Melaka /Johor DST Elections

The Melaka/Johor CCR took the lead in forming a DST comprising of the 4 languages. Leading them through preparation for the selection of the new DST was their liaison priest Fr. Ravi Michael. Assisting him over the weekend were Fr Matthew Bun, for the Chinese speaking, Sr. Flora for the Bahasa speaking and Mr. Sebastian from the Penang Diocese for the Tamil speaking. It was filled with reflection, prayer and the sacraments as preparation to elect men and women to serve the CCR in the diocese. Fr. Ravi truly stood out as a Shepherd. This was shown by the way he communicated with his flock, with love, compassion and patience. He was ready to listen and open to dialogue. It was a ‘grace' filled weekend. May God continue to do the Good Work which HE has begun in the Diocese.

The new DST comprises of one Chairman and 4 vice Chairman, secretary and treasurer. Another person from the Tamil speaking will be elected soon. The DST will have a composition of 8 members.

Chairman — Matthew Simon
Secretary — Ann Laurence
Treasurer — Paul Lee

Vice Chairmen
S. Augustine (Tamil)
Joseph How (Chinese)
Nicholas Unsing (Bahasa)
Richard Hendrix (English)

Reported by Gerry Pereira

ZONE LSS

About 70 participants from 3 BECs are attending a nine week LSS in Taiping. Approximately 50% of the participants have never attended an LSS. The LSS is being conducted in English by the “Catholic Charismatic Covenant Community in Taiping.”

St. John Charismatic Fellowship (SJCF) ANNUAL RETREAT.

“Many parts, One Body, One Vision” was the theme of this year's Weekend with the Lord (WWTL) organised by the St. John Charismatic Fellowship “(SJCF). The event's highlight was in-line with one of the group's objective which is evangelisation. WWTL was held at “The Farm” which is located at a rural area in Lengeng from the 4 th - 6 th of April 2008. It was indeed a weekend free from the hustle and bustle of the town for the participants had the opportunity to be one with nature. We were welcomed by the caretaker of the place, brother Andrew.

The speaker invited for the weekend was the well-known Martin Jalleh. He is famous for his jovial nature and his versatile ways of presenting his talks. He was able to make the participants who came from diverse cultural background feel welcomed. His sense of humour added more spice to his talks and kept the participants going.

We started off on a Saturday morning with the first session on “God is Love” which covered the areas of the characteristics of God's love. We were led into praise and worship session right before every session. Martin added music video clips to his session which received compliments from participants who then showed great interest in getting to know more. The sessions continued till late afternoon after which the participants headed to St. Aloysius church, Mantin to attend the sunset mass. Upon reaching back at “The Farm”, we carried on with the agenda for the weekend.

The weekend came to an end on Sunday at about 4.15pm. It was a fun-filled weekend where each and every one of the participants took some time off from their busy lifestyles to spend quality time with the Lord. This weekend did not just give some insights to the participants but also allowed the relationship of the SJCF members to be further strengthened through their unity in the Lord. They were also sent out in the world to serve and not to be served as Jesus told His disciples.

Reported by Joyce Sugunasingam