by Kamala Mary
Bike Touring Pilgrimage - Pedalling trio including a priest completes 476km in 7 days for prayer intentions.
Riding 476 km over 7 days behind the handle bars of his bicycle was not enough to ‘tyre’ out Father Lawrence Ng CDD, assistant parish priest of St Ignatius Church Petaling Jaya. Fr Lawrence and two of his friends Jerome and Terry, who had embarked on a Bike Touring Pilgrimage pedalling through Negeri Sembilan, remained resolute throughout their demanding journey over smooth and rough terrain, low and mountainous roads, light and heavy traffic. Braving scorching sunny days and the occasional downpour, the prayerful pedalling trio cycled an average of 69 to 80 km a day, riding single file. The journey started in Seremban on 5th June and ended there as well at the Church of the Visitation, on 11th June 2017. Along the way, they prayed incessantly, offering Our Fathers and Hail Marys for the intentions they carried with them.
The idea for the pilgrimage was mooted by Fr Lawrence who used to cycle without luggage for short day trips. But for these 7 days of touring, he had to trust in the Lord’s providence entirely as he had to travel with luggage while depending totally on God to provide for himself and his partners. Fr Lawrence used his leave to go for this pilgrimage, which was also a way for him to challenge himself to get out of his comfort zone. In the past he had visited those places along the pilgrimage route by car but then he wanted to use his own initiative and energy to reach them. “The challenge in a bike tour” he remarked, “is doing all the hard work of pedalling and reaching out to people while relying on God to guide us”. Another obstacle is the fear of the unknown and the real possibility that anything could happen. As they journeyed, further challenges awaited most especially the sweltering heat. Despite these distractions, the pilgrims were able to stay focused on the true objective of their expedition that is to pray for the petitions given to Fr Lawrence and the intentions chosen: vocations, the sick, the poor, families, youth and special intentions of the elderly, lapsed Catholics and the Clergy.
From the Church of the Visitation, Seremban they headed towards the popular tourist destination, Port Dickson where they stopped at the Church of The Immaculate Conception. They also dropped by at the IJ Sisters Centre where they visited the sisters who were there on formation. After a quick meal, they continued riding on to an Orang Asli Village at Bukit Kepong, Pasir Panjang. There they met with two Catholic families who were introduced to them by Fr Terence of the PD Church. They felt heartened when they were warmly welcomed by this small yet vibrant community and they had the opportunity to celebrate mass and share a meal in fellowship with them. They spent the first night of their pilgrimage in one of the Orang Asli homes in Bukit Kepong. Being with the Orang Asli families afforded them an insight into their lifestyle and allowed the pilgrims to understand them better, laying the groundwork for a firm friendship.
On Day Two, Fr Lawrence and his friends continued their pilgrim journey to Tampin arriving in the afternoon at the Church of St John Vianney. There they set up camp on the church grounds with the tent they brought along. On the third day the pilgrim cyclists pedalled to Gemencheh and stopped at the chapel where they were met by the small community of the chapel. Together with them, the cycling trio spent time in prayer especially for the petitions and intentions they carried. After lunch with the community, they rested a while and proceeded with their journey towards Gemas. In Gemas, they went to the Chapel of Saint Christopher and prayed there. That night they were welcomed by a Catholic family who offered them shelter and food with great hospitality. They interacted with the family and again forged bonds of friendship and brotherhood. Travelling through small towns where residents are all too aware of strangers, Fr Lawrence and his friends often aroused curiosity among the locals wherever they went. Father Lawrence joked that he could almost read their minds which seemed to be asking “What are these guys doing, cycling though our town?” The cycling pilgrims often caught the eye of members of the public who could not help but notice their identical T-shirts which had the words ‘Empowered by Jesus’ emblazoned on them. All walks of people in their paths could see and read the words on their T-shirts which were an indirect way of creating awareness and even evangelising.
They stayed the night in Gemas and on the next day, the 4th day, they left for Bahau early in the morning. Upon arrival at Bahau they met with some parishioners from the Chapel of Mary, Mother of God, Catholic Centre and prayer for the intentions. After prayer the pilgrims joined the parishioners for breakfast and fellowship. They then headed for Fr Anthony Naden’s Farm in Kuala Klawang. Fr. Naden had settled on this land years before to rear poultry and farm some crops. The income generated from the farm is channelled towards needy Orang Asli villagers. The pilgrims stayed a night on the farm on the gracious invitation of Fr Naden. While at the farm, they also met Fr Paulino who had brought a group of youths from his parish at St Anne’s, Port Klang, for a experiencing the life of Orang Asli. This was an opportunity to meet up with the youths and chat with them while creating awareness of their bike pilgrimage. Together with this group of youths, they had dinner with some members of the Orang Asli community.
On the fifth day, they left for Titi and visited the Church of St Augustine located beside the Titi town. They met with the parishioners there and prayed in the church with them. Fr Lawrence also took this opportunity to visit Fr John Chia’s mother and sister. From there, the cycling pilgrims headed towards Kampong Belihoi, Seremban, home to a thriving Orang Asli community village. In this village, there are some Catholics who are pastored by Fr Dionysious Matthews. Fr Lawrence celebrated mass there and the trio spent the night in the Kg Berlihoi chapel. The next day, the penultimate day of the pilgrimage, they continued their journey, travelling to Mantin and stopping by at St Aloysius Church which is located on the main road in Mantin. As the church was not open at that time, they could only pray outside and then proceed to their next destination that is the Chapel of St Theresa of the Child Jesus in Nilai. The warm reception from Fr Eugene Benedict, the resident priest there, was a welcome contrast to the chilly weather brought on by heavy rain. Despite the poor weather, their spirits remained high and they decided to make use of the opportunity to spend more time at St Theresa’s chapel, mingling with a group of East Malaysian student youths and once again sharing the intention of their pilgrimage.
Once the weather improved, they set off for an Orang Asli village in Kg Sebir, Labu. The families there had been anxiously awaiting their arrival and in true Orang Asli hospitality they had delayed their meal to accommodate their guests. Fr Lawrence who had visited this community of mostly rubber tappers before, was greeted enthusiastically and warmly. Not long after that, they left for another Orang Asli village, Kg Tekir, Labu, where Fr Lawrence celebrated Sunset mass. After mass the pilgrim cyclists had a campfire dinner with the community, chatting and singing hymns together. They stayed there for the night and left the next morning. It was a glorious Sunday morning, that 7th and final day of the pilgrimage when they headed back to their starting point, the Church of the Visitation, Seremban. They ended their Bike Touring Pilgrimage with blessings from the Parish Priest, Fr George Harrison who gave thanks to God for the safe completion of their pilgrimage.
Reflecting on this journey, Terry said: “We pilgrim represent 2 of the 4 ethnic groups on our journey (Chinese, India, Asli and others) where God was our centre for love, hope, trust, respect and peace which changed my life forever, it changed my outlook on my faith, I feel that I can adapt easily in situations when it involves in professing my faith, earlier I kept holding back but now I'm more into showing and professing God's love towards the people I meet daily.” Fr Lawrence remarked that the pilgrimage had been truly more than just a physical journey. He believed that the spirit of the Lord had led them to share the Good News through the offering of love and friendship to all the communities they had met along the journey. And this is the first historical time for them in their lives time. Praying that the Lord God would answer the petitions he had offered for the trip, Fr Lawrence expressed hope that he would be able to perform other pilgrimages on two wheels sometime in the future.
