Testimonies

It 'a great thing to share the love of Christ and one’s own little faith.
Testimony of a volunteer

The full year of voluntary service I spent in Lima (Peru), in the mission called Bosconia, was a great experience for me ... spiritually. It is amazing how God can reach into our hearts through all things: at every moment, in every person, in every daily commitment ... in EVERYTHING.

My Teacher has prepared everything very well before I knew his plans, that is, the desires of my heart. He knew very well and prepared me to overcome my weaknesses and my fears, to overcome the crisis. Because I had a very serious crisis. I had to face my fears, worries, with my lack of self esteem... with my NOTHINGNESS. I lost everything ... in order to get myself back with the fullness of grace and love.

In truth, he needed to take me far away in order to teach me that my desires, that all our most secret desires, take us to him and eventually lead us to the path of immense happiness. Now I can say with all certainty: only by committing myself without reserve, without keeping anything back for myself, can I be happy. Only by my total self-giving can I really reach hearts, not just express my love with feelings that come and go. People in different parts of the world do not need adventure seekers, super stars, comedians, scholars. They need apostles who bring them Love and Truth, that is, God. Then we are more united with each other and we accomplish a single mission: Love to build unity. It is a great thing to share with others the love of Christ and one’s own little faith. I could never try to do it alone.

There is not a single day that I do not repeat to myself these words of the Prayer of Abandonment (of St. Ignatius of Loyola) Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. You have given all to me. To You, Lord, I return it. All is Yours; do with it what You will. Give me only Your love and Your grace, that is enough for me. Amen.

Agnieszka Jaroszewicz – Poland

This experience has changed my life and my perception of the world

Testimony of a volunteer

I remember, 2007 in the Parish of St Dominic Savio, Bellflower, USA when I first expressed the wish to be a volunteer with orphans in Ecuador. I have now been working 8 months in Guayaquil. I believe that I have found my passion in life. If I had to choose an important moment in my life, it would be this experience.

This experience has changed my perception of the world. it has opened my eyes to the reality of poverty, hunger and situations found in developing countries. This experience has opened my eyes and has been an inspiration for me to be a better person.

At the beginning I was afraid of the new country, far from family and friends, but once I saw these kids all inhibitions disappeared. I didn't believe when people told me how this experience would change my life I had no idea how right they were. Seeing an innocent child on the footpath changes your life and is a blessing when that youngster takes the decision to come back to the Oratory with you. I have the feeling that I did not only bring Vince or Eric, but I brought God!

Every day spent here is a gift from God. It has helped me understand what love for Him is all about, and I am extremely grateful for this. The most important thing I have learned here is not to maintain for sure that the things we have, that “thing” could be shoes, a bowl of rice or parents. Unfortunately I had regarded all these things with certainty. A year ago my life was on a downhill ride, and I had no motivation for either school or work. Now I am leaving Ecuador with a new outlook on life and a new desire and new motivation to continue helping others. This new motivation growing in my heart is the best gift I could have received from the kids, and it is something that money could never buy.

So, where do I see myself in ten years time? I see myself making a difference in the world and helping others, perhaps not in Ecuador, but I hope as a fireman! I thank all the Salesian Brothers and Priests who are praying for me and who believed in me throughout all this. They have helped me to be the person I am today.

John Garcia, 19 years old

I discovered my vocation to voluntary service

Testimony of a Salesian

I am so glad to share my experience as a full time volunteer of Jesus Youth. To be frank, I owe even my religious vocation to my Jesus Youth full time commitment. It was the best year of my life when I learned to walk with the Lord in an intimate way. Forty days of training and the one year formation in the mission land of North East India (Assam) really prepared me to commit my entire life to the service of God and young people in the Salesian Congregation. What I cherish most from my period of voluntary service is the bond between our group and our leaders. It was (and still is) a great feeling to be a part of this family of love. I think what the Church needs today is also such genuine fellowship groups where individuals can grow and experience true Christian love in all aspects of their lives. I am really convinced that this project is truly an inspiration of the Holy Spirit. May the Spirit of the Lord continue to inspire us to “put out into the deep”.

Bro. Shyjan C.J., SDB

Don Bosco Utume, Nairobi, Kenya

I felt a deep call to become a Salesian

Testimony of a Salesian

I was born inTassin near Lyon (France) in a Christian family, the eldest of 4 children. When I was young, I was very much involved in Scouting. During my studies, I discovered the fascinating figure of Don Bosco.

In October 1999, I left as a volunteer in the Ivory Coast as a mathematics teacher at Don Bosco College in Korhogo run by the Salesians. There, I discovered Don Bosco even better through the very committed Salesians. ... In January 2001, I fell ill and had time to read the Gospel and the life of Don Bosco. I realised then how Don Bosco enabled me to synthesize my various aspirations: as a missionary of the young, as an educator and as an organiser. I felt so deeply the call to become a Salesian.

I then returned to France in August 2001 to begin my novitiate and I made my first vows in 2002. My desire was to remain in France. In September 2002 I was very upset by the images I saw on TV of the civil war in the Ivory Coast which was just beginning to unfold... and I felt a strong desire to become a missionary and asked to return to the Ivory Coast. I flew to Abidjan in 2004 to work with Fr. Tim, a Salesian, among street children and those displaced by the war. ... In September 2004, I was sent to Togo to work with the children at the Kara Market.
I returned in 2005 in my Province of France to continue my theological studies. In 2007, I asked to leave for Liberia, a country where many young people were recruited as child soldiers. During that summer in Monrovia, I discovered the immense educational challenge the Salesians had taken on. I returned home convinced that the Salesian charism is a real opportunity for Africa and that Africa may, in turn, be enriched by it.

In 2008, I committed myself definitively in the Congregation by making my perpetual profession and I was ordained on June 21, 2009 at the same time making myself available as a missionary. Fr Klement, General Councillor for the Missions, assigned me then to the ATE Province and the Provincial, Fr Vega, sent me to the community of N'Djamena in Chad where I started my mission in October 2009.

P. Xavier de Verchere, SDB

Among the volunteers, I felt like Don Bosco among his boys
Testimony of a founder of missionary voluntary service

It was in 2000 when I became Rector of the Salesian Mission Centre in Warsaw. Immediately I devoted myself totally in the activities of the Mission Office. But at the same time I was thinking about what I could do for young people, having seen so much enthusiasm generated by John Paul II during the Great Jubilee. The inspiration came from the young people themselves. They wrote me letters and e-mails with questions more or less as follows: Father I do not feel I have a vocation to the priesthood or religious life, but I'd like to go on the missions. Is this possible for a lay person?

The questions increased day by day. As a Salesian I could not say no. On March 4, 2002 there was a meeting of young people from different parts of Poland interested in missionary voluntary service. Their enthusiasm and the number of participants (there were more than forty), surprised me. We started a journey with monthly formation meetings, and at the same time they were asked to spend a few hours a week of voluntary work in their own places.

During the summer, some left for the first missionary experience in the East. And ninth months after the first meeting we gave the world the first volunteer, Artur, who left for two years in Peru. Immediately afterwards the others followed: Monika, Edyta, Piotr ... Sent in the name of the Church with a missionary cross, to be signs of Christ's presence among the young in the style of Don Bosco. It was a very beautiful and at the same time a very demanding experience. Many returned happy, some were disappointed. Difficulties were not lacking.

So one day, frustrated with everything, I considered suspending the volunteer programme. And precisely in those days one of the volunteers who was studying abroad wrote to me: Father do not be discouraged. We would be sorry to lose all the good that has been built up over these years of work. As soon as I return I will help you and together we will see what can be done . And that’s how it was. In that experience I felt more than ever like Don Bosco with his boys. When I finished my tenure as Rector of the Mission Office, I wrote that among the various activities of the Office which fascinated me, the volunteer programme had cost me most energy, effort and struggle. But it was worth it. The building of the Mission Office was no longer just an office building and a residence for the Salesians and the FMA, but it had also become a home for young people. And so that was how the Don Bosco International Voluntary Service was born, which from 2002 to 2009 has trained over 600 young people, among whom over 250 have had a variety of experiences as missionaries for a short period of time and 68 volunteer missionaries have left for a minimum period of one year.

Don Stanislaw Rafałko, SDB

A Life for Others

Sean Devereux – a volunteer martyr

Sean Devereux was born on November 24, 1964. From an early age he had a desire to go to Africa to help needy children. In 1975 he enrolled at the Salesian College, Farnborough, Hampshire for his secondary education. He was there from his 11^th to his 18^th year.

He was good at sports, representing both the school and county but was not brilliant in any. He was a hardworking and diligent student. He had to work hard for his achievements and was quite prepared to do so. All his school friends point out his qualities: his open, uncomplicated and approachable manner, his leadership, his help for the under-dog, his compassion, his generosity and his love of the truth.

After his university studies he taught for two year in the Salesian School at Chertsey.

He finally fulfilled his dream when he left for Liberia on Feb 1989 as a volunteer at St. Francis School, a Salesian school at Tappita, Liberia. In 1990 he went for a break in England but was unable to return to St. Francis. The school had been forced to close due to the political situation.

In 1992 he went to Somalia to work with the UNICEF. He was murdered there at Kismayu in 1993 while still working for the UNICEF.

Sean has been described as a loving man who cared for others. The extent of his compassion included helping the people of Somalia and Liberia with food and physical assistance.

[from Michael Delmer, Sean Devereux. A Life Given for Africa (Don Bosco Publications, Bolton, 2004)]