By Father Paul Kam Po-wai
Since 1990, I have participated in countless life experiences myself or with young people. For myself, during my seminary period, I went to the Philippines, Taizé, India and Nepal, and during my priestly period, I travelled to Africa and Cambodia; as for experiences with young people, they included many countries in Africa, Europe, Asia, etc. Each time, there were many reflections and realisations. For example, about poverty. Even though we have listened to a lot of sermons about poverty, we may not understand what it is. But we can understand and feel how it is like in just one single life experience. Regarding the universal Church, we do not know what it feels like even though we know and we believe in it, until through an experience, such as the World Youth Day.
As the saying goes, “It is better to travel 10.000 miles than to read 10,000 books”. Through experiences, exchanges with different people and understanding of different cultures, we have broadened our horizons, and also made many new friends. Young people can broaden their world views, sense of Church, circle of life, faith and spirituality, and the quality of life, which is evident that life experiences is very valuable.
In addition, I have also arranged for young people to go to different places for long-term experiences, including one going to Kenya, Africa for a year [2010], more than 20 going to Taizé, France, for three months [2007-2023], four going to the Diocese of Essen, Germany for a year [2013 and 2015], and two volunteering to teach English in Cambodia for a year [2019], and so on.
Of course, the experience of living for a long period of time must be more profound. Not only did the young people themselves gain a lot of insights from their experiences, but also those who met them and listened to their sharings. Life can affect lives. As long as one person is willing to share, he or she can enrich the lives of many people he or she meets.
For us in Hong Kong, many young people have the opportunity to experience this because of our good economic condition, but what about the young people of the economically disadvantaged third world countries? Of course, there are many missionaries and voluntary organisations giving them chances.
During my time of service in Tanzania and Cambodia, thanks to the support of the Hong Kong faithful, I had the opportunity to lead six young people from Africa to Germany to participate in the World Youth Day [2005]; four from Africa to Hong Kong to participate in the Asian Youth Day [2006]; two from Cambodia to come to Hong Kong to participate in the Taizé prayer meeting [2018], and also organised gatherings for more than 20 young people from Cambodia and more than 10 from Hong Kong, in both Cambodia and Vietnam [2019] to exchange views. My altar boys from Tanzania 20 years ago, visited Hong Kong in January and December last year. One is now a priest and the other a seminarian.
These one or two weeks of life experiences have brought many changes in their lives; I remember the experience of taking young African people to Germany and Hong Kong in 2005 and 2006, their first time to take an flight, their first time to use an escalator, their first time to take a lift, their first time to leave their own country, their first time to come into contact with so many young people from different parts of the world, and their first time to experience universal Church and so on. They were so shocked, so excited, so happy and so thankful.
In 2019, I brought some young Cambodian people to welcome some young people from Hong Kong. It was their first time to go to the capital of their own country—Phnom Penh, first time to go to the airport, first time to go to Vietnam, to take a lift, to stay in a hotel, to use air-conditioning, etc. All these things are unforgettable to them in their lifetime, but the most important and precious thing about all these life experiences is that they met with the Lord and with people.
However, we do not have to go to another country to experience life, and we can do it in our own place. As long as we are willing to open our hearts to new people and new things, we can also discover some new changes, growth and insights in our own lives, and new experiences of our own encounters with the Lord and with people.
