Did you choose the destination or was it assigned to you? Are you happy with it?
I had never thought of becoming a priest or even a Salesian missionary or of going to Portugal one day… But today the Lord sent me there to serve, and the feeling that characterizes me is one of joy and thanksgiving for this new destination.
How did the people close to you take your missionary choice?
All the members of my family, friends, confreres and acquaintances would have liked to see me live next to them, so for some of them it was difficult to accept this news, especially for my family ... But with faith they understood that this is the will of God.
Do you have any doubts or fears about the new culture, the new reality…?
I am not unaware that adapting to a new culture, language, people and nation is not easy ... But I know that it is always possible, with the grace of God, to live and create new relationships.
What projects or dreams do you have for your mission?
I have no bigger plans than to offer Christ to the world in the footsteps of St. John Bosco.
Do you have missionary role models that you want to imitate?
My missionary life did not arise from nothing, but from spending time with several Salesian missionaries who inspired and accompanied me to deepen my discernment, among others: Fr Dick Zwarthoed, who helped me to become a Salesian, and Mario Valente, who enlightened me in missionary discernment. They both spent their lives in Congo with great simplicity until old age.
Missionary life is above all evangelization and pastoral zeal for souls. What do you think about it?
As a Salesian of Don Bosco at the center of my apostolate is evangelization, for the salvation of the souls of the least, poor and abandoned. For this, I prepare myself spiritually, morally, intellectually and physically to meet those for whom the Lord sends me.
Do you want to send a message to your confreres or to young people?
The message I can give to the confreres is that missionary life is a vocation within a vocation, and it is possible to live it when it truly comes from the depths of the heart.
To young people I say that the mission is not only to go far from their own country, to take the Bible and preach on the street, or something reserved only for Salesians; one can do mission where one is not, giving oneself to others, living in simplicity, bearing good witness of life in one's own environment.
