St. Michael's Church, Penampang

St. Michael’s Church is a Roman Catholic church in Donggongon, a town in the district of Penampang in the Malaysian state of Sabah. It is the oldest church in the district of Penampang and the second oldest stone church in Sabah, after St. Michael’s and All Angels Church in Sandakan.NamingAccording to oral tradition, the Missionaries were oppressed by the local territorial spirits. They would then say the rosary and call upon the Archangel Michael to defend and protect them. It was then that the priests decided to name the church as St. Michael’s Church because the church was under the protection of St. Michael.HistoryThe history of the church started with the Mill Hill Missionaries who came to Penampang in 1886. The missionaries, led by Fr. Alexander Prenger, set up a base in Kampung Inobong where a church now known as Sacred Heart Church currently stand. The missionaries then decided to establish a new base at Kg. Dabak, Penampang, which is nearer to the sea, a river known as Moyog river and situated in a plain with rice fields with a low hill that is strategically located and suited for the building of a church. This location is rather strategic since the locals who used the river as a mode of transportation would alight at Kasigui which was then the only and first town in the District of Penampang from the coast en route to the interior.In 1890, Fr. Rientjes arrived in Penampang from Sandakan to help Fr. Prenger and was put in charge of Penampang Mission. Around the same year, the wooden building of the first Penampang church began. In July 1890, Fr. Prenger was called back to teach at Mill Hill College. Fr. Rientjes was left alone. He stayed at Penampang to work among the people in Penampang and visited Inobong on every other Sunday. After the death of both Fr. Prenger and Fr. Rientjes, other missionaries carried out the work in Penampang Mission.