The Asia Pacific Contextual Theology for Engagement Program (ACOTEP) is an immersion experience offered by the Loyola School of Theology as an intersession course. It seeks to provide participants—priests, religious, and lay people—with an opportunity to understand the ancestral wisdom and mysticism of Indigenous peoples.

This year’s ACOTEP, held from 24 May to 1 June in Sabah, Malaysia, was organised by the Reconciliation with Creation ministry and the Jesuit Companions in Indigenous Ministry network.

The following is a reflection from one of the participants.

Kopisunduan!

This Kadazan-Dusun greeting means, “The divine in me meets the divine in you.” This Indigenous spirit of mutual respect recognises the sacred in others and invites us to encounter each person with humility and reverence. In the Indigenous worldview, this sacredness extends to all creation. The divine is not confined to temples and churches but is alive and present in rivers and stones, forests and mountains, butterflies and flowers. The world is indeed charged with God’s grandeur. This deep interconnectedness with the land and all living things is the Indigenous way of life and theology—it may also be the answer to the ecological crises we face today.

During the Asia Pacific Contextual Theology Programme (ACOTEP), I was blessed to journey with others—among them, the people in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. This programme did not simply give me new answers; it helped me to unlearn. I entered the experience with the subtle belief that I could bring answers back to our home diocese and offer formulated solutions to the silent struggles of Indigenous peoples. I had questions about inculturation and assumed it meant translating the Mass into their native language or substituting symbols within the liturgy. But I realised that inculturation is about allowing the Gospel to penetrate the culture. It is not simply about changing the form—it is about transformation. And I am not the one to define it. They are.

Our call is to journey with the Indigenous peoples. The ACOTEP experience taught me that true engagement begins with humility—with the courage to let go of being “the answer” and to become a listener and learner instead. It means entering into dialogue with the Indigenous peoples’ sacred memory, honouring their stories, cultures, and understanding of the divine. It’s about realising that God was already with them before the missionaries—and ahead of us.

To be honest, I still don’t have all the answers to my questions. But I’m less afraid of not having them. What I have now is a deep excitement—a holy curiosity—to sit with the elders, to walk alongside them, and to listen.

To the Subanens in the Diocese of Dipolog: it is your time to tell your story. It is time for your language, theology, and culture to be heard, honoured, and celebrated.

Kopisunduan! The divine in me meets the divine in you.