French scouts in Malaysia

Jun 17, 2023

By Mercy Almeida Stellus
The Church of St Jude played host to 60 scouts from the French Boys and Girls Scouts of Kuala Lumpur on June 4.

Parish priest, Fr Vincent Thomas, warmly welcomed the troupe in his opening note.

This annual event, which has been taking place since 2018 (excluding the pandemic years), involves the French Boys and Girls Scouts of Kuala Lumpur holding their camp in the jungles around the Klang Valley. This year, 45 children between the ages of 7 and 16, accompanied by 10 adults, chose Eko Rimba Komanwell in Rawang for their three-day camp in the wild.

Etienne and Marie Bonnancy, a couple in their early 40s, have been managing this scout group for a year. They arrived in Kuala Lumpur two years ago with their six children, five of whom are part of the scouts. After a year of supporting the group, they were asked by the French Catholic community to take on leadership roles.

One of their sons, Stanislas Bonnancy, recited a decade of the Rosary and sang the final Hail Mary in French.

Additionally, one of the scouts participated in the first reading. Members of the troupe were also invited to carry the offertory. The parishioners were later mesmerised by a thanksgiving hymn to Our Lady, sung in French.

Marie shared her impression of the liturgy, highlighting the beauty of it as well as the warmth of the community and the priest. She said they experienced “in real life” the priest’s words during his sermon — different cultures, different languages, different songs, but all united around one God in three persons, one Faith, and one Communion.