Fr. Joean Lamasan is the administrator of this mission, and in the three years he has been here, he has organized the families into BEC’s and steered them towards a higher level of involvement in church affairs.  The objectives that flow from his vision and mission statements are quite specific; for the families to participate in church activities and weekly bible sessions; for every household to have a bible and to say the rosary; for the church to make an extra effort to reach out to those living far away to bring them the sacraments; for the men to go to church on Sundays; and for parents to get their children to join the youth apostolate.

These are very challenging goals when you consider that for the most part, there are no roads in his area and most of the people are far away from the church, such that the mission station has 20 chapels in its five barangays.  These chapels are very critical in building the communities, since it is not easy for the people to go to the main church.  On Sundays, since the priest cannot celebrate Mass in all the chapels, the lay ministers lead liturgical services with Eucharistic Communion.  They also bring communion to the sick and elderly who cannot go to church anymore.

Lay ministers are critical to the goals of the mission, and part of COPA’s financial assistance goes to the formation of these lay ministers.  Fr. Joean has just completed a four-module formation training of some twenty aspirants for this role, bringing to 43 his total number of lay ministers.  His goal is to have 60, three for each of the 20 chapels. COPA’s financial assistance also goes to the formation of catechists, who are responsible for giving catechesis to school children and also recruiting more people to join them.  Under the mission station’s Youth Apostolate, a Sacristan Festival was held last December 2024.  It was Fr. Joean’s idea to start youth involvement by serving as sacristan. The festival generated a positive response, and the children were excited to go to the Thanksgiving Mass with their parents, offer their gifts at the altar and get a special blessing from the priest.

COPA’s financial assistance also helps in the logistical requirements for the regular meetings of the Mission Council and the various ministries, where they discuss challenges and draft action plans.  The Mission Station Council makes sure that Mass is said at least once a month in each of the chapels, and that Pre-Cana and Pre-Baptism courses are regularly conducted. Fr. Joean joins the BEC bible sessions and has the lay ministers and catechists join the BEC groups.  He says it is important in strengthening the prayer life of the people.

What’s in the future for Birhen Sa Santo Rosario? Fr. Joean says they are working to become a full-fledged parish.  Aside from the spiritual and community formation of the people, they are looking to augment their facilities.  Right now, the mission station church is all of 10 x 15 square meters.  They recently got a land donation from their barangay which they are slowly starting to fence as the site of their future church base.

St. James COPA Foundation extends financial support to some 230 needy parishes in 39 dioceses all over the country.  If you would like to help COPA support these parishes, please get in touch with Ludy Barcelona at the following numbers:

8842-6369/ 8842-5140 loc 1006

You may also deposits donations to the following accounts:

BPI 8291-0107-85

Unionbank 0019-0000-4425 COPA is a certified donee institution by the Phil. Council for NGO Certification.  As such, all donations are tax-deductible