VERBUM DEI PRESENT IN THE FIRST “ASIAN MISSION CONGRESS”

On October 19 to 22 2006 we have celebrated the first “Asian Mission Congress” in Chang Mai (Thailand). Leticia Candelario from the Community of Singapore was present, as part of the 21 delegates of the Archdioceses of Singapore, among the 1044 participants that came from all parts of Asia from West to East and from South to North.

It was really great to see so many missionaries both Asians as well as from Latina and North America, and Europe who have lived the best years of their lives evangelizing the peoples of Asia and have, at the same time, became one with all peoples.

Personally I found the Congress a very enriching experience, on one hand because of the presence of most countries in Asia and on the other hand as a result of the faith sharing that we had during the encounter in small groups.

I have always said that Asia is a very fascinating continent, because of the great variety of Cultures, Languages, and Religions and perhaps the fact that Asian's Saints are in its majority Martyrs, this certainly makes very evident the fact that Religious freedom is still a struggle in some countries.

The theme of the Congress was: “Telling the Story of Jesus in Asia .” This theme is full of meaning because telling stories is a way of evangelizing in Asia . For Asian people is easier to understand a message through a story rather than through abstract reasoning and so telling the story of Jesus through our personal story of encounter with Jesus is the best way of Evangelizing in Asia .

In the Keynote Address given by Bishop Luis Antonio G. Tagle (Philippines) he made a description of the characteristics of a story and among other things he said that “unless we have a personal encounter with Christ in Prayer we do not have a story to share with people” and he encouraged us not only to tell our story but to listen to other's story of Jesus.

Listening to others is a very important thing in Asia, because, there is a lot that we need to learn from Asians and Asian cultures and traditions, something that as Missionaries we need not to forget if we want to really evangelize in Asia .

Through the Keynotes addresses and the faith sharing of the different speakers I came to a greater awareness of the ways in which God is works in Asia and the need to open new perspectives to our Mission in this vast Continent in which we Catholics are a minority.

No doubt an event of this magnitude has been an opportunity to open my eyes to the great need for missionaries in this continent, yet I also see that in order to be able to inculturate ourselves in Asia we need time and to listen over and over to the stories of people on how did they come to believe in Jesus and what moved them to become Catholics.

I have been living in Asia for the past seven and a half years first a year and a half in the Philippines and there after 6 years in Singapore where I'm living at the moment and even if it has been a really short time I can say that Asia is a continent that captivates me because it is different and really challenging in many ways.