(ANS – Rome) – Eric is a member of the 155th missionary expedition sent to Mongolia last year, who is participating in this year’s Corso Germoglio and received the missionary cross on November 11.
Introduce yourself
I am Br. Eric Ndayicariye, a Salesian of Don Bosco and member of the 155th missionary expedition. I was born in the Bujumbura archdiocese, Kirombwe parish; I am Burundian by nationality and a member of the AGL province, going to the Mongolia delegation, Korea province. There are nine children in our family, five boys and four girls. I am the seventh child. I come from a Catholic family, and my parents are still alive. I was baptized when I was 2 years old. At home, we have learnt Christian values since our childhood. As a Christian family, we are used to attending Sunday masses. Since childhood, my father used to advise us to study well, for he did not have the chance to attend school. He was not happy about that, and he did his utmost to put us in school so that we could study. I was also given the chance to join the group of the altar servants in my parish and the “Chiro youth movement,” from which I heard of Don Bosco.
What inspired you to make this choice to become a missionary?
When I was an altar server, I felt in my heart a call to become a priest one day. And at that time, I met a diocesan priest of my parish who came to celebrate the mass on Sunday. I served the mass, and at the end of it, the priest, Father Celestin Ntirampeba, called me and asked for my name. I told him that I would like to become like him. He welcomed me and he blessed me; it was in 2015 when I asked him to help me join the minor seminary. He did it for me, and that same year, I went to continue my studies in the minor seminary of Kanyosha.
During break time, I was used to conversing with my fellow students, and one day in 2017, one year before finishing my secondary school, I saw Arthur, one of the seminarians, coming to me, and he took me aside, telling me that he would like to talk to me. He told something that I was not used to hearing. He said: “Do you know the Salesians?” I replied: “Who are the Salesians?” He gave me some information, but when he saw that I was not convinced, he proposed that I come to their home during the holidays when his elder brother, who was a Salesian, would be at home, so that he could tell me more about the Salesian life. I agreed; when I met his elder brother, Willy Ndayishimiye SDB, I became very interested in the Salesian life, and I abandoned the desire of becoming a diocesan priest. I felt that God used that seminarian to lead me to the Salesian vocation, the life which he prepared for me, because until that time I had never heard about Salesians and for that reason I did not aspire to become one of them; if nobody told me about the Salesians, how could I know them? When Br. Willy Ndayishimiye, SDB, shared with me about the Salesian life, I was attracted by their dedication to prayer, living together as a family, and their mission of saving the souls of the young people, especially the poorest. I am grateful that God sent me a messenger who told me what I have never heard before; God uses many ways to call us, it is sufficient to listen and to discern his will.
I was convinced that to become a Salesian is to become a missionary because if I were called only to become a priest, I would choose to become a diocesan priest. The missionary dimension burned in my heart. When I saw how the missionaries who came to my country to preach the good news of Jesus Christ sacrificed their life and left their family and their country because of their desire to make Jesus Christ known to all the nations. Now it is my time to do so. Whom I know, let him be known by others.
From the time I started to serve God as an altar servant, I was interested in the broadcasts of Radio Maria. I heard that there are some countries that, until today, do not yet know Jesus Christ, and I said like Saint Paul: “Woe to me if I do not announce the good news.” I felt that Jesus was calling me to become a missionary of the nations.
Throughout my missionary discernment, I was devoted to the word of God, that is, reading the Bible, and I used to admire the faithfulness of Abraham, from whom I saw that God has a plan for every person. I have to listen to God in order to do what he tells me and to go wherever he sends me.
Are you happy about the place where you are going? Have you any fears and inhibitions about the new place, culture and people?
Before going to Mongolia I had not heard about it, but recently, by the visit of pope Francis in 2023 and through the media I had become aware of the situation of the Catholic church in Mongolia, but I was not too surprised that I am sent there and I saw God’s will to make me a missionary where the Catholic Church in general and the Salesian congregation in particular are in the first stage of the proclamation of the Gospel.
How did your family members, friends and confreres react when you told them about your missionary vocation?
The meeting with the Salesians was the beginning of my response to this call; before joining the Salesian congregation, I shared with my parents the desire to become a Salesian in order to go and make known the good news of Jesus Christ where it is not known; my parents blessed me and wished me all the best.
What are your plans and dreams about your missionary life?
From CHIRO, I knew that Don Bosco was a friend of the young people; he was restless when he saw that young people were mistreated by society. He didn’t want to save only the young people of his country, but the youth of the whole world. His mission was to educate by evangelizing and to evangelize by educating. Don Bosco became the friend of all the young people because he was a friend of Jesus Christ and of his mother. His preventive system has made me love him very much; for me, Don Bosco educates us to be like God who precedes us everywhere.
I expect to be a missionary who is well integrated in the Mongolian culture, language, and life, and to offer Jesus Christ to the Mongolians; like Don Michael Rua, I wish to be Don Bosco in Mongolia.
Have you in mind any model of some great missionaries whose style and life you want to follow?
My model is Saint Paul, who, after encountering the risen Lord, became his missionary; thanks to him, the faith in Christ was spread among the Gentiles. Now, we can ask ourselves this small question: what could the Church be if we did not have Saint Paul? When I saw that this vocation of mine needs help from God, and as inspired by Saint Paul, I chose this verse from the holy Bible to be my motto: “My grace is sufficient for you.” (2 Cor 12, 9).
How do you feel about the experience you are going through now doing the missionary course (Corso Germoglio) and receiving the missionary cross on the 150th anniversary?
It is a great joy for me to participate in this course, which is opening my mind and strengthening my Salesian missionary vocation. When I reflect on the first Salesian missionary expedition, I see myself as if Don Bosco himself were telling me the same things he told the first Salesian missionaries.
What is your message for young people about missionary choice and vocation?
I finish by telling all the young people that God needs us to become his missionary disciples. As young people, we are the hope of the Church and of the congregation. Let us go out of our comfort zones, meet the people who are waiting for us, and be like Don Bosco among them.
God bless you all.