Good Shepherd Services (GSS) is a not-for-profit organisation registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia and has been granted tax-exempt status. The organisation has its origins as a charity founded and operated by the Good Shepherd Sisters in 1956. The Good Shepherd Sisters is a worldwide Congregation present in 73 countries in six continents.
We reach out and welcome each person with respect and dignity, accompanying each one with care and compassion. Through the years our focus has grown and evolved, as we reach out to those who are marginalised and broken, especially women, girls and their families, restoring and nurturing in them their worth and dignity.
As we continue our tradition of upholding the rights, worth and dignity of women and children in underserved communities and those experiencing sexual and gender-based violence, we have diversified our services from residential services to now include a range of residential and outreach services in Malaysia.
The Good Shepherd Mission has its origins in Angers, France, and is known as the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd. The Congregation was approved on 16 January 1835 by Pope Gregory XVI. It was founded by St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868).
In 1814, Rose Virginie Pelletier entered Our Lady of Charity at Tours and was given the name Mary of St. Euphrasia. Sister Mary Euphrasia combined a great apostolic spirit with a deep interior life. The community and mission took on new vigour when she was elected superior at the age of 29. A house in Angers was founded in 1829 at the invitation of the local bishop. There, in 1831, Sister Mary Euphrasia formed a contemplative community for some of the girls and women under her care who desired to dedicate their lives to God. These contemplative sisters offer their lives of prayer and penance for the people served by the Congregation.
Set up of Good Shepherd Convent at Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.
Good Shepherd Convent School in Jalan Ampang was initiated to reach out to the community through their children and to generate income for the sisters' living expenses. The sisters started providing residential services to girls from poor families and taught them sewing, art and craft, and cooking.
Due to overwhelming response, the sisters moved the Good Shepherd Convent School to Madonna Heights, Jalan Hulu Kelang, Ampang, Selangor so that every available space could be used for education. The welfare services for girls from poor families also moved to Madonna Heights and thus, began the Madonna Heights Welfare Centre for Teenage Girls.
Nazarethville - Home for Unwed Mothers was set up in Batu Arang, Selangor.
Nazarethville - Home for Unwed Mothers shifted to a rented house in Ipoh as the original site in Batu Arang made way for development into an industrial area.
Pusat Kebajikan Good Shepherd (Sekolah Khas), Hulu Kelang, Ampang, was officially opened by the Minister of Social Welfare. It offered commercial and vocational subjects to help students obtain jobs and to prepare for their Lower Cambridge Examinations as private candidates. A sewing workshop was also initiated.
The Bishop of Penang gave the Good Shepherd Sisters permission to build Mariaville Kindergarten, the Sisters'Â Convent and Home for Unwed Mothers on a piece of land located in Ipoh. Upon completion of the building, the Home for Unwed Mothers relocated here.
A house was purchased in Ipoh and named Rose Virginie Welcome House. This was a transition house for unwed mothers after the delivery of their babies and women experiencing spousal violence.
Seri Murni Hostel, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, was set up on the grounds of the former Seminary at Jalan Sang Kancil and catered for girls from rural villages who came to the city seeking employment or to continue their studies. In response to the needs of teenage girls experiencing pregnancy crisis and women with children experiencing domestic violence, Pusat Jagaan Seri Murni (PJSM) was set up in the same premises.
In their direction to be more involved in rural community development, the Good Shepherd Sisters took over the management of the rural parish hostel, Asrama Gereja St. James in Tenghilan which catered to secondary school girls from remote villages in that area.
Pusat Kebajikan Good Shepherd (Sekolah Khas) in Hulu Kelang, Ampang, ceased operations following a change in the educational policy allowing for automatic progression in the secondary school system until Form 5. There was no longer a need to assist school dropouts who could not progress to Form 4. The Teenage Centre continued to retain its name i.e. Pusat Kebajikan Good Shepherd (Teenage Centre).
Rural Community Development (RCD) in Sabah was established to develop programmes with a focus on empowering rural communities with leadership and communication skills. Programmes included human development and social awareness. RCD's main target groups were women, youths and children.
YouthPREP Link Level 1, an outreach programme for youths from rural villages commenced in November at the Outreach Centre, Good Shepherd Convent in Likas, Kota Kinabalu.
Pusat Kebajikan Good Shepherd (HQ) was set up in Kuala Lumpur to oversee the entire welfare services of the Good Shepherd Sisters in Malaysia.
The Family Building and Reconciliation Programme commenced with a focus on promoting healthy relationships within families through educational group activities. Programmes were conducted in the diocese of Kota Kinabalu, namely villages around Tuaran, Tenghilan, Tamparuli, Pukak in Kiulu and Kota Belud.
PKGS celebrated its 25th Anniversary in Sabah. "Our Zeal Must Embrace the World" was published to commemorate the event.
