By Episcopal Commission for Creation Justice, Diocese of Miri
MIRI — Rev Fr Joseph Ding, Head of Creation Justice Commission (CJC), Miri Diocese conducted a Laudato Si’ Creation Justice Workshop in the longhouse village of Long Jegan in Lapok Parish over the weekend of 21–23 April 2023.
He was accompanied by members of the Miri CJC and they were very warmly welcomed and generously accommodated by the villagers.
The remote village of Long Jegan is a 3-hour drive from Miri, partly through unpaved timber track road which can only be negotiated by 4-wheel drive vehicles.
The village does not have electricity nor water supplies from the grid. It relies on the villagers’ own resources and ingenuity to provide their own power and water sources via diesel fueled generators and solar panels for electricity, and harvesting rainwater from the nearby mountains for their water supplies.
Over 80 participants registered for the workshop which started on Friday evening. They ranged from school students to warga emas.
The workshop was conducted in Bahasa Malaysia in their village chapel from Friday evening to Sunday morning. It was wrapped up after Sunday lunch with a demonstration and lesson on Home Composting by the CJC team.
Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ message was well received by the village community. Penghulu Patrick, who heads the local area consisting of various villages, and Ketua Kampong Dennis, who heads the Long Jegan village, both attended the entire 3 days together with the village community.
The Penghulu, in his closing speech towards the end of the workshop, thanked Rev Fr Joseph and the Miri CJC team for coming to Long Jegan village to conduct this workshop and to share Pope Francis’ call to care for our common home.
He expressed his joy in the realisation that the Catholic faith encompasses his community’s age-old traditions of respecting and protecting Nature for future generations.
Following the conclusion of the workshop, a team of volunteers put forward their names to form a Creation Justice Ministry for their village to implement the Framework For Action Plan decided at the workshop.
After thanking the villagers for their generous hospitality and bidding farewell, Rev Fr Joseph and the Miri CJC departed Long Jegan that Sunday evening for the long and arduous drive back to Miri.
We were all tired but filled with joy in the realisation that the Holy Spirit has been present throughout the event.
Laudato Si’ mi Signore! – Praise Be To You, My Lord!
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