Building a playground, farming, cooking and organizing children’s camps – these all were parts of the priestly formation of 3 young men who spent 6 months in the Salesian community in Shuwuu on the periphery of Ulaanbaatar.
From the beginning of June to the end of November 2024, brother Luke (24), brother Siomon (24) and brother Dominic (32), 3 candidates for the priesthood from South Korea, spent time in the Salesian community in Shuwuu on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar. In addition to learning Mongolian every day, they also engaged in various manual labor activities, organized activities for children at the Holy Family parish, and lived as full members of the Salesian community. Six months went by quickly, so we asked them a few questions at the end of their stay here.
1) Why did you arrive to Mongolia?
Br. Siomon: Because, in this year, we have time to experience various things related to church institutions. This is an essential course of Korean seminary. So, we came to Mongolia because of this kind of things… But actually, I didn’t choose Mongolia at first. I wanted to go to other countries. But God sent me to Mongolia.
2) Please, can you share something about family and journey of faith?
Br. Siomon: My family is all Catholic. So I was baptized as soon as I was born. But, when I was young, to be exact, around middle school, I was tired of the Catholic. Because it was so boring, and I wanted just to play with my friends, not in church. So at that time, I didn’t go to the church… But when the Pope Francis came to Korea, I felt a lot of things through his actions. He was always with the poor. So at that time, I was curious about it, ‘Why Pope acts like that? Who is Jesus?’ Now when I think about it, my faith seems to have started there. Just from simple question, ‘Who is Jesus Christ?’. So I entered seminary.
3) What did you do here in Mongolia?
Br. Siomon: There were so many works we did. All of this is for people, children of Shuwuu. We made football playground, and supported missionary priests in Shuwuu. We helped with the summer camp, Alpha project, and other things.
4) How was your experience here in Mongolia? What was difficult for you? What did you enjoyed? Appreciated?
Br. Siomon: First of all, I really learned so many things about the missionary life. I learned different ways of missionary work from the three priests here in Shuwuu. And I could see in detail what they were doing to create the Catholic community… Especially, we could experience of life of Salesian missionaries. This was really great experience.
5) Do you have anything more to share? Maybe some suggestion for those who will arrive after you…
Br. Siomon: It seems that it was not an international community because there were so many Koreans, including us, in the Shuwuu community. It was an opportunity to become proficient in English, but we couldn’t do this.
Salesians, local staff, children and youth appreciated presence of these 3 young men and their service and witness here. “Thank you very much for your service! We are hoping that you will come back soon.”
THANK YOU!
