Interior of newly built St Paul Chapel, Kg Bisuang
By JJ/Soccom Penampang
July 15 2022
BISUANG, Papar – Archbishop John Wong of Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu wants churches to embrace the spirit of walking together in solidarity to build up the Kingdom of God.
“I am happy to see the solidarity of walking together not only in Bisuang (or) in Penampang but hopefully in the whole Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu in building up the Kingdom of God,” said the prelate and commented on the success of the event as dependent on good coordination and cooperation from the organizing committee.
He said this at the blessing of the newly built St Paul Chapel at Kg Bisuang Papar, Jun 27, 2022 where he presided the Eucharistic Celebration together with parish priest Fr Wilfred Atin, Frs Gilbert Marcus, Jeffri Gumu, Rayner Bisius, Lawrence Kim and Andrew Kim.
Exterior building of St Paul Chapel Bisuang
Archbishop John Wong signing the plaque of newly built St Paul Chapel
He thanked the generosity of all donors that has made the building of St Paul chapel a reality and prayed that God will continue to reward and bless them. He urged the local church community to make good use of the infrastructure facilities in their faith building programs.
During the Mass, the Archbishop blessed the Altar and the congregations to mark the official opening ceremony. One student received the Sacrament of Confirmation while five others received their first Holy Communion.
Blessing of Altar, putting on white altar clothes
The prelate, clergy and the students
In his speech, Fr Atin praised the faithful contribution by the late Catechist Jasper Malating for donating this piece of land to build the chapel for the community. He also mentioned Datuk Seri Victor Paul on the financing of the building construction, Datuk John PS Lim for sponsoring the tiling expenses, and the continuous support by WRS 4×4 Club on transportation services including bringing in all the building materials during the construction process.
The Archbishop and the clergy proceeded to a symbolic planting of palm trees at the chapel front porch as part of the opening ceremony, followed by a meal fellowship.
Organizing Chairman, Justine Tambud, who is also the head of St Augustine’s Church Kinarut zone, explained that St Paul’s Chapel who has about 300 congregations is one of the three churches under the jurisdiction of St Michael Parish Penampang. The new chapel is administered by Kinarut zone. Other chapels in this zone are St Anne at Kg Punson and the newly opened St Martin De Porres at Kg Mook.
Sister Marysia Malating who is the youngest from 11 children of the late Catechist Jasper Malating, currently serving at Diocese of Penang, made her trip back home especially for this special occasion. It has now been 12 years since she joined the Franciscan Sisters of Immaculate Conception (FSIC). She led a wonderful presentation of choir with the local church community during the meal fellowship.
Choir performance to celebrate the day, led by Sr Marysia Malating
She related the growth of the community’s faith to his father’s vision way back in the early time when the Catholic faith has just started. She expressed how strongly determined was he in many ways leading the small community then, in promoting the faith until his death at the age of 80 years in September 2021.
Kg Bisuang Catholic community leader, Liza Linsun, 41 years, mother of five children expressed happiness and praising God for this new chapel that means so much to the community. She said that it is much better and comfortable now having new infrastructure which will help to run Sunday school classes and other church activities with ease.
St Paul chapel was built near a river in a forested valley that is rich in flora and fauna, in Koiduan, Papar. There are about 20 homes village scattered through this area which can only be accessible by 4×4 power vehicles.
The entrance to this area started at Jalan Labak junction located along Jalan Penampang-Papar Lama highway, near the Kinarut Railway Station, approximately 20 kilometers from Kota Kinabalu city center. The journey in was about five kilometers through uphill and downhill of rough gravel road plus several kilometers stretch of asphalt road.
The beautiful weather allowed the celebration to go on smoothly until evening. Many parish leaders opted to stay longer without the fear of rain, considering the challenging road coming in, and joined the merry of celebration including many foods and drinks. The Choir, traditional singing and dance stage performances by the local community captured the attention of the crowd, making it a good memorable occasion.
