My WYD08 Testimony

by

Vincent Kong

‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses.’ This was the main theme for World Youth Day Sydney 2008. I attended this worldwide event in search of Christ, to increase in faith and holiness and to receive once again the power of the Holy Spirit. It was expensive, but I knew somehow that it would be all worthwhile, and I was happy and grateful to have joined in this pilgrimage.

 For me, I was touched by God while attending a concert. It was called ‘Receive the Power Live’. Throughout the concert, the main part was calling upon the Holy Spirit through song and praise. We were led by a Canadian catholic singer – Matt Maher. After some praise and worship, Reverend Bishop Joe Grech from Oceania led us in renewing our baptismal promises. He then led us into prayer and while praying, he invited several people up on stage to pray over us; to call on the Holy Spirit to come down upon us. At the same time, Matt Maher led us to sing repeatedly: ‘fire fall down, fire fall down, fire fall down…’ While singing, I prayed to the Lord to have mercy on me, to forgive all the past sins that I’ve done, and to be renewed in the Spirit. Then, after sometime, I saw a force falling down from above at great speed, exerting an impact on me. At that instant, I started to cry. I wanted to kneel and cry and pray, but I felt embarrassed as we were standing and automatically I shut my heart. Immediately, I felt ashamed and disappointed at myself, and I prayed to the Lord for another chance to receive his love. The Lord was eager and heard my plea, and after that the Bishop asked all of us to kneel. And I was thankful for the Lord has heard me among tens of thousands of people.

As we knelt down, I prayed so that I may once again be consumed by the fire of his Holy Spirit. Not long after, another force came down from above, but slightly smaller this time as I felt it. Once again, I started crying for no reason, but this time I let everything out. I began to recall the sins that I could not remember in the past, and at once I took a notebook and a pen and wrote down all the sins that I recalled at that moment. After I had finished writing, I thanked the Lord for His love and mercy for me. Although I had done so many wrong doings against Him, He still forgives and pours out His Spirit and love for us. And I prayed to the Lord to help me to keep this gift from Him in my heart forever.

Throughout the whole spiritual journey, as I recall all the hassle and tussle that we have been through I realised that I’ve learnt a lot. These experiences I have gained mostly from all of us that went that went on this pilgrimage, especially from Fr. Vincent and Bruno Wong, our group leader. Some of us shared their spiritual lives and experiences, and I learnt a lot from their sharing. Through their actions I’ve grown to be more confident in myself, more courageous, wiser, happier and stronger in Christ. Indeed, I am now better than before. It was, in fact, worth very much more than what we’ve paid to participate in this pilgrimage.