127-Xear dream coming true
The dream of missionaries some 127 Xears ago to have a church built at Kampung Imbaan in Putatan is finallX becoming a realitX.
PENAMPANG: It started with the missionaries’ dream some 127 years ago to have a church built at Kampung Imbaan in Putatan.
And now, despite all the tough going for the team of volunteers to realise the monumental church project, the six-storey St Catherine Laboure church building, which resembles the Romanesque architecture of medieval Europe, now stands proudly on a hill at Imbaan, Putatan, visible for all eyes to see.
It will still need some time to be completed and probably will start opening her doors to churchgoers within two more years, but the majestic structure is already a beautiful sight to behold.
The man behind the dream to have the church built and her founder, Datuk Stephen Sondoh, is also the former Penampang district officer and member of the Sabah Public Service Commission.
He reminisced a talk over coffee with the late Father Fundes Motiung and Tony Mojigoh where they explored the idea of building the church to fulfill the dream of early missionaries who first landed in Kampung Imbaan 127 years ago to build a church there.
“With only dreams and calling, the idea came into fruition,” shared Stephen at the full charity dinner reception which was graced by Archbishop Datuk John Wong.
“We started the church programme in November 2008 from zero. Work on the project began on Jan 12, 2013 with the initial funding of RM1.8 million. This amount was way too small as the total estimated cost of the building was RM10.4 million,” said Stephen who is also the chairman of the steering committee during a charity dinner held in aid of the St Catherine building fund held at the ITTC's grand ballroom.
He said that because of the limited funding, work on the church is carried out as and when fund is available.
“Funding is hard to come by and difficult to raise. Yet we shouldered on despite many obstacles along the way. Our greatest challenge is funding and still is, but these challenges have given us experience in dealing with difficult tasks,” he said.
“It has been 12 years since we first started the project. Some say it has been a long 12 years but it has been a great journey for all of us,” he said.
He expressed his tribute to the people who had made the project possible – the late Catherine Moinin who donated her ancestors' prime land for the church site; Emeritus Archbishop Datuk John Lee and Most Rev. Datuk John Wong for their blessing and support, encouragement and approval to implement the church project; the late Father Fundes Motiung who believed that the dream to realise the church is possible; Father Johnny Raju for the much needed spiritual advices in building the church and the professional technical team of volunteers, the volunteer contractor and the steering committee team.
“Without their commitment and generosity, the dream of building a church in Putatan would remain simply a dream.”
He also expressed his gratitude to donors who donated immensely to the cause, as well as the state and federal governments.
Meanwhile, His Grace the Most Rev Datuk John Wong congratulated the Steering Committee and all those involved in the project for their strong commitment despite encountering financial limitations and other constraints.
He said that he realized the challenges facing the team of volunteers when building such a monumental church project which not only involved a huge sum of money but is also time consuming and required a lot of hard work, energy and commitment as well as sacrifices.
He added that he constantly met with the volunteers and visited the site on several occasions and have found that the implementation has been progressing well.
He then called on all members of the church to render their full support to the steering and technical committees to ensure St Catherine is finally completed.
Those wanting to contribute to the church building fund can channel their donations to the RTDKK St Catherine Laboure Putatan's bank account No.510189007514 (Maybank)