New committee elected for EMI

The Seventh Annual Conference of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei (EMI-MSB) was held at the Marist Brothers’ Champagnat Youth Centre May 7-10

Jun 05, 2015

PORT DICKSON (Herald Malaysia): The Seventh Annual Conference of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei (EMI-MSB) was held at the Marist Brothers’ Champagnat Youth Centre May 7-10.

Twenty participants, consisting of the incoming as well as the outgoing EMI members from across the region, attended the four-day event.

The Opening Mass was presided by Fr Arin Sugit from the Apostolic Vicariate of Brunei Darussalam. In his homily, he said that, in order for us to be fruitful in our ministry, we have to always remain with Jesus. Serving in the migrant ministry is proclaiming God’s love that is constant and will remain unchanged in our lives. Christ’s love will give us strength to keep this ministry alive, even when we encounter obstacles, hardships and problems.

On May 8, Mark Goh, a lawyer by profession and currently serving as the Chairperson of the Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ACMI), Singapore, presented the summary report on trafficking for discussion.

After the presentation, there was a Question and Answer session. Members came up with a proposed EMI Trafficking Position statement which will be presented to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (CBC-MSB) for their consideration in July 2015.

The next session was Volunteer Management facilitated by Michael Charles Loh, a Founder Member and Chairman of the Managing and Organising Volunteer Efforts, Executive Director of Catholic AIDS Response Effort and a Member of Caritas Singapore Volunteer Resource Committee. He touched on how to work with volunteers, emphasizing on:

--Why People Volunteer
--Why Volunteers Leave
--The DPH (Dover Park Hospice, Singapore) Experience
--A Catholic Perspective

The next slot was the presentation of the annual reports from all participating arch/ dioceses.

The annual report covers an introductory background to the Diocesan Migrant Ministry, activities carried out at the parish and diocesan level for 2014, planned activities at parish and diocesan level for 2015 and key areas on the development of the Migrant Ministries.

Mass on the second day was presided by Fr Charlie Oasan. In his homily, he touched on Jesus’ business (mission) on earth which is to bring the Kingdom of love, compassion and mercy to all people because God loves everybody.

He was not afraid, even to die, because He knew where he was going. Jesus’ disciples were also not afraid to die in proclaiming the Kingdom of love, compassion and mercy. We are the followers of Jesus Christ. We are chosen to be here, it is not by chance that we are here to work with migrants.

The new EMI-MSB Executive Committee for the term 2015-2017 are:
1. Chairperson: Peter Barnabas (Diocese of Penang)
2. Vice-Chairperson: Josephine Tey (Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur)
3. Secretary: Ken Chua (Diocese of Melaka-Johor)
4. Treasurer: Sr Angeline Lau, rgs (Diocese of Melaka-Johor)
5. Core Team:
a) Jeremy Khoo (Archdiocese of Singapore)
b) Fr Arin Sugit (Apostolic Vicariate of Brunei)
c) Fr Alvin Ng (Archdiocese of Kuching)

The Eucharistic celebration on the third day was presided by Fr Alvin Ng of Kuching. He shared that in ministry and service, we have to please a lot of people if we want to get things done. Sometimes, it may go against our very conscience. It is easy for us to minister in our own ministry or to sit in conferences and talk about the situation from our perspective.

However, the realities on the ground differ much. No matter how many times we may have been at the grass roots, we are constantly amazed. More often than not, the members at the grassroots evangelize through their witnessing, in spite of their tough life.

On the fourth and final day, May 10, the new executive committee met to discuss the Planner for the period of May 2015- April 2016. Some of the activities include the following:-
--Hosts for the next and future EMI Conferences (2016-2026)

--To come out with the next and future Migrant Sunday Kits (2016-2026)

--Tentative date for the upcoming EMI Exco Meeting

--Upcoming Exodus Programme (Regional Formation) — to target new volunteers to fulfill the call of the Church to work for migrants and itinerants

--A One-Day Retreat at the beginning or end of the EMI Conference.

The Closing Mass was presided by Bishop Paul Tan SJ, concelebrated by Frs Alvin and Charlie.

On behalf of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, Bishop Paul Tan thanked all EMI Commission Members for what they had done to alleviate the plight of the migrant workers, which in fact is an integral component of the Catholic Church. He also cited Pope Francis’ Message for the 101th World Day of Migrants and Itinerants, themed Church without frontiers, Mother to all. He urged members to continue to reach out to the vulnerable migrants and refugees with unconditional acceptance. The prelate congratulated and thanked the members for their sacrifice in extending a hand to help the migrants overcome the most difficult time of their lives.

At the end of the Mass, each participant received a candle with the words, (the last, the lost, the least and the little) as a symbolic sign of the call to be the Love, Peace, Joy, Hope and Voice for the suffering migrants and itinerants.

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