Project Batam: Restore My Church

At the blink of an eye, two years have passed and we have finally come to the end of another exciting juncture of our RCIY journey. On 9 June, we witnessed the dedication of St Filipus Church, the church we have restored! We started this project two years ago in the hope of repairing the “hole-filled” zinc roof and providing them with adequate chairs. Never did we expect that our generous Holy Spirit parishioners would be so supportive of our mission experience.

With the overwhelming support, not only were we able to restore their church, but instead, we were able to build a new one. The old wooden church that fitted only 250 parishioners every Sunday is now transformed into a fully functional cross-shaped building that can seat 500 people comfortably.

However, the most significant growth was not the physical expansion of this church. In our joint effort with the community of St Filipus, we were given the opportunity to participate in building God’s kingdom spiritually. We are indebted to them for allowing us to witness Christ’s presence in a community much less fortunate than us. They taught us that joy could be found in any community, despite the poverty – only if we allow Christ to be truly present in our lives.

In our interaction there, we found beauty in the lives they lead. They shared and were generous and charitable as a community. Their actions in witnessing the Good News encouraged their own congregation to grow from 300 to almost 500 worshippers. We were privileged indeed to have worked with a community, different in culture and language, that showed our Church is truly universal.

Amy Lim
for The Faith Formation Ministry