Every vocation is a response of personal love to the Lord who calls. There isn’t any technique that can replace the Action of the Holy Spirit; on the other hand, the Action of the Spirit does not dispense our collaboration. That is why, with great joy, I want to make a memory of my vocational journey by appreciating the wonders that God is accomplishing in and through me.

My name [ndr. in Korean] is김재인 저프리 (Kim Je-In). I am the sixth born among the seven children of Isaac and Mary. I come from Kenya, city of Kisii that is located in the southwest of the country. I was born on August 28, 1987. My parents are already retired while my older brother along with four of my sisters work and are already married. My younger sister is currently in university.

Thanks to my family that offered me a solid foundation of Catholic formation. From childhood, I went to church with great pleasure. In my local community of Our Lady of Assumption Parish I used to take part in the Sunday mass readings. I really enjoyed reading in my local language (Kisii), something that made me be close to a missionary from the Mill Hill missionaries’ congregation who always encouraged me to participate actively in the church. Having this experience of the church, I awakened in me the desire to become a priest to serve the people of God.

I did my elementary and high school studies in Catholic boarding schools within my parish. A part from the intellectual formation itself, these schools offered religious teaching that helped me greatly to grow in human and Christian values. During this time, that first desire to become a priest still burned in me. I actively participated in the group of young Catholics in secondary school. We animated and celebrated the liturgical celebrations and also held meetings and congresses of Catholic students, both in the parish, in the diocese as well as nationally. One fine day, the late Fr. Atilio Lerda, a Consolata missionary, sent a magazine The Seed (a missionary magazine published by the Consolata missionaries in Kenya) to our school. As the vice president of the group of young Catholic Students (YCS), I felt the great need to write a letter to thank the priest for the received magazine. At the end of the letter I also wrote that I would like to be a priest.

When Father Atilio read my desire to become a priest, he began a constant process of correspondence through the letters he wrote by hand, in a very decent handwriting, in fact till now I have those letters well-kept in my small library. Through this correspondence, he clarified my doubts in relation to priestly, missionary and religious life, something I did not know. After a profound accompaniment by  Fr. Atilio, I personally decided to join the congregation of the Consolata missionaries.

I joined the propaedeutic in 2006 at the Consolata seminary in Nairobi. A year later I began to study philosophy, a study that took me three years. In these two stages, I had wonderful missionary experience that motivated me to move forward. In May 2010, I was admitted to the novitiate stage, which I did in Maputo, Mozambique. After the novitiate, in 2012 I was destined to study theology in São Paulo, Brazil where I spent four years. I have to note particularly the various missionary experiences marked by inter-culturality and new knowledge. I also met people from all walks of life, especially those in difficult situations. This always posed me a challenge of my capacity to transmit God’s consolation to them. As far as ecclesiastical studies are concerned, I really enjoyed them even though at times I had to suffer the language barrier, an issue that forced me always to work extra hard. Sometimes it is also very hard when you get new people, get used to them and work for and with them pastorally, but then at some point you have to depart for a different mission leaving these people. It pains though.

After completing my studies in Brazil, I requested to have a missionary experience in Asia. Thanks God I was destined to South Korea, where I have been in the last one and half years. South Korea makes me feel more missionary. The central activity of my missionary experience here in South Korea as for now is the question of learning the language. Korean language is one of its own, it is different. This is just to avoid saying that is difficult. Anyway, it can be learned.  In the beginning it requires a lot of dedication and commitment so as to enter into the Koran mentality. This is what will facilitate a better learning. There are times when I completely understand nothing as there are times when I wish to express myself, but I lack the means. This is part of my missionary endeavour, my daily cross. Such moments leave me as a privileged passive listener. When necessary, an invented sign language comes to serve my purpose.

I would like to sincerely thank all the Consolata missionaries working in this part of the world for their encouragement and support. I wouldn’t forget to thank the Consolata missionaries’ benefactors and friends who also help me in adapting to the Korean culture. Even without a better means of expression, through them I can afford to wear a smile in face always.  I am ready and determined to reap the best out of this experience. May the Lord help me to be a good witness of consolation while here in South Korea. Encouraged by the words the Holy Father, Pope Francis, told me as I was leaving Rome for South Korea “sempre avanti,” I look forward to offer myself fully for the mission in Korea.

I look forward with hope especially in regard to my future mission in South Korea. Given South Korea’s pastoral and cultural diversity, as Consolata Missionaries, we are challenged to enter into these realities so that we may really communicate and transmit God’s message. I also wish to collaborate well with the missionaries who have been here before me, learning from and with them as well as offering my service within my capacity.

I thank God and all the people of God who help me to respond to this sublime call. It isn’t that easy, but with the grace of God and my collaboration, I remain firm keeping the faith. I have made nice missionary experiences, namely: living with people and in different realities, learning other languages, diverse pastoral experiences, studies among others. All this is for the greater glory of God and the service of the ecclesial community. May the good God and Our Lady Consolata help me in my discernment so that I may become a true apostle of the gentiles like Paul. Amen!