UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIAL TEACHING OF THE CHURCH: 3K RUN, WALK AND PLOG PROGRAM

SOCCOM TAWAU

Holy Trinity Church Tawau: In conjunction with the World Day of Prayer for Care of the Creation, some 225 parishioners from various communities, ministries and group combined their efforts in using an eco-friendly workout of 3K Run, Walk and Plog Program. Plog or plogging simply means picking up trash while jogging. The name combines the Swedish term, plokka upp, or “to pick up”, and jogging, which started in Sweden in 2016.The program was organized by the Parish Human Development Committee (PHDC) held on the 1^st September 2018 from 6.30 to 10.00 in the morning.

The objectives of this program were to raise the awareness on the importance of caring and protecting the environment as parishioners and as an individual. An inspiration taken from Gen. 1: 29-31, Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground-everything that has the breath of life in it-I give every green plant for food." And it was good. God indeed created the universe as a gift to man but also for us to look after and care for it.

Another objective is to create a sense of responsibility in living out our understanding of the social teaching of the church, in line with the Sandakan Diocesan Mission, to go deeper into the Gospel values. Respecting all of God’s creation, we must re-engage with our environment and take responsibility for it; live sustainably, live so that there are enough resources for everyone.

This first ever organized program attracted parishioners from the four main communities namely, Filipino Pastoral Community (FPC), Chinese Pastoral Community (CPC), Komuniti Pastoral Indonesia (KPI) and Tinimungan Umat Kadazandusun/Murut (TUKAD) and other ministries or groups including Parish Pastoral Councils (PPC), Society of St. Vincent De Paul (SSVP), Extraordinary Ministers of Communion (EMC), The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), Neocatechumenal Way, Parish Youth Apostolate (PYA), altar boys, Legion of Mary (LOM), Hostel of St. Clare's Convent, CLC Holy Trinity School, Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) Megah Jaya and outstation chapels from St. Stephen Tass, St. Paul Balung and St. Francis of Asisi, Gudang 4.

Plogging along Jalan Mawar

Plogging along Jalan Melati

During that event, some 315 kgs of rubbish collected, mostly in the form of plastic bottles and bags, Styrofoam, and packets, also unused  car tire dumped by members of the public along Holy Trinity Church area namely Kuhara, Guru, Mawar and Melati Roads. For the safety and emergency care of all participants, the PHDC was assisted by the traffic policemen from the Tawau District Police Department and The Catholic Nurses Guild (CNG) of Holy Trinity Church.

Weighing garbage

Winner - heaviest collection of garbage by St. Stephen Tass team

One of the participant who won the lucky draw.

“2.2 billion Christians prayed for care of the creation which shows how important it is for us to protect and care for our home not only for the present moment, but our future generation and this what God wants us to do.“ Monsignor Nicholas Ong said in his short address to the participants. 

Monsignor Nicholas called on parishioners to take an opportunity to pray and take part to care of the environment during the Season of Creations that begins 1 September, the Day of Prayer for Creation, and runs through to 4 October, the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, who is the patron saint of ecology. He also called on the parishioners not to wait for others, and start making it a practice of saving energy, water and use organic fertilizers by making their own fertilizer from kitchen waste.

He also shared that sixteen parishes in the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu are doing its part by using solar energy. Monsignor Nicholas announced that on the part of Holy Trinity Church, the church will be getting water tanks to collect rain water for watering purposes to save the usage of treated water and urged the parishioners to attend ‘Laudato Si’ and the Climate Crisis’ Workshop, which will be held at Holy Trinity Church Tawau on October 26-28 and learn about how to care for the environment.

The event ended with a closing prayer by Msgr. Nicholas and followed by a group photo.

The 3K Run, Walk and Plog participants with Monsignor Nicholas (middle front) and the garbage collected on Saturday.