KUCHING, Malaysia (UCAN) -- A unit of the Legion of Mary in Kuching, eastern Malaysia, has been running an outreach service for several years for people who come to work in the city.

The main part of this outreach is a Migrant Service Counter that Our Lady Cause of Our Joy Praesidium runs at St. Joseph's Cathedral Parish every third Sunday of the month from 10.30-11.30 a.m.

A praesidium is the smallest unit in the Legion of Mary, a lay organization that performs charitable works. Full members commit to a regular apostolate and weekly meetings at which they pray together and report on their work.

According to Diana Carol, an active member of Our Lady Cause of Our Joy Praesidium, most of those who use the service counter are local people who have come from rural areas to find work or to study in the city. Kuching, capital of Sarawak state on the Malaysian part of Borneo Island, lies 980 kilometers east of Kuala Lumpur.

Carol told UCA News the migrants usually bring up problems or queries concerning accommodations, transport and Church activities and sacraments. "We have had foreign migrants with some legal problems, but I feel that those who really need help are those who can't make it to church for a variety of reasons," she said. Many Indonesians from Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo Island, come to work in Sarawak.

Praesidium members say they started the service counter in 2002, inspired by Jesus' words in Saint Matthew's Gospel, "I was a stranger and you welcomed me" (25:35), and the universal Church's call to minister to migrants and itinerant people.

This year, on Oct. 28, the praesidium opened a new avenue of service by organizing a first pilgrimage for migrant workers, to a Catholic shrine outside the city.

Twelve workers -- 11 foreigners and one Sarawakian -- joined legionaries on the trip to the Catholic Memorial Pilgrimage Centre at Mount Singai in Bau, about a 40-minute drive from Kuching. Of the foreign workers, 10 were Indonesians -- eight from Kalimantan and two from Flores Island -- and one from East Timor. About half of them were domestic helpers and the other half construction workers.

Father Albert Jacobse, spiritual director of the praesidium, led the "day of friendship and prayer," which began with breakfast at St. Joseph's Cathedral that Sunday morning. Many of the participants had not met each other before. They then proceeded to Bau, where there is a rural Catholic community, to begin their trek up Mount Singai.

The site was originally a sacred mountain for the Bidayuh tribal people, who used to practice a traditional religion. Due to the efforts of Mill Hill missioners in the mid-19th century, the entire Bidayuh population in the Singai area converted to Christianity, after which Mount Singai became a Catholic pilgrimage site.

The migrants took an active part in the day's activities, which included meditating on the Stations of the Cross on the way up the mountain, rosary recitation at a Marian grotto, and Mass at a chapel. All activities were carried out in Malay and Bahasa Indonesia, the national languages of Malaysia and Indonesia, which are very similar to each other.

According to almost all the migrants, this was their first excursion outside Kuching. They said they were grateful for the opportunity to make the spiritual pilgrimage, to get to know local legionaries and to meet fellow workers.

Thomas, from East Timor, said: "We are always ready to meet others and take part in activities. It brings about a strong bond of unity, and we hope our interaction will strengthen our relationship and help our faith grow."

Father Jacobse said he hopes similar activities will be organized in the future, and that more local Catholics will get involved in activities for migrants.

The Legion of Mary, founded by layman Frank Duff in Dublin, Ireland, in 1921, is now the largest lay apostolic organization in the Catholic Church, with more than 3 million active members. It is present in almost every country of the world.

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