A Special Day!

There is a very important man in my life. I only started to really get to know him in the last year or so, but he has really changed my life for the better.  He teaches me how to serve with my whole heart, how to truly love the young and how to bring joy into all that I do. He has introduced me to some of the most amazing and selfless people that I have ever met in my life. He helped me accept my calling to do mission work this year and deepened my desire to serve the poor and the young. Today is the feast day of St. Don Bosco and I am so happy to be celebrating with my Salesian family from all around the world.

For those of you who aren’t quite as familiar with the Salesian founder, I will share with you a little bit on the amazing life of this saint. He was born into a poor family in Turin, Italy in 1815. His father died when he was very young and his mother (Mamma Margaret) raised him and his brothers. God revealed to him in a dream at the age of 9 that he was meant to live a holy life. From such a young age, he was able to inspire his peers and teach them more about Jesus. He entertained many crowds with his skills of juggling, story telling and tight rope walking. He would always end his entertainments with a retelling of the gospel or a praying of the rosary.

After becoming a priest, he continued to live a life in poverty. He gave all that he had to serve the young and the poor. He saw many young boys on the street and he wanted to love them and give them a better life. He created the oratory for these boys, a place that acted as home, church, school and playground. Most importantly, he loved these boys and all children that he encountered. He was able to show them their worth in the eyes of God and teach them how to be good Christians and honest citizens.

This is the model that all Salesian communities have. It is his example that first attracted me so deeply to serve with a Salesian organization. His love, especially for the young, is a constant inspiration to me. After serving here for almost 5 months now, it’s so apparent that the children are really the hope for the future of this country. The sisters run two schools, each with 1000 students. These kids are getting an education based on the plan of St. Don Bosco. The sisters are always reminding us volunteers that it is most important for these children to learn Christian values and discipline and that they must know that they are loved.

We use the model of Don Bosco’s oratory every week as we drive to Bilfam to host oratory for 200 local children. We sing, dance and play games, but we also have catechesis and always end the evening praying the rosary. It’s easy to dismiss children or say they are too young to learn or understand the teachings of the church, but they often hold the most hope for a society. It was a young boy at age 9 that knew to follow his calling to the church, was able to bring the gospel message to those much older than himself and who created a family of religious that now serves the young in the poor in almost every country of the world.

Don Bosco, pray for us!

The Joy of Children

I haven't posted a blog in a few weeks. I have a lot of ideas going, but haven't taken the time to put them all into words yet. To tide everyone over, I have a quick story to share.

The other day, Ania, Marta and I were walking to the market. When we were cutting through one of the side streets there was a group of children playing. They were playing some sort of game that involved tossing something back and forth while someone else ran. We had to walk in the middle of their game to get through so we were just awkwardly cutting through saying, "malesh" (sorry) and "kef?" (how are you?) We made it all the way through and then one little boy, who was probably about 5, ran up to us with his hand extended and said "kawaija (white person), how are you?" As soon as we started shaking his hand, all of the other children ran up to us with huge smiles and their little hands extended yelling with glee, "kawaija kwaija!" It was one of those moments that filled me with such pure joy. In that moment, I felt God's love in such a real and intimate way. I was so completely assured that I am exactly were the Lord wants me to be, doing exactly what he wants me to be doing.

I am forever grateful for the lessons I can learn from children, for the smiles they offer me and the simplicity of their love.

Christmas in South Sudan

This was my first time ever being away from home for the holidays. It was such a unique experience to be able to celebrate Christmas in a new environment with new people, but with the same purpose-welcoming our Lord and savior into the world! Advent was a beautiful time of preparation for the birth of Jesus. Our masses and prayers were very focused on the coming of Christmas and the church was always full, even during daily mass. It was inspiring to see the faith of the people. There weren’t Christmas lights and decorations everywhere around town, but the church did play Christmas music every morning at 6:30 to let us know mass was about to start. (It was only slightly ironic that the first time I woke up to the music, they were playing Silent Night.)

The week of Christmas was full of many celebrations. On Sunday, we had our staff Christmas party. The sisters invite all of the employees from both of their schools and the dispensary to have mass and lunch together. At one point, a pretty great dance party started to Feliz Navidad and it was glorious. Monday and Tuesday, we went caroling with some of the girls from the school. On Monday, we went to the United Nations compound to sing to the Kenyan soldiers and to Bilfam, the village where we host oratory. On Tuesday, we went to the prison and two hospitals. It was so encouraging to see these young girls spreading Christmas spirit to many places that otherwise might not experience it.

We celebrated Christmas Eve Polish style! Christmas Eve dinner is the big celebration in Polish culture so Ania and Marta prepared a traditional dinner of dumplings, cabbage soup and beet soup. We invited over our other polish friends Bartek and Kazik (the salesion vounteers that work next door with the priests) and Piotr (our new friend who works for the Red Cross.) We started dinner by reading the gospel of the birth of Jesus. After that we each took a piece of unleavened bread and went around the room giving Christmas greetings and good wishes to each person. After greeting each other, we took a piece of each other’s bread and then went to someone else. It is a beautiful tradition and we then had a great time eating and exchanging small gifts.

At 11:30 PM, we went to mass at our parish. There were so many people there. We even had to come back to the house to get chairs because we didn’t want to stand for all of Arabic mass. They can get pretty lengthy. We got home from mass around 2 AM and we all went into the sisters’ chapel to greet Jesus and sing a few carols. Then the sisters had set up the table to have hot chocolate and cookies before going to bed. After sleeping for about 5 hours, I decided to get up and go to the English mass, so I could actually understand the language and receive Jesus on his birthday. The rest of the morning was spent getting ready for our big lunch. We invited Fr George (our parish priest/Salesian), Kazik and Bartek over for lunch. It was really nice to celebrate all together!

The day after Christmas, we left for a weeklong holiday in a town called Tonj. It’s about a 3 hour drive from Wau (depending on the conditions of the road, during wet season it can take much longer.) All of us (volunteers and sisters) went for the day to have lunch with the community of Salesian sisters there, but Ania, Marta and I got to stay for the week. It was absolutely beautiful there. I’m hoping to have some time later to write a blog post just about Tonj so be on the lookout for that. We rang in the New Year there with the two sisters we were staying with. We got home from mass around 10 PM, had a delicious dinner and then the sisters broke out some nice beverages for us at midnight. I never would have expected that I would be starting the year like this, but I am so grateful for this experience, everything that I’m learning and the people that God has placed in my life.

I had a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year and I hope you all did as well!