1st Asian Mission Congress: Telling the Story of Jesus in Asia

The 1st Asian Mission Congress took place in Chiangmai from 18th Oct to 22nd Oct. Almost 75% of the participants were religious. 5 Cardinals, 80 bishops, 300 priests and many Srs and Brs. The remaining 25% were the laity.

What I loved about the Congress was that servants of the Lord from all over Asia had gathered at one place to celebrate the Story of Jesus. I was deeply touched and humbled to have met the men and women who have dedicated their lives to proclaiming the Good News in foreign land, in adversity, in persecution, in calamity. These great people have surrendered their lives fully to God. The Congress reminded me that mission is about laying my life down for Jesus. Am I ready to lose my life, sacrifice my life for Jesus? I do not know and I cannot say for sure because we can never be 100% sure of anything. But I trust that if such a time comes Jesus will give me the grace and courage to do so.

The keynote address by Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle from the Philippines stirred me deeply. My heart goes out to young people who have no stories to tell because they have not been given the opportunity to talk about school, their friends, their lives, their faith to others, especially to their familiies who have little or no time to listen. Every story-teller needs a listener. Among the youths I know, many have no stories to tell because their memories have long been buried deep within. Many young people in Singapore carry memories of shame from their childhood. The day they were put into TAF club or EM3, when they failed their exams or scored just only a B instead of an A. Also they carry the shame of the broken family, father and mother are divorced or are fighting everyday. The shame of being caned or hit in public by their parents, the shame of verbal abuse. Some carry the shame of an acloholic parent, a gambling addict parent or an abusive parent. Finally the shame of having never been recognised as a gift to anyone, not even to the family. So these memories are painfully buried, to be forgotten and never to surface again.

I recently discovered that many of the youths I know do not even know their family's history. They hardly know anything about their grandfathers. More often they know a little more about the grandmother. Even fewer know about their great-grandparents. Not many know about their own parents' childhood, how their parents first met, etc. I sense that even in the previous generations, memories carry shame and the memories too of the previous generations have also been buried long long ago.

I may be wrong but I think that many of our young people need to dig up the memories, yes, even the memories of shame. Because memories say something about who we are; our identity and these memories point us towards the future. St Paul calls us to praise God all the time, in good times and in bad times, in times of sucess and joy and even in times of failure and shame.

In Singapore young people are the best evangelists to other young people. Young people who have experienced God's love can rise above the memories of shame to tell the story of Jesus in their lives. Yup, and that includes you! :)