KOTA PADAWAN — Kuching Campus Ministry (KCM) organised a three-day, two-night youth camp called “KCM WEEKEND HANGOUT” at St Lukas Centre, Padawan from 28–30 October 2022. This KCM programme was carried out in collaboration with the Kuching Archdiocesan Youth Commission (KAYC), and included seven seminarians from St Peter’s College, Kuching (SPC), as well as helpers who were KCM alumni.
The theme “Arise” is based on Ephesians 2:5, “God, even when we were dead in our sins, brought us to life with Christ. You have been saved solely by grace.” Both were to support the camp’s objectives, which were to introduce KCM to the youth of the KCM campuses, to promote Mental Health Awareness through Christ, and to reignite God’s love.
The camp was met with a large number of youth, with approximately 70 campus youth leaders and members taking part. The majority of them were ILKKM Kuching, IPGK Batu Lintang, Politeknik Kuching Sarawak, SEGi College Sarawak, UiTM 1&2 Samarahan, and UNIMAS students.
The first day of the event featured an exciting welcoming of the participants which proceeded to dinner. Everyone got together with their campus youth mates and had a great chat, eagerly waiting for the first activity to be commenced. It was a delight to see some took the wholesome chance to meet new friends from youth of other campuses.
After dinner, everyone gathered in the event hall of St Lukas to pray the “Youth Living Rosary” together. Consequently, the rosary prayer was uniquely carried out. Youths lined up forming a rosary and each holding a candle that got lighted as a Hail Mary was prayed. After the rosary, the participants got to know KCM with a thorough introduction by KCM’s president, Miss Karen Bulan.
The second day began with a great sing-along and praise-and-worship session, respectively by the UITM team and the UNIMAS team. The session was truly impactful as some participants were even moved into tears.
Interestingly, the second day featured talks. The first talk about DEPRESSION VS ANXIETY was given by Mr Anthonio from SEGi. He journeyed through the topic sharing a spectre of his life. He talked about the adversities in his life and how he managed to overcome them. Quoting Mr Anthonio, “In life you may need to let go, if it is for the better.”
Br Brywindren from St Peter College Major Seminary Kuching gave a spiritual talk which centred around CONSOLATION. He began with a reflection on St Paul’s conversion story. From a person killing Christians, he has turned into a follower of Christ. With this he remarked how consoling our God is, that we are all sinners, and we are given grace and are saved.
His talk then gravitated towards the parable of the master of the vineyard, quoting a verse, “The first will be the last; the last will be the first.” In the parable, there are three workers. The first felt very unjust. The second felt neutral. The third felt most rewarded as he was rewarded with the same amount as the others but worked for less hours. So, he asked everyone, to reflect and ask, “Which among the three workers are we?”
Moving on, he shared on the three types of grace according to Thomas Sakinas. They are actual grace, habitual grace and charismatic grace. The talk ended and a sharing was initiated with all seminarians helping in the conversations as facilitators.
To end the day, everyone gathered in the evening at the chapel to have a conversation with God through a Taizé session and Eucharistic adoration. Many participants also had their confessions to God. That evening “date with the Lord and the youth” lasted for more than three hours. Wow indeed!
The third and final day kicked off with praise and worship led by the UiTM team. After this soulful prayer, everyone gathered and grouped themselves according to their campus for a workshop. This activity challenged the youth, both members and leaders, to discern, discuss and decide on what youth activities can they organise that would encompass KCM’s four pillars in ministry, namely, Spirituality, Self-Growth, Service, and Solidarity.
Each campus was able to present enjoyable and interesting youth activities, which will undoubtedly inspire them to plan and carry out future activities for their campus’ youth clubs. Fr Ramon Borja, SDB celebrated the Holy Mass that Sunday. It served as a fitting conclusion. In his homily, he stressed the importance of returning to God no matter where we find ourselves; come to think of it, God is just always there with us even when we feel distant from Him.
By the Grace of God, the KWH camp went off without a hitch, leaving its participants with fond memories while also having a spiritual and emotional impact on them. The KCM thanks all participants, especially the helpers, KAYC Stewards, Seminarians, and Fr Ramon Borja, for their presence and efforts shared during the camp.
May the campus young people of Kuching even more ARISE!
Kuching Archdiocesan Youth Commission (KAYC)
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