of the workers even spent the night in the parish hall.
The Migrant Sunday event started with a mass at 9:30am, animated by
the Indonesian workers. They sang all the hymns very well. After mass,
there was a fellowship together with the parishioners. The event ended
at 1.30pm and everyone were very tired but happy. Parish priest Rev. Fr
Arulnathan Joseph was very satisfied with the outcome and the response
from the migrant workers. Approximately 120 Indonesians, 5 Myanmars,
2 Indians and 5 Filipinos were present for the celebration. The parish also
received donations from parishioners which helped to make the event a success.
By James Amman
February/ March: Lenten Campaign - "What have we done for the poor ones?"
We started the Lenten Campaign on the
with powerpoint presentation to the congregations. After mass, pamphlets and Lenten
Campaign envelopes were distributed outside the church. The Love Squad T-shirts
were sold off very fast on the first day.
Blood donation and talk were organized during the Lent season. The Love Squad
presented a drama entitled “What Have We Done For The Poor Ones” on Palm Sunday
during mass. Some of the congregations were touched by the beautiful drama presentation
which was accompanied by a song “What Have We Done For The Poor Ones”.
2007
Review & Planning 5 December 2007
The Review for 2007 and planning for 2008 was held recently and it was
the first time that representatives from Concern of the Poor, Family Life Ministry,
Chinese Apostolate, Legion Of Mary and Ladies Group came for the Formation.
They were briefed on PHDC and how each ministry coordinates with PHDC to
initiate a project.
The PHDC has exciting programs for 2008 and hope to register more migrant workers in our parish.
PHDC formed in June 2007
The PHDC was formed in June 2007 after the 1st formation. There are 5 committee members
and a few volunteers to help in the activities. So far, the first project is with the migrant
workers from
the 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month.
The PHDC together with the migrants had small prayers in each language before
each session, then games and fellowships. At the moment, there are 12 registered
Vietnamese and 10 Indonesian parishioners. In fact, there are more Indonesians
but they were too shy to come forward for the sessions.
