Church of St. Martin De Porres, Mook

Churches & Chapels of St Augustine Parish Kinarut

CHURCH INFORMATION

Church of St. Martin De Porres, Mook

Date of Completion
2019
Location
Kg. Mook
Area
N/A
Population
N/A
Number of Catholics
765 people (2019 census)
Main Economic Activities
Government servant, Private Worker, Business owner

History of the Spread and Summary of the Development of the Catholic Religion in Kg. Mook

Among those known to be involved in the early spread of Catholicism in Kg. Mook is the late Abraham Balangon Mongayuk, when he converted to Catholicism and helped introduce this religion to the people in Kg. Mook. Then followed by the late Anthony Mataji Kanjung when he was attracted to the way of life of Catholics and leaned towards the Catholic faith after living by practicing animism.
With their new faith and showing how they began to grow in Christ, more people were attracted to the Catholic religion and decided to become followers of Christ. Some villagers became Catholics, including the late Leo Ahming Jountah. Many are attracted by how they share their faith, and this has encouraged more to follow the teachings of the Catholic religion. More and more younger generations choose to accept Catholicism. One of the earliest youth leaders was Mr. Petrus Lobinsiu who comes from Kg. Mook, where he began his ministry in 1967.
One of the regular religious activities is the rosary prayer visit from house to house. This visit was led by the late Abraham Balangon and when he died in the 1960s, his role was taken over by Mr. Leo Ahming Jountah. At that me, the numbers of Catholics in Kg. Mook has increased. This visit is often carried out to revive the Catholic practice among the people, especially to preserve the newly sown seeds of faith. In 1970, Mr. Petrus Lobinsiu has replaced the late Leo Ahming Jountah to lead this Rosary Prayer Group.

In 1980, Kinarut Youth Catholic Community was established. In the same year, Mr. Petrus Lobinsiu has been appointed as the Head of Village in Kg. Mook. Under his leadership, he has applied religious elements in his daily life when dealing with the villagers, and because of that almost 95% of the residents in this village are Catholic. In the same year, a committee was established namely Mook Catholic Community (Mook Catholic Community), or the abbreviation used until now, Mook C.C. (MCC). The role of Mook C.C. is to coordinate every religious activity, and unites all Catholics in Kg. Mook so that the development of faith goes well and well – organized.

With the well development of faith in Kg. Mook, more and more religious programs were carried out. However, the lack of facility constraint their activities and only able to use the Community Hall (Balairaya) of Kg. Mook as a place of gathering.

Therefore, as a result of this situation, Mr. Petrus Lobinsiu as Chairman of Mook C.C. at that time proposed a proposal to build a chapel in Kg. Mook so that the people have a more comfortable place to do their religious activities and then perform prayers every Sunday. When this proposal was welcomed and accepted by the leaders of N.32 Kawang at that me, various efforts were made to start the construction of this chapel.

However, due to land issues, the construction project had to be canceled and the hope of the people in Kg. Mook to see a chapel in their own area had to be released. Indeed, the LORD is full of mercy. HE never forgets the desires of His people to see a chapel built in Kg. Mook. Everything happened beautifully in His time when there were two (2) individuals who played a big role to fulfill the dreams of the people at Kg. Mook.

Through His servant, a retired teacher, Zandi Salimah @ Sylvia Bototol and her family were willing to donate a plot of land measuring 0.625 acres for the purpose to build a church building. Through the efforts of the late Rev. Fr. Fundes Motiung, who has been involved to ensure the construction of the church, he managed to meet another person who was willing to pay for the construction costs, namely Tun Richard Malanjum.

This church was completed in year 2019 and was blessed by His Excellency Archbishop Rev. Datuk John Wong on 6 May 2022. May this beautiful church that located in the heart of Kg. Mook will be a place where Catholic faith will grow according to His will, and also be a remembrance of God’s generosity to His people in Kg. Mook.