Faith And Media Workshop ‘Beyond the Lens’

Fondacio Malaysia, in collaboration with SIGNIS Malaysia, organized a five-day Faith and Media Workshop: Beyond the Lens October 25 - 30 at the Counci

Nov 20, 2015

By Rogena Roger Sining
Fondacio Malaysia, in collaboration with SIGNIS Malaysia, organized a five-day Faith and Media Workshop: Beyond the Lens October 25 - 30 at the Council of Churches Malaysia Centre. The live-in workshop was facilitated by two experienced media educators, Larry Rich of SIGNIS USA and Michael Ramadan of Maryknoll USA.

The workshop afforded active youth leaders engaged in Church mission the opportunity to

-- Deepen their faith and understanding of Catholic social teaching on Media
-- Grow in basic self-awareness, interpersonal skills and critical thinking; and
-- Gain communication skills to engage their faith to promote a culture of peace.

The five-day programme covered several essential topics, including Mass Media, Media and Faith, Presenting Media,  Rough Cut Review and Media for Culture of Peace.

A total of 13 young participants from Malaysia and Brunei attended the workshop.

The  workshop provided space for the participants to comprehend and understand media, what it entails and its impact on us ers. Beyond mere news, it is a tool to reach out to the multitude convincingly. Thus, media is essential in our mission to reach out to others.

Participants were given sessions on the Catholic Social Teaching and how to raise awareness on CST themes using media. Participants were divided into four groups  to go out on field trips to places assigned to them. Group members were requested to create a video based on their field trip. In their endeavour to come out with the video, members encountered various challenges. They were advised to hold on to one another in faith, trust, patience and teamwork.

The one day duration for participants to complete the video was near impossible at the beginning. However, with trust and the spirit of teamwork built, the mission was eventually achieved. Each group presented their video with much confidence to the organizers and special guests.

Every member in each group acquired the skill and knowledge of creating impressive videos for effective evangelization. They experienced much joy through friendship_, teamwork and above all, trust in one other.