In my last two years with the Columbans in Chile, I realized there is more to learn about mission than just going out and preaching the gospel to the people.
In our formation program we learn that missionaries must learn to cross boundaries. One of the first ones is an attempt to cross the boundary of language. Spanish is the official language in Chile and it took me five months to overcome this boundary.
The Columbans helped me in this challenge by giving me an opportunity to live with a Chilean family, to not only learn the language but to learn their culture as well. I was billeted with a family of four generations, all living under the same roof. It wasn’t an easy road as I had to overcome the embarrassment of making mistakes, getting to know the do´s and don’ts in a new environment while still not having a proper grip of the language.
During that time I worked in the parish of San Columbano with Columban Fr Tom Hanley and Fr Pablo Park, a Korean Associate priest. This work gave me more opportunities to get to know and understand the people, not just within the Church, but also with those who did not participate much in Church activities.
I was invited to lunches and dinners with these families. It was on these visitations that I learnt more about the saying ¨Yo soy Catolico en mi mismo manera¨ which means ¨I am a Catholic in my own way¨ a phrase I often heard from non-active Catholics who preferred not to participate.
I also travelled to other Columban mission sites for different experiences of mission. I looked forward to these new experiences, mainly because I wanted to gain everything I could from the experience, and at the same time, I liked to travel. It was a win-win situation for me.
On my first mission in a countryside community called Ria Chuelo, in the Zone of Ozorno, we visited many poor families in the community. I heard their simple but struggling life stories and how they loved the Lord, even though they had very little in the way of material possessions.
I felt that after each mission experience I had something to bring back to the parish where part of my work was visiting families. I realized that in Chile you can ask the family if you want to visit them, whereas in Fiji it would be considered intruding, because normally you need to be invited. So you could say I had my share of culture shocks that continued throughout my mission journey over the last two years.
In many cases I learnt to see the Columban motto ¨Christi simus non nostri¨ (We belong to Christ and not to ourselves) being personified by the humble members of this beautiful region, and for that I am truly grateful to God.
Martin Koroiciri is currently studying Theology at the Columban Formation House in Suva, Fiji
LISTEN TO: I am a Catholic in my own way
(Duration: 3:29mins, MP3: 1:60MB)
Related links
- Read more from The Far East, January/February 2018
