On a typical weekend, 200 to 300 young people gather at the San Jose Oratory where Miriam Hernandez, a Salesian Lay Missioner originally from St Dominic Savio in Bellflower, CA, starts her daily ministry. In August 2009, Miriam began a one-year mission assignment working in the oratory.
Miriam’s daily schedule is pretty intense. She starts her day with morning prayers with the Salesian Community at 6:30AM followed by breakfast at 7:00AM. From there Miriam rushes to the Oratory, about 20 minutes away, where she works all day. In the middle of her day, at about 2:00PM, she shares a meal with a host family at their home. Miriam, along with her Austrian co-volunteer, Lucas, and the local Salesian, Fr. Enrique, are basically in charge of organizing, facilitating, scheduling activities and supervising the children at the oratory. At 9:30PM Miriam and two other volunteers living at the same community come home to their central house where they share fellowship in dinner and the Salesian Good Night at 10:00PM.
It is incredible to see how much of an asset Miriam is to the kids at San Jose Oratory. Without the volunteers, the missions and Oratories in Tijuana would be very difficult to run.
When asked on how she was enjoying her stay and her ministry, Miriam responded with a big smile, “On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best, I give it 10! I really love it!” Tijuana needs more of us who can volunteer, like Miriam. Are you ready to take the challenge and make an impact? Can you say “yes” to God’s call and become a future lay missioner?
