At present there are 20 young man training in the major seminary of Cochabamba. They come from various different parts of the country but are united in their wish to serve God and their brothers and sisters one day as priests. They represent a great hope for the Church in Bolivia, since the country urgently needs more priests in order to minister to the growing number of Catholic faithful.
The seminarians come from very different backgrounds. Some of them have already had a profession before and have given it up to follow their vocation, while others, like Juan Gabriel, have always had to work hard ever since their childhood. „I grew up in a very simple home. My father is a farmer and my mother a housewife and I have five brothers and sisters whom I love greatly“, he tells us. „Our family lives in a small village by the name of Chaguaya, where we honour the Virgin Mary as our patron saint and protector of the village. In my family I have learned to treasure the simple things. During my childhood I maybe didn‘t have the same opportunities as other children, because even as a little boy I had to help my father working in the fields and support him in his daily duties. Because of our work, we sometimes didn‘t even have time to eat, because we had so much to do. But I‘m very grateful to my father, from whom I learned so many things that are useful to me today. When I was 14 I started to go to school, which was an hour‘s walk away. In the centre of Chaguaya my family had a stall where we prepared various traditional food and sold it to the pilgrims who came to visit Our Lady, especially on Saturdays and Sundays. I used to help my family with the washing up and with other little jobs.“
Nevertheless, he always got very good marks in school. His parents would have been very happy if he had married a girl from the village, and in fact he did make friends with a young local woman. Through this friendship he joined the youth group at Our Lady‘s shrine and became more and more involved with the Church. Finally, after a meeting with two seminarians, everything changed and Juan himself began to feel called to the priesthood. Initially, his parents were pretty upset about this. But Juan would not be deterred, and now he is on his way to the priesthood. „I thank God for all the kind people and friends whom God has placed on my path and brought me closer to Him, and I thank Our Lady of Chaguaya for always being by my side.“
His fellow seminarian, Christian, summarises what he and all the other seminarians have in common. „Your vocation comes when you‘re not expecting it. Often, we don‘t really know where we‘re going, but Jesus shows us the way. In the seminary I‘ve learned to be ready for the unexpected, to trust in God and allow myself to be surprised by Him. I‘d like to pass this on to any young man who is wondering what to do with his life: God is always surprising us, and if we let him take over, he can change everything. The seminary is not the end, but only the beginning of a journey with Jesus, who gives meaning and joy to our lives.“
The seminary needs our support if these 20 young men are to continue their journey. They have asked us for a contribution of 9200 Euros. Will you help us to give the gift of new priests to the Church in Bolivia?
