The chapel in Golo Popa is now a reality that transforms the lives of the faithful on the island of Flores, Indonesia. After years of great effort and a long wait, the community finally has a fitting place for worship and prayer
A little while ago, we received an appeal for help from the island of Flores in Indonesia. The Catholic faithful in the village of Golo Popa had no church of their own and were forced to gather in the village school on Sundays for Holy Mass. While this was a makeshift solution, it was unsustainable during the week when school was in session, leaving no place for prayer, baptisms, weddings, or worship.
Parish priest Father Ferdinand Tahul explained that although the people are very poor, they had made great efforts for several years to collect money and materials, though it was still not enough to reach their goal.
“The people live their Catholic faith with great joy, and theirs is a very living faith”.
A Success Story Built on Faith
The appeal met with a generous response, allowing us to send 28,000 Euros for the construction. The project became a true community effort, with the faithful working hard and even the women of the village helping with the building work until the chapel was consecrated.
Now that the work is complete, Father Ferdinand reports a significant increase in local participation:
“Thanks to the commitment of the faithful and the generous help we received from Aid to the Church in Need, the work is now complete. (…) Now our community can celebrate Holy Mass in the new chapel and we were also able to celebrate Christmas there for the first time. We can see how the people are becoming still more involved in the life of the Church and how more and more people are coming to church”.
