It's hard to believe that it has been almost a year since I first started considering mission work, but now I can finally say it is official. I have been accepted into the Salesian Lay Missioners program!
Now, I want to clarify that there should probably be an asterisk behind the word official. Even though I intend to do mission work, and the Salesians have accepted me, the reality is that with Covid-19 still affecting the world right now, there is still a possibility that plans may have to change. There just might be issues that are out of our control. And with that clarification, I will share the plan as of now.
Now that I have been formally accepted, the next step is to participate in orientation. This is a 3 week process that normally would start in the last week of July, but with issues stemming from Covid-19 precautions, it is likely that orientation will take place in the last week of September now. So chances are likely that I will leave the country in early November now instead of September.
During orientation, there will be a week for learning important information about our work and the program, a week of service, and a week for retreat. I will live, work, and pray alongside other men and women who are also preparing to go on mission. I am looking forward to this time of preparation and growth!
Right now, the director of the Salesian Lay Missioners is starting to prepare our mission placement. He has talked to everyone who has been accepted into the program and has listened to each person's interests in the different sites. The program prefers to send missionaries in pairs or groups, so at this point, it will be a balance of matching skills to sites, missionaries to partners, and finding sites that are ready to take in missionaries. One of the possible issues we may face this year is travel restrictions to and from particular countries. Even if a place is a perfect match, if travel isn't allowed, we won't be able to go to certain sites.
That being said, I am excited to share that I have a placement site that we are going to be trying to get to. Based on conversations with the director of the program, there is a good chance that I will be headed to Bolivia to work in an orphanage! I felt drawn to Bolivia because when I first started looking into mission work, I was drawn to programs that worked in orphanages, and not all Salesian sites have orphanages. I felt like an orphanage would be a place where I could form deep relationships with the people I want to serve as well as the people I will serve with. Bolivia also appealed to me because I love learning the Spanish language. It is one of my goals to come back to the States and be able to speak fluent Spanish if I am placed in a Spanish speaking country.
It sounds like the Salesian Lay Missioners program has a great relationship with the sisters who run the orphanages in Bolivia, a relationship that goes back more than twenty years. It also sounds like there is a great need at the site, which is another reason why it would be a great place for me to go.
Again, nothing is guaranteed right now other than the fact that I am all in, and the Salesians will do their best to send me to a placement site. At this time, please pray that God's will be done. He is the only one who has any control over whether or not Covid-19 will disrupt our plans, so if He wants me to serve abroad, I will be able to go where I need to go. If not, pray that I can discern the next step in my life.
Thank you!