By Peter Zeter
KOTA KINABALU — About 186 representatives from parishes within the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu attended the PBK Preparation Programme held at the Msgr Watcher Centre, on March 3 and 4. The primary topic discussed was Who are the least accessible of our youth?
The programme was intended to mentally and spiritually prepare the Parish Youth Team Ministry (PYTM) for the coming 14th Archdiocesan Youth Festival or better known as ‘PBK 14’, which will be attended by young Catholics in Sabah. This year, Holy Rosary Limbahau Parish will host 1,200 youth at the three-day event from August 27 to 30.
The long-awaited youth festival, which began in 1983, is held once every four years. St John Tuaran parish hosted PBK 13 in 2018. PBK 14, was planned for early 2022 but rescheduled to 2023 to adhere to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
During the two-day preparatory programme, the various parish youth leaders were guided to understand the situation the present Catholic youth are in, as a result of the pandemic. Hence, “least accessible” was chosen as the keyword and central framework to help assess the attendees and capture their pastoral situation.
Employing the ‘SEE – JUDGE – ACT’ methodology, the youth leaders were grouped and guided to discuss the realities faced by youth in their respective parishes, brainstorming on the possible and applicable approaches to the situations before deciding on the action plan to reach out to the least accessible youth.
The young parish leaders were also told that least accessible, among others, were the central issues discussed during a recent meeting at the national level. At the end of the programme, the youth leaders were sent back to their respective parishes and asked to start an out-reach programme.
