~~ SERVING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ~~
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A MISSION MADE POSSIBLE -- A REPORT ON THE 1st
CLP IN AHMADI -- With the grace of God Almighty, the CFC family ministry has been successful in introducing itself to the Ahmadi parishioners and in commencing the First Christian Life Program. Here's a brief report. To begin with, CFC had it's first program at Ahmadi on 28th December 2001, the Feast of the Holy Family. The presentation as expressed by many was indeed very stunning and spirit filled. As planned earlier, the CLP at Ahmadi was fixed for the 23rd , 24th and 25th of February. Due to the unavailability of the premises mainly because the parishioners had their own activities and programs scheduled on those days, we were unable to proceed with the CLP program as planned. After a discussion with Fr.Melwyn on the 5th of February, it was decided that there would be an orientation gathering on 22nd February. It would be like an initiation meeting.The main aim of this gathering was to brief the participants on the what and how of CFC and to discuss about the time and days on which the CLP would be conducted, keeping the perspective of the convenience of the participants in mind. Thus began our Ahmadi CLP mission. We had two weeks before the Orientation Gathering. Many members of the CFC community volunteered whole heartedly to go to Ahmadi for registration on two weekends. Thanks to all ! We had nearly sixty names on our list. The orientation program with praise and worship by Rakesh, accompanied by the vibrant music ministry, the inspiring orientation talk by Edsel and Meera, dynamic animation by Rudy along with the enterprising registration team headed by Sarita and the tasty snacks arranged by Louis, all these together made it a great success. We had 41 individuals present , out of whom 23 registered themselves on the same day. As suggested by Fr.Melwyn it was decided that the CLP would be conducted every Friday for the sake of convenience of the participants. Fr. Mathew and Fr.Melwyn had been very co-operative and accommodative in this venture of ours. FIRST DAY CLP 1st MARCH 2002
Every session began with a praying over of the team at 6.30p.m by one of the senior members. The first day's session went on as scheduled, starting soon after the evening Mass. There was a very good response from the participants. The attendance was lesser than expected as it was the first Friday of the month and there is the healing service and Holy Hour. So it was decided that we would not have the CLP session on the First Friday of the following months. The next session was fixed for the 8th of March, the following Friday. SECOND
DAY CLP 8th MARCH 2002
As planned, the participants assembled in the annex after the evening Mass. Temporary name tags were given to identify them. There was a better attendance this week. As scheduled the talks were followed by group discussion which proved to be very effective. The next session was fixed for the 12th of April, since on 15th March there was Lenten Retreat, 22nd March was Palm Friday, 29th March was Good Friday and 5th April was the First Friday of the month. THIRD DAY CLP 12th APRIL 2002
Inspite of the long gap between sessions, there was a very good response for this session. The eager and enthusiastic participants were all ready for the two talks scheduled for the evening. The sessions always ended up on time with the closing prayer and the annex was cleared by 9.00 p.m during every session. FOURTH DAY CLP 19th APRIL 2002
This session also went on as scheduled with no changes in the program. The participants by now had well adjusted to the routine. There was a little fluctuation in the attendance as some of them proceeded on leave. It was suggested that they would complete the remaining sessions at any other opportunity either in city or at Ahmadi. FIFTH DAY CLP 26th APRIL 2002
As usual the session started with the praying over at 6.30p.m followed by praise & worship. Most of the hymns were on the Holy Spirit as the talk was on, 'Receiving the power of the holy spirit.' The next session was scheduled for the 10th of May and it was the day for Inner Healing Service and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. The participants were asked to prepare for the same through fasting, prayer, abstinence and confession. SIXTH DAY CLP 10th MAY 2002
The inner healing service and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit was very successful. Most of the participants were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and were blessed with the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. The participants were encouraged to come out with their experiences and testimonies and were asked to prepare for the same for the coming session which was scheduled for 17th May 2002. SEVENTH DAY CLP 17th MAY 2002
The 7th day CLP showed a dull response with only 7 members in attendance. But those present were really vibrant convincing with their powerful testimonies and sharings, especially Helen D'sa and Maria Ferrao with their testimonies moved the hearts of the audience. They testified on receiving the gift of tongues during the session of laying of hands. The participants were briefed about the Dedication Ceremony to be held on the 24th of May, the following Friday which would also mark the welcoming of the new members into the CFC Family and also the end of the CLP. EIGHTH DAY CLP 24th MAY 2002 DEDICATION CEREMONY The dedication ceremony started with the celebration of the Holy Mass at 6.00pm at the Ahmadi church. The new members were asked to occupy the first two rows specially reserved for the couples for Christ. The readings and the offertory procession was conducted by the new members from Ahmadi unit. During the offertory procession , the covenant cards were also offered. After the mass, the members assembled in the annex for short ceremony. It began with a short praise medley after which the ChapterHead, Rakesh Mascarehnas welcomed the members and introduced his wife, Christina Mascarehnas and invited her to give the talk on the last topic of the CLP, that is 'Transformation in Christ'. As they made the topic very simple to understand through an interesting demonstration, the members were all full of excitement and anxiously waiting to be welcomed into the family of CFC. There was a large group of existing CFC members to welcome the new members into the family. The most striking element of the evening, being the attendance of the whole household of Bro.Silverio & Sr.Leilani, who at the last moment decided to combine their household meeting with the welcoming ceremony for the new members which really inspired everyone. The covenant cards were distributed to the new members and as Rakesh led the covenant the members repeated after him, thus making the covenant with Christ, to follow as Couples for Christ and to perform with commitment all their duties expected of them as Couples for Christ. As the music ministry sang the welcome song, 'Welcome to the Family', the existing CFC members went round wishing and greeting the new members as a sign of welcoming them into the CFC family. After this formal welcome, each new member was given the CFC kit with all the necessary resource material and then they were divided into two households. The household leaders for household No.1were Augustine & Maria Ferrao and Household No.2 were Ryan & Helen D'sa . Each house hold comprised of two couples and 4 SOLD members. The household leader's training for the new leaders was scheduled for the following week which would comprise of the first module covering the first four talks out of the total sixteen talks. |