LJCCC brings Christmas joy to kg Gosusu

KG GOSUSU, Kota Marudu – It was on Dec 6 when a group of about 50 people from the Light of Jesus Christ Covenant Community (LJCCC) and eight Catholic doctors ventured into Kg Gosusu, a two-hour drive from Kota Marudu, to bring Christmas joy to the villagers.

How it started

The new Mission Outpost of Kg Gosusu began three years ago with six families of non-believers who heard the Good News of Jesus Christ through Alpheus Loinsang and yearned for baptism.  Alpheus, who hails from Kinarut, is a member of LJCCC and full-time lay worker as a catechist.  Together with the newly baptised villagers, other interested villagers from surrounding areas, and other financial sources, he managed to have a chapel built there, which was blessed and officiated by Archbishop John Wong in August 2014. Recently the La Salle Alumni built and set up a kindergarten which would be taking in students beginning in January 2016.

Joy of Christmas

Wanting the people to experience the true meaning of Christmas, the combined group from LJCCC and the Catholic doctors got Alpheus to gather together about 250 people of whom almost 100 were children. A simple programme was laid out for the event, beginning with a time of Praise and Worship led by the LJCCC youth. A sharing was given to help the people to understand why Jesus Christ came as man. Sponsored Bibles and crucifixes by LJCCC members were distributed to each household gathered there while each child was given a Children’s Bible from the Archdiocese.

To further help the children understand the Christmas story, the children together with their parents were taught to make cribs.  The Holy Family figures from old Christmas cards were cut out and placed inside stables made out of cardboards and straws.  One little girl was so thrilled with her creation that she said she would look at the crib everyday and pray to Baby Jesus.

At the same time those who were sick went to register with the doctors and had medical assistance rendered them. The Catholic doctors have made a personal commitment to offer medical help to the villagers on a regular basis in the form of consultation and medical supplies.

The whole atmosphere was one of pure joy. The lunch though sponsored by the visiting doctors was cooked by the villagers. For the children, there was a special treat of KFC apart from the lunch. The best was yet to come after lunch.  Each child received Christmas gifts which were distributed by the doctors and the youth.

It was such a joy that the organisers were able to share with the villagers the true message of Christmas in word and action, and for the first time to introduce to them the traditional “Christmas carols.”  It might seem strange for many  but prior to this, the only Christmas ‘carol’ they knew of was “We wish you a merry Christmas”!  – Dr Jeff Soon