Youths of Markpeter organize a gathering with students

May 02, 2016

By Eman and Rayner
The youths of Markpeter organized a meeting with students from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Kolej Politeknik who came to the Church of St Peter, Sungai Manila on April 9. The theme for this meeting was taken from Matt 11:28 Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

The objective of the gathering was to give the youth the opportunity to express themselves through spiritual activities and to give them a platform to cherish and strengthen relationships amongst the youth.

Registration began at 3.00 pm and members of the programme were on hand to welcome the participants. Some children also came to participate and their early exposure to church activities is a good sign for others to follow.

The session began with a welcome address by the Chairman of the programme, Mr Alday Alexius, who explained that the programme was to help them “de-stress” from the problems or burdens that they are faced with.

The programme was also to allow the youth to relax and be in a happy frame of mind. He said that the children who followed the programme, would be the youth of tomorrow and should not be stopped from participating, because Jesus said in the Bible: Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them: for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. The programme then began with praise and worship. Tommy Gedeus started off with the ice breaking session and emphasized on the importance of communication and cooperation between the participants within their groups. Adaris Moses Sintan was invited to speak to the participants on Youth and Church. The key points of his talk were:

-- our life experiences teach and shape us
-- the youth will be the future leaders and their voices should be heard by the Church 
-- listen to God’s call through the Sacraments; for example, God called Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:4-10
-- only by being a community can the Church and youth grow together 
-- serve in the community, not only in the youth ministry, to enhance your relationship with God 
-- Why did I become a Christian? 
-- To have the awareness that we can also become prophets, apostles and priests.

The next session, Come Unto Me, was conducted by Jayronna Johnny where the participants were able to share their problems and surrender all to God. The participants were asked to write down their problems and burdens on a sheet of paper, which would then be burned as a symbolic gesture, to suggest that all their problems have been given to God and they are now burden-free.

Before the programme ended, everyone gathered to clean St Peter’s Church and its surroundings.