420 attend Hari Warga Kampus-16

KOTA KINABALU – Four hundred and twenty campus students from 8 campuses across Kota Kinabalu Archdiocese converged for the Hari Warga Kampus 16 (HWK16) held Oct 22 at Sacred Heart Parish Hall. The event was organized by Sabah Catholic Student Council (SCSC) and Campus Ministry Office (CMO) of Kota Kinabalu Archdiocese.

The HWK16 theme “Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:4) was aimed to bring the participants to know and appreciate their identity as a wonderful gift of God, as well as to deepen their Catholic faith and  grow in love as witnesses of Christ.

The program started with the Opening Mass presided by Fr Jeffri Gumu. Following the Mass, two main sessions were given as key inputs to achieve the objectives of the program.

The first session entitled “What I Believe” delivered by Fr Jeffri Gumu deepened their understanding on faith, hope and love in the context of current living, as well as knowing Jesus and the role of Mary in the Catholic Church. He further explained how with faith they could overcome religious discrimination, which was growing rampant, and anchor on the hope that comes from the love of God for them.

The second session “Wonderfully Made” given by Aline Lim from Royal Ambassador Youth (RAY) spoke about the beauty of God’s creation. The talk also provided a chance for the participants to reflect on the issues of same-sex relationships and pre-marital relationships. “God has created men and women to come together in the world. No children are born from a couple of men and men, or women and women. Sexual intercourse is a gift given by God for husband and wife to express their love to one another and also to produce offspring to complement each other,” said Aline.

Participants were given opportunity to share in small groups the relevance and importance of the topics.

The program closed with a thematic performance by the campus students which left the audience with reflections on the daily actions and presence of Jesus Christ in their daily lives.

In his concluding speech, Fr Jeffri urged the participants to live up to HWK16 theme, “Abide in me, and I in you” (John 15:4) so that they could live as faithful Catholic youth not easily affected by worldly temptations. – HWK16 Publicity and Documentation Team