Photo: canva.com/Takahisa145
As part of their first mission assignment, Columban seminarians Larry Duerme from the Philippines and Lee Jeong-Rak Verano from Korea studied Spanish in Cochabamba, Bolivia. It was an honour for me to accompany them in their preparation for being part of the Columban mission in Peru.
To be able to accompany them around the city of Cochabamba while they got to know where their classes would be held - and the places and tourist Chile
I am now receiving this love. I meet people here who treat me like a son or an uncle. I am learning the love of god through the love of Chileans who accept me as part of their family community. Here, all god's people know they are brothers and sisters. For the remainder of my time in Chile, I want to share such intimacy and love with them.
Highlights they liked the most - meant a great deal to me. This experience with the seminarians on their first mission assignment made me remember the early stages of my own priestly and missionary formation. In this way, I was able to act as a mentor for these young men at this stage of their formation program.
The empathy we experienced between us was quite beautiful. They waited anxiously to meet me, as I waited anxiously to meet them. My only mission was to be with them. We had known each other a little beforehand but had not spoken much. During this experience, we spoke a lot. I feel they are very much a part of the Columban family, and I strongly support them. I know they are capable of many things, including being great Columban missionaries.
Columban Fr Gabriel Rojas is the vocations director for St Columbans Mission Society, Lima, Peru.
Listen to "First mission assignment from my perspective "
Related links
- Read more from The Far East - March/April 2024
