No Place I'd Rather Be

I returned about a week ago from my three-week orientation in New York. It was exactly what I needed. It was a time of education, service and prayer. I learned more of what my year would look like. I served as a Salesian alongside Salesians. I let the Lord guide my heart to create a purpose for my mission. God has been very present this past month.

There were a lot of mixed emotions going into orientation. The weekend before I left, I had my going away party and felt so much love from my friends and family. I seriously have the most amazing people in my life.  It was tough to say goodbye as I made my journey to New Rochelle, New York, but I was excited to meet my new Salesian family. I was thankful to have people in Tallahassee that made saying goodbye so hard as I was preparing to say hello to people I would grow to love. I was leaving a community that helped me grow into the person that I am today and was entering into the community that will shape the next year of my life. My heart didn’t quite know what to feel as I entered into my three weeks of preparation. I was full of a lot of unknowns and uncertainties, but I was definitely excited to see what was in store.

I had no idea just how much God had in store for me. The community that awaited me was more than I ever could have hoped for. I finally had my first meeting with my site partner, Taylor, as she picked me up from the airport and it was perfect. I know that she will be a huge blessing to me on mission. Getting to know all of the other SLMs was incredible. It was amazing to hear everyone’s stories throughout the weeks and learn of the unique ways that God led us all to the same place. We got to know each other very well and the encouragement and love I felt from each of them is something that I will truly cherish.

 The first week of orientation consisted of a LOT of information, as well as cross-cultural training. I learned a lot. The cross-cultural training especially gave me a lot to think and pray about. There is really no way to fully know what to expect when entering into a different culture, but I’m thankful for the time that we spent learning how to best prepare ourselves for some of the changes. I know it is going to bring about many challenges, but it’s also exciting knowing that I get to be a part of something so unique and different for a year of my life. I know it’s going to teach me a lot about who I am and who I want to be.

Our second week, was spent doing service in Port Chester, New York. The first two days I worked at a soup kitchen and community center and the last three days I worked at a summer camp. We also centered our days around praying with the Salesian community of Port Chester. We would start our days with morning prayer and mass. After our service, we would go to evening prayer and then have dinner with the SDBs (Salesians of Don Bosco) at their residence. The prayer is what drove our service. We were able to better love the people that we were serving because we were receiving the love of Christ. It was a beautiful week.

The final week of orientation was spent in Stony Point, New York at the Salesian retreat center and Marian Shrine. It was the perfect place to be and the perfect way for us to end out time together.  About 35-40 Salesian brothers and priests were also on retreat that week and it was an absolute pleasure to get to know them. They welcomed all of the Salesian Lay Missioners into their family from the first second that we got there and I felt so at home with them. It was in spending time at the retreat center with the SDBs that I truly realized that this was exactly where I belonged.

I feel so grateful to be called on this mission. It’s so humbling to realize that out of all of the people, God chose 13 to serve in this way and I am one of them. It’s so special. Sometimes it’s hard for me to see the potential that Christ sees when He looks at me, but He has always shown me that I am capable of much more than I can see.

The Lord brought so much peace into my heart about my mission. There are still so many unknowns about what my time in South Sudan will actually look like, but the uncertainties are gone. I know this is where I need to be and there is no place that I’d rather be.