Youth Mission Week: Malacca Johore Youth Day 2019/20 Part 1 - Mission

Sep 14, 2019

JOHOR: The Youth Mission Week Part 1 was held August 16 -17 to kick-off next year’s Malacca Johor Youth Day (MJYD) celebration with the theme taken from Luke 1:38: I’m the Servant of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word.

About 180 youths from the vicariates of South Johor, North Johor and Melaka gathered at the three main zones for mission work.

As 2019 has been designated as the Extraordinary Missionary Year, the Diocesan Youth ministry planned mission work at three different locations, the first being the Orang Asli villages in South Johor, namely Kg Salam Rakit Tiram, Kg Sungai Arang Gelang Patah and Kuala Masai.

In North Johor, the outreach was done at Kampung Orang Asli Simpang Bekoh. The Melaka missions were to a homeless shelter and SPCA Melaka. -- By Reyna Racheal

Here are the testimonies of the missionaries

“The 2019 MJYD mission has taught me tremendously about the different perspectives of the world. What we learnt was how privileged we are to be living in such luxury until we forget about others. It gave us a personal sense of euphoria when we helped the indigenous people whom we had previously blind-sided.

“Some ways we could improve ourselves better are to socialise and interact with the villagers to understand their lifestyle better. Furthermore, we should educate them on the importance of cleanliness and how it should be practised. Overall, it was an incredible experience that has opened my heart to serving the Lord and carrying out his deeds.” -- Ryan Shenren Teo Roa, Cathedral of Sacred Heart, JB

With the theme “Mission”, the participants of the Malacca Johore Youth Day Camp 2019 and I were sent to the Orang Asli Salam Rakit, located at Sungai Tiram. This was my first visit and experience and it made me very excited to learn and see the culture of indigenous people living in the village.

Once there, we were given the task of working together to clean up the village. While another friend and I were doing the assigned task, a boy suddenly approached me with a pencil and a small notebook in his hand.

He handed me the pencil and notebook and through his body language asked me to teach him how to use his pencil and notebook. I taught him to form the letter “A” and when he saw the letter A, he asked, “Is it a house?”

I was speechless for a moment, before I explained to him it was the letter “A” and guided him to write the next letter, “B”. With a very excited facial expression, he asked me to draw a duck and a dinosaur in his notebook. When I finished drawing the pictures he then ran to look for his friends who were playing, but he never let go of his notebook and pencil.

The joy shown by this child was sincere, pure and naive. His words taught me the meaning of gratitude and appreciation of the simplicity of life. The letter to the Colossians 3:17, “All that you do or say shall be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father for what Jesus Christ has done for you” was so deep in my heart and I was so grateful for my humble experience of the Missionary work with the Orang Asli at Sungai Rakit, Sungai Tiram. -- Lorina Menti Bangsa, St Joseph Church, Plentong