By Fr. Thathireddy Vijay Bhaskar, SDB

Seoul, Korea, November 2015 - The delegates of Youth Ministry and Mission of the provinces of East Asia Oceania came together for a meeting in Seoul in the Provincial House to discuss on important issues such as volunteering, family and the functioning of these departments at the provincial level. 34 confreres are part of the meeting which commenced in the evening on 9th Novemmber and which is scheduled to conclude on 13th November. Fr. Fabio Attard the general councillor for Youth Ministry and Fr. Guillermo Basanes, the general councillor for Missions along with their teams are present to animate and guide the region.

The meeting commenced on 10th morning with a moment of Prayer and reflection on the Word of God. Putting the Word at the centre which concluded with the Eucharistic celebration was a welcome change in this meeting. There was an evaluation and refletion on the implementation and dissemination of the “Frame of Reference.”

On 11th November, both the commissions reflected and discussed together the status of the volunteer service in the provinces. There was a very inspiring testomony of four Korean volunteers who shared their experiences of volunteering. Towards the end of the day, after much discussion and sharing, the region has come up with three objectives to promote the Salesian Missionary Volunteer Service. At the provincial level, there is a need to be conscious of this important missionary dimension and steps to be taken to ensure the imparting of proper formation to both the prospective volunteers and the Salesians who promote the volunteer service in the province and region.

On 12th November, there will be a reflection on the situation of the Family and the attitudes towards family ministry in the context of youth ministry. The reflection on the ‘family’ is in the context of the call of the GC27 and the just concluded synod on the family. On the last day of the meeting, the delegates will discuss on matters concerning each of the departments. The inter-department collaboration is much appreciated and the Salesians representing practically all the continents, are truly living a prophetic communion.