"Friends of Jesus Passover" is formed by a group of oversea Chinese Catholic youth from various Chinese Communities around the world. They are from a diverse background. Each one has his/her own objective of joining the group: seeking opportunity to grow in faith, to explore their catholic faith, to find direction and/or to search for peace. Step by step, they gradually discovered that to achieve a successful FOJP 14th Missionary journey must go through the path of HARMONY and collaborative efforts.
It was my 6th missionary tour with FOJP. Every trip I have different desires. There is no doubt that I have gained a wealth of experiences. The core spirit that made a missionary journey a success is H.A.R.M.O.N.Y.

H- HUMILITY

Humility is the capacity seeing God in all things. By His grace, all things are a gift from God. Humility is the prime virtue we must obtain. Members learned to love unconditionally and to act humbly. Throughout the journey, we were entertained by the host parishes. We stayed where our hosts prepared. We ate what they provided. Our job is spreading the message "God is Love". We acknowledged our weakness, limitation, and shortcomings. We wholeheartedly relied upon God. We completely trusted Him. We humbly responded the call to be His instrument proclaiming the Word of God.

A - ACCEPTANCE

It was His call that we joined the missionary journey. It was prayer that gave us the strength to endure numerous unexpected incidents. We accepted all trails and challenges no matter how good or bad the circumstance. At the same time, we learned to be flexible and adaptable to sudden changes. We are thankful that we left and returned home in peace. We were strong in the love of Jesus. We go forth from ourselves with a heart pure, a conscience at peace, a faith unfeigned; and in every trail, every event, we committed ourselves unreservedly to God. When we had to face difficulty, we relied on teamwork to resolve it. When barrier arose, we confronted it. When we were challenged, we overcame it.

R - RELATIONSHIPS

"FOJP" stands for "Friends of Jesus' Passover". "Jesus' Passover" is Jesus passing over from this world to the Father, through His death and Resurrection. When we were on a journey together, we pass over difficulties and overcome obstacles. We become Jesus' friends and friends to one another. Every annual Evangelization journey, the FOJP group is transformed into a prayer group and/or a Bible study group. We built up intimate relationship with Jesus. We experienced His presence among us. We shared a deeper friendship with each other. Through services and activities, we worked in harmony among ourselves and between our hosts - the local Chinese Catholic Communities. We became the channels of communication. We improved the knowledge of our faith and our cultural differences. Moreover, we established a mutual respect inspiring us to live out our Catholic faith and to build up a harmonious faith community everywhere.

M - MINDFULLNESS

As the disciples of Jesus, we utilized our gifts and talents to serve others. Most importantly, we learned to know who we really are, what we are called to serve, when and where to carry out our mission. We followed Jesus' teaching attentively. We practiced mindfulness, as Jesus taught "Love your neighbor as yourself". Jesus was really in our midst. With His love, we were able to love everyone we met. In the Gospel, Jesus taught us to enter through the narrow gate. In order to follow His teaching, we traveled on the path of harmony. We listened with our heart. We live out God's love by breaking open the Word of God with others harmoniously.

O - OPTIMISM

Optimism is the faith that leads good ultimately triumphs over evil. Positive thinking leads to hope and hope does not disappoint. Every season, there is a reason. Every event, there is a cause. God is with us. We did our part to discern making decisions. We trust in God. We try our best and let Him to do the rest. We are God's instrument sowing the seed of hope. We cultivate and water with care. It is God who makes the seed to grow and to bear fruits. God controls everything.
Optimism is better than despair. Optimism creates hopes; despair destroys hope. We think positively. We hope for better days. We are called to spread the good news responsibly and continuously. We are blessed and helped by an invisible hand harvesting fruits that were planted by those who came before us. In order to keep the flame of Evangelization a blazing, we must pass down what we have learned to next generations. It is not us to worry about success or failure. Let God does His will.

N - NATURE

The nature of the call to Evangelization is faith. FOJP is an Evangelization group. Everything is carried out by teamwork and group activities. Members are from a diverse background. It is like a variety of plants and trees growing in a forest. Each member has his/her disposition and responsibility. On the journey, members were inspired to bring out his/her best finding similarities among the differences. All performances, activities and services were done collectively. No individual misconduct is permitted; such action might damage the entire operation.
God is the creator of heaven and earth, the universe and all things. He is the source of all living. We are His creature. Life is precious. We must protect and save life and all natural resources. To sustain natural resources, we promote green culture. We embrace nature with care and understanding to develop a harmonized society.

Y- YOUTHFULNESS

I am grateful for the opportunity to travel with young people. I am rejuvenated by their youthful spirit. Together we grew, learned and constantly renewing ourselves. During the two-week annual missionary journey, we stayed, played, and worked together. In difficult moment, we seek God. In painful moment, we trust God. In quiet moment, we worship God. Every moment, we thank God. God was truly in our midst. To utilize our God given musical talent, we sang praise joyfully. To love unconditionally we visited the aged, the sick, the poor, and the forgotten.

Evangelization is to preach the Gospel. The most effective way of Evangelization is to put love into practice. It is a way to witness Christ in us. Love and prayer is the way to embark the path of harmony. We have to constantly improve the knowledge of the culture of love and diverse traditions.

I am so grateful that I responded God's call to join the work of Evangelization. I am glad that I found FOJP group sharing my interest. I believe that we will make a better tomorrow together. May God grant us abundant graces helping us to be more enduring, to be more understanding, to be more forgiving; hopefully we may live in harmony with people around us. May the world be filled with God's love and peace!

AC-10/12