Hi, Henri! Could you please introduce yourself…
I am Henri Mufele Ngankwini, Congolese from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Salesian of Don Bosco since 2021. I am 26 years old, I am part of the 155th Missionary Expedition and now I am a missionary in the Province of Southern Italy (IME).
What inspired you to choose to become a missionary?
I am not a Salesian past pupil but I met the Salesians through a friend who was already an aspirant of Don Bosco. Thanks to him and the encouragement of my brothers and sisters, I was able to embark on this adventure with the Lord in the footsteps of Don Bosco. In my vocational discernment, I discovered within myself the desire to go and proclaim the Good News of Christ.
To this was added the exemplary life, although always with human limitations, of our missionaries. So I talked about it first with my then Superior, Fr Manolo Jiménez, and then also with my novitiate and postnovitiate companions. At the end of my philosophical formation, thanks to the favorable responses of the Council in my community at Kansebula and that of my Provincial and Aurélien Mukangwa, I was allowed to write to the Rector Major who admitted and sent me as a missionary.
Are you happy with where you are going? Do you have any fears or concerns about the new place, culture and people?
I'm happy with my new mission land and at the same time I'm a little afraid. I'm happy because I think that's where the Lord is waiting for me to be able to represent him effectively, despite my limitations. However, cultures in the world are different and this will shock me, without forgetting the people I will meet and that I have a different skin color from them; all these things come to me as challenges. In all this, I tell myself that this mission is not mine and that the Lord will equip us so that we can proclaim him to the people we will meet.
What are your plans and dreams for your missionary life?
"We are children of a great dreamer, Don Bosco, and it is not wrong to have dreams and projects; but in my case, my dream is to go and proclaim Christ in my mission land, without any claim to convert these people, because conversion comes from the grace of the Lord. I am like Mary Magdalene: I know that the news I bring will encounter a Thomas, John and Peter. As Salesians, we dedicate ourselves to the good of young people, taking care of them and inviting them to take care of their body and soul.
How did your family members, friends and confreres react when you told them about your missionary vocation?
My case may seem exceptional to some, because my family agreed as soon as I spoke to them, including my confreres and friends. In fact, everyone encouraged me to always pray for the Lord to accompany me and to enlighten the Superiors.
Do you have some great missionary role models in mind whose lifestyle you want to follow?
We all know that the missionary par excellence is Christ; besides Christ, my model for mission is Mary Magdalene. She was a poor sinner who benefited from the grace of the Lord so much that she was the first to announce his Resurrection. But we also admire Saints Paul and Peter. What I want and seek is nothing more than to show my brothers and sisters this Christ crucified, died, risen and ascended into Heaven... Nothing but Christ.
What is your message to young people about missionary choice and vocation?
At the end of this sharing, I think of it like Pope Francis, who asks us to leave our comfort zone to be ambassadors of Jesus Christ among our brothers and sisters who need his Word, among those who do not feel this need and those who have forgotten it because of the pleasures and distractions of this world. To all my brothers and sisters I say that being missionaries is not only synonymous with leaving your country: be missionaries where you are! Because the Lord wants you to be his ambassadors; and, if you happen to be sent out of your beloved country, thank the Lord and represent him validly. In everything, prayer is the powerful weapon of the Christian and, especially, of the missionary. Let us all dare to go on a mission! May the Lord protect us with his grace and bless us.
