Christians singing in the rain at Borneo Christmas celebration

MIRI: Around 45,000 Christians marched through the city of Miri on Saturday, December 9 for the tenth annual Miri Christmas March. Christians from 20 different churches — Anglican, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Evangelicals and others, processed to the Miri City Fan, an outdoor venue with seating arranged around four sides of a square stage, where they worshipped despite heavy rainfall.

The Deputy Chief Minister of the State of Sarawak, which covers the north-western corner of Borneo, Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, and the Mayor of Miri, Adam Yii, were amongst the VIPs who took part in the event.

Saturday’s event, with the theme Glory to God, was the biggest since the annual event began. It was a true ecumenical affair with Christmas carols from members of the Anglican churches kicking off proceedings, before a “lively” praise and worship session led by a Roman Catholic church band, traditional dances by a group from the Borneo Evangelical Mission, a Seventh Day Adventist Choir and a contribution by the Sarawak Baptist Church.

The Anglican Bishop of Kuching, Donald Jute, preached. The Assistant Anglican Bishop of Kuching, Solomon Cheong Sung Voon, chaired the organising committee on behalf of the Association of Churches in Sarawak.

At the end of the speech, Uggah announced an allocation of RM50,000 from himself for the Miri City Parade Committee. Also contributing to the committee for the parade were Lee (RM20,000), Gerawat (RM20,000), Ting (RM10,000), Dennis (RM10,000) and Anyi (RM10,000), making the total allocation received by the committee for the evening at RM120,000.

Meanwhile, Yii, who spoke earlier, said the increased number of participants in this year’s parade proved that Christians in this city recognised the importance of the event.

“It is not just a parade but a union of all the denominations of Christians in Miri,” he said.

The first Miri Christmas Parade started with 5,000 participants from seven churches in 2008 and was hosted by the Methodist Church.

Article reproduced from Catholic Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu