SRI AMAN — Fifty years ago in the little Town of Peace (Bandar Sri Aman), the Catholic Church started to take root. From less than 10 parishioners at that time, there are now more than 5000 Catholics in this parish. To mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Catholic Church in this town and to celebrate this golden jubilee of the parish, many activities have been carried out last August.
The Zumba party and the food sales and mini exhibition were held in the morning of 20 August.
The climax of the celebration was the grand dinner that evening. More than 600 joined the dinner, including ex-parishioners. The guests of honour were Archbishop John Ha and Auxiliary Bishop Simon Poh of Kuching. Other invited guests included Vulnerable Archdeacon Chimbie Bunsie, Vicar of the Anglican Church (St Luke’s Church) and the Chairman of Association of Churches Sarawak (ACS) for Sri Aman and his wife, Madam Regina Gisu. Priests who have served in this parish before were also invited.
The next morning saw a Mass presided over by Archbishop John Ha with Bishop Simon Poh and all the priests. During the Mass, 23 candidates received the sacrament of Confirmation. It was indeed a special Mass with the traditional Iban dances performed by the parishioners from outstation, to the beating of the traditional gongs. More than 30 children from all age groups took part in the Children Colouring Competition which followed.
A jogathon was held on 27 August. It was divided into 6 different categories, namely Boys and Girls Junior, Male and Female Senior and Male and Female Veteran. Fr Augustine Jepy flagged off and also gave away the prizes to the winners which took place at the new car park behind the Catholic Centre.
Special mention is to be accorded to the organising committee led by Philip Salam who had worked tirelessly to making this celebration a great success under the guidance of Fr Augustine Jepy and Fr Robert Jissem.
That ended the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace in Sri Aman. The organising committee would like to convey their sincere thanks and appreciation to all those who have helped in one way or another in making this celebration a memorable and special one.
Lucy Chuo
Today’s Catholic No.28 Vol.6 September 2016
