SIGNIS VJs - Faith Rediscovered by French Cyclists

Two young French cyclists, Gabriel de Lepinau, 26, and Charles Guilhamon, 24, visited communities and churches that survived under difficult conditions around the world to produce a documentary. They discovered more than just living conditions and profession of faith. They rediscovered faith in their journey. Produced by: Karen Arukesamy (Malaysia), Kimsean Toth (Cambodia) and Therence Charles (Malaysia), part of the SIGNIS VJs training and production programme held in Madrid 2011.

Script:
What started of as an adventure for two young childhood friends turned out to be a pilgrimage, when they decided to visit some of the Christian communities that are living in difficult conditions. From Kurdistan and Qaraqosh in Iraq, Darjeeling in India right up to the Tibetan mountains, they travelled to the far corners of the world.

"I think the first thing was to travel for a few months, beer around the world, nothing to do with the church. Then we radically changed the project. It became a pilgrimage..."

26-year-old Gabriel de Lapinau and 24-year-old Charles Guilhamon. Both, found spiritual significance, which led to the creation of a documentary entitled 'Once upon a faith'. Speaking of faith, Charles raised one very important concern in many people, especially the young.

The question of faith versus activism.

"It is something I ask myself all the time. I have this faith which makes me happy, which I believe is the truth. The more I believe the more I feel happy. The duty to talk to people about my faith and religion and also respect their will to not to believe what they don't believe."

But what is faith and what is activism? Is it faith or activism that is driving the young people of today?

"It depends really on your character. I saw many young people, who are not afraid of searching for what they believe in and the difficult aspects of faith. During the beatification of the Pope, there were over 2,000 youths travelling in the train, not sleeping throughout the night. True faith and true joy on their faces...

"Faith can lead to activism but we must learn to control it and be open to the truth...but faith can lead to activism. You have to control and use it to lead people to the truth. The search for truth sometimes bring people together in a most least expected way.

"In Andra Pardes...It was amazing to see all the Hindus coming to church and praying to the Holy Mary and accepting Jesus."

"We didn't know that the Hindus in India accept mother Mary and Jesus as one of their deities and are devoted to them too."

Perhaps the efforts of Gabriel and Charles may pave the way for better understanding amongst people, which would help build the culture of peace in the world.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• WYD
• VJs
• youth
• bike
• catholic
• church
• spirituality
• Lepinau
• Guilhamon