Hi Marijan! Could you please introduce yourself…
I am Fr Marijan Zovak, a 33-year-old Croatian Salesian and I am one of the four missionaries of the 155th expedition who come from the St John Bosco Province of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (CRO).
What inspired you to choose to become a missionary?
The missionary vocation is something that was sown in me when I was still a child. In fact, I believe I am one of the few who first felt the missionary vocation and then the religious and priestly one. When I was a child my mother told me about the missionaries and, among them, also about the two martyrs in China about whom she had read a book many years before. She didn't even remember their names (only in the prenovitiate did I discover that they were Louis Versiglia and Callistus Caravario), but they left a strong impression on me. Another "missionary" who has accompanied me since I remember is Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, whose feast is celebrated precisely in these days.
The dream of becoming a missionary began when I was 7 years old. The missionary vocation brought me closer to the Lord at the age of 16, after a long period in which few things about Christianity had made sense to me, and finally led me, a few years later, to become a Salesian. This vocation was only strengthened during the period of my formation in Italy, living with confreres from many nations. At that time I also met the other missionary figures who fascinated me a lot with their complete self-giving and their becoming many different "Don Boscos" in their respective mission countries.
After a period of discernment with my spiritual director, I decided to write the letter to the Rector Major expressing my desire and availability. A few months later the answer came: the Dominican Republic, in the Antilles Province, which also includes Cuba and Puerto Rico. I can say that it was a great surprise for me, because I did not expect that part of the world.
Are you happy with where you are going? Do you have any fears or concerns about the new place, culture and people?
I feel great joy because of my missionary vocation and the destination I have received. Of course, there are also fears that, in some moments, steal the joy from my heart. Knowing already some of my struggles with myself, I am afraid that in the context that I do not know they will increase and that I will remain too focused on myself, instead of seeing the Lord who is already waiting for me in the Dominican Republic, in the confreres, in the people, in the young people, in the culture. In moments when fear seems to win, the Lord, through his Word and through his friends, reminds me that I cannot let fear guide my fragility, but that his grace is enough for me! Therefore it is joy, together with gratitude, that emerges as the winner of this struggle.
How did your family members, friends and confreres react when you told them about your missionary vocation?
Many had the same reaction: my mother, my father, my sisters, brothers and the people closest to me. No one was too surprised by my choice, but everyone was surprised by the destination. Of course, there are also people who do not fully share my choice, but my answer is always the same to everyone: pray for me and for the other missionaries - and I ask this of all readers!
What are your plans and dreams for your missionary life? Do you have some great missionary role models in mind whose lifestyle you want to follow?
Joy is what wins, also because the dream that the Lord placed in me gradually urged me to leave everything and give myself completely, as Don Bosco did. And this is the dream that I have for myself: to give everything! I am also driven by my missionary models and friends: Fr Vincent Cimatti, Fr Carlo Braga and Blessed Maria Romero (together, of course, with Versiglia and Caravario). I am sure that they will also accompany me to the Dominican Republic, they do not have much choice...
What is your message to young people about missionary choice and vocation?
I would leave this message to all young people: have the same desire as I do – to give everything to live a full and fulfilled life. Only the Lord can help you to give yourselves totally! Therefore, do not waste your life on things that do not matter, or matter little, but respond, despite the fears and perplexities, to the deep desire you feel in you, to the dream that the Lord has for each of us! This will bring joy to you and to many other people you will meet.
