By Stephen Chin
KUCHING — 52 participants descended on Sematan Palm Beach resort on 15 and 16 June. It was decided that we will all carpool as most of us knew the way. It was a clear and sunny day and all looked forward to the drive towards Sematan and the programme thereafter.
After eight weeks of the Alpha programme, the highlight was the Holy Spirit weekend away, where we all got to know who the Holy Spirit is and how we can build a new relationship with Him or in many cases how to be in an even deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit.
On arrival at Sematan, all participants were assigned their rooms and the programme started at 2.00 pm. Four videos were viewed, and, in the typical Alpha format, small group sharing ensued. It was an especially meaningful sharing with all participants interacting intimately with their group members. The sharing session went over time and the programme coordinator had to stop the session so the participants could have a little rest time prior to our dinner programme later in the evening. To be able to witness such familial rapport established among participants after just eight weeks was truly testament of the work of the Holy Spirit.
Dinner was fulfilling and after dinner, we all gathered at the well-appointed function room with tables and chairs cleared aside for the greatly anticipated games. The core team members were the games masters for the night. The participants were divided into four groups and the games begun. We started with an ice breaker to break up the groups in order to allow the participants to meet new or less familiar friends. Then, in the first game, each of the groups were given a jumble of words which were then stuck onto the back of the participants. The group leader had to quickly decipher what was the biblical quote from the jumble of words. The games masters then had the participants in stitches with the various games relating to the listening and communication skills of the participants. We also had charades where the creative talents of participants were on display as they attempted to mime their message across to their group members. Everyone participated in joy and we will all hold dear this night in our hearts.
What more could we want by starting off the following day with breakfast by the beach. After breakfast, we viewed one more video before we began our infilling of the Holy Spirit sessions followed by a praying over for all. This session was led by Joyce and Sebastian. It was truly Spirit-filled and a sense of peace and joy filled the room. We all felt closer to each other as a community in Christ.
Fr Patrick Heng, drove to Sematan early Sunday morning in order to give us the Sacrament of Reconciliation then celebrated Mass with us. We also had a question-and-answer session with Fr Patrick who also shared with us how he was called to be a priest. We continue to pray for all our priests and religious and that more will answer the call to the consecrated life.
As I write this, it has been almost a month since the weekend, and we still reminisce about this beautiful time that we shared together each time we meet. Come Holy Spirit, COME.
