Hi, Daniel! Could you please introduce yourself…
My name is Daniel Armando Núnez Silva, I am twenty-nine years old, I am from El Salvador and I come from the Salesian Divine Saviour Province (CAM) of Central America.
What inspired you to choose to become a missionary?
My inspiration to become a missionary dates back to childhood and adolescence, when I was part of the movement of missionary childhood (IAM) and missionary youth (JUMI), where I was instructed in faith and daily mission; but it was only when I began my formation in the Salesian Congregation that I heard God's call to the mission ad gentes.
Are you happy with where you are going? Do you have any fears or concerns about the new place, culture and people?
I am very happy about God's call to be a Salesian of Don Bosco and I feel deep gratitude and humility for the specific call to be a Salesian missionary in the Special Circumscription of North Africa (CNA) to share faith, vocation, culture and life.
How did your family members, friends and confreres react when you told them about your missionary vocation?
This call was a surprise to many people close to me (family, friends, confreres) because I made discernment in silence and prayer, in daily life and in spiritual accompaniment on this call, but I found support, encouragement and prayer from all of them.
What are your plans and dreams for your missionary life?
My intention is to continue to offer my Salesian life for the construction of the Kingdom of God, with all my gifts and my limits, and to share my faith more radically in a land where the majority of the population is Muslim, but where in a climate of friendship and familiarity, we can live the values of the Gospel, according to the charism of Don Bosco.
Do you have some great missionary role models in mind whose lifestyle you want to follow?
Since I was in the IAM and JUMI, my missionary references are Saint Francis Xavier and Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, and in them I find the model of a missionary that I want to continue to cultivate, following our Salesian spirituality: "contemplative in action".
What is your message to young people about missionary choice and vocation?
I invite all young people who feel a missionary restlessness in their hearts not to be afraid to discover and respond generously, with a "yes", to God's call, because he does not abandon those he has called and enables them to respond more radically to the specific mission he entrusts to them. The words of the prophet Isaiah are true: "Do not be afraid, I am with you" (Is 41:10).
