St Joseph Papar experiences the mercy of God

PAPAR – Since the initial handing-over and commissioning of the site for the proposed construction of the St Joseph’s new Sunday School building block on 4 Oct 2015  to the main contractor by parish priest Fr Thomas Yip, the parishioners have been able to witness for themselves the realization of a dream come true before their very eyes.

However, the rising cost of building materials and other related furnishing costs have made the projected cost of RM450,000 insufficient to bring the project to its completion.

Thus, it became necessary to initiate a fundraising committee to source for additional funds.  The first major fundraising event, a Christmas Charity Dinner, was mooted by Fr Yip.  It was held at Dewan Salleh Sulong, Papar with a 80-table capacity on 27 Dec 2015. The organising committee was headed by Petronella Munting (OFS Papar) and assisted by Cyris Kaujin (KTM Papar).  The emcees for the night were Evaristus Entanak and Valencia Ann Primus.

The Christmas Charity Dinner proved to be a Christmas miracle and managed to raise an unexpected RM90,000.  It was a time of joy and blessing for the parish to experience the mercy of the Lord that, within a short span of time, all the tickets were sold out and many generous parishioners came forward to contribute prizes in the form of a motorcycle, sofa set, washing machine, grass cutter, mobile phone, bicycles, electrical household products and hampers.

The night was enlivened with a host of traditional dance performances, choirs and youth rendering Christmas hymns, and lucky draws.

Present for the occasion were chairman of the parish council, Johnny Sitamin together with other councillors, representatives of KUK/chapels, religious, parish youth, local communities and parishioners, as well as local dignitaries such as John Anthony, Michael Frederick, William Alan, and Lester Randy Rubintinus were seen attending the happy event.

Fr Thomas Yip thanked everyone for their generosity and involvement with their time, effort, and finance, and hoped that more future charity events would be organized to enhance both the physical and spiritual aspects of developing the parish, the KUKs and chapels under the supervision of the parish and other needs of the communities. – William Charles Mindus