Asia-Oceania
RYVM Gathering
“Redemptorist Youth Missionaries
among the Poor Youth”
Yogyakarta (Indonesia)
24-27 July 2006
The gathering was almost canceled because
of the earthquake that hit the City
of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in the month
of May. We were really concerned about
this natural disaster. Thanks be to
God that “Wisma Sang Penebus”, the student
house where the meeting took place,
was still in good condition. With assurances
from Fr. Sebastian, the rector, the
gathering was held.
There were 13 delegates
from five Units: Singapore/Ipoh-Dalat,
Bangkok,
Manila, Cebu and Indonesia, the host. Unfortunately,
some could not come because of visa
problems and other internal commitments.
Although only five of sixteen Units
were present, the work during the meeting
was very good. We took into account
the difficulties and joys of youth work
in the Region of Asia-Oceania.
The
Alphonsian Framework
Fr. Emy Maningo from
the Dalat community was invited to be
the main facilitator of the gathering.
The gathering took the theme:
“Redemptorist
Youth Missionaries among the Poor Youth”.
Fr. Emy asked the participants to share
and to describe the youth ministry of
their (Vice) Province in general, in
any way they wanted (multi-media, drama,
etc.). In his sharing, Emy reminded
the participants of the Alphonsian framework:
to bring good news to the most abandoned
poor.
We realize there are
many ways to concretely apply our Alphonsian
charism to our youth ministry. However,
we propose two: a.
The ECONOMICALLY POOR and abandoned,
and b.,
the term MISSIONARY, understood as going
from the center to the periphery. We
go to where they live, to be with them
and live with them during a youth mission
or an outreach program.
Within this Alphonsian
framework, all Units were asked to evaluate
the situation of the youth work in their
own areas. In the spirit of “giving our lives for plentiful redemption” and restructuring the life of the Congregation, each Unit came up with
their responses: Creating,
Reviving and Strengthening the body and work of youth ministry at the (Vice)Provincial/Regional
level.
We also found that
communication and networking were prominent
obstacles. In order to overcome this,
the participants of the meeting agreed
to divide the region into 3 sub-regions.
Also, we asked 3 confreres to be the
contact person in each of the three
sub-regions. They will be the members
of the Regional RYVM Secretariat. Its
members are: Fr.
Bert Cepe (Cebu – southeast Asia/Australia),
Fr. Cook (Bangkok
– Indochina/east Asia) and Fr. Sahaya
(Bangalore
– southwest Asia).
They will work together with the regional
coordinator. We also appointed Miss
Isabelle (Singapore)
to be the secretary. The meeting recommended
that the Regional Secretariat convene
a meeting as soon as possible to clarify
their work.
Apart from the meeting,
participants took the opportunity to
visit the people that were badly hit
by the earthquake. Delegates were treated
to Ramayana dance and one of the world’s
wonders, namely, the Borobudur
Temple.
The gathering concluded with the Mass followed
by a gaudeamus. Students from
Wisma Sang Penebus Community and other
friends were also present, together
with those involved in the gathering.
Willy Ngongo Pala, C.Ss.R.
Coordinator
of RYVM
Region of Asia-Oceania
