KOTA KINABALU –  Arthur John, IY seminarian, writes on the closing of the academic year for archdiocesan formands:

Dec 11, 2014 marks the closing of our academic calendar year 2013 for the CAC Aspirants and the IY Seminarians.

It is by God’s Grace that we are able to complete our formation for the year. It seems like it was only yesterday that we began our journey in the CAC and IY Formation Houses. The period seems short but it is made up of many moments that filled our journey.

Evelyn Doikin, 25, hails from Tamparuli, Sabah, and works as a youth coordinator at YouthPREP Centre prior to joining IFFAsia. After completing a year’s formation at IFFAsia, she will take on a leadership role at the Centre and will be directly involved in the training and development of peers as well as coordinating programs.

Below she shares her IFFAsia journey:

IFFAsia has helped me to increase my self-confidence and to take on a more proactive role in giving service. My spiritual life has improved and I discovered more of myself. IFFAsia has also helped me to understand more about the roles of the young people in the Church and society at large.

The formation program offers four modules: Human, Social, Spiritual, and Pastoral.

KOTA KINABALU – Sunday Samuel Worok, 27, hails from Kampung Pinangkau, one of the 13 outstations in the Paitan missionary area, and the only mission area in the Diocese of Sandakan. Kampung Pinangkau is some four and a half hours’ drive from Sandakan town on sealed road and another half an hour’s drive on gravel road. He is from the Sungai Tambanuwo indigenous community. Most of the Pinangkau folks are small scale farmers.

PAPAR(CS).- The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (FSIC) have all the reasons to rejoice and to glorify the Lord as they marked the end of the Year of Faith with their 6-day Annual Retreat at Pace Bene FSIC Centre for Spiritual Formation and Retreat, Papar from Nov 30-Dec 7.

I was born to Roman Catholic parents and therefore was baptized at a very young age. When I was growing up, I went to church regularly with my grandmother but was often sleepy in church and didn’t quite pay attention to what was happening at the altar. I suppose at that age, I looked forward more to the mee hoon soup and going around the tamu after Mass than actually being involved in the Mass. So, yes I have been a Roman Catholic since I can remember, and I didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus

KOTA KINABALU – Church of Mary Immaculate, Bukit Padang (CMI) celebrates its 21st anniversary on Sunday, Dec 8, 2013 which is the Second Sunday of Advent. Every year CMI would celebrate its feast day on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary on Dec 8, but as it coincides with the Second Sunday of Advent this year, CMI celebrated the feast day event on a smaller scale.