SLM Spotlight: AJ Scheip – Palabek, Uganda

Salesian Missions (SM): It’s great to meet you, AJ! To get started, please tell us a little about your family and growing up in Florida.

Anthony Schiep (AJ): It’s a pleasure to be sharing my grace-filled journey with you! I have been welcomed into the Salesian charism and have been in total awe since the beginning of the relationship.

My own family has been paramount in developing my Gospel values and faith. I have four older brothers and a caring mother and father. My mother, Mary Mercurio, was a human resources director and has had extensive work experience. However, she has another gift, being the “Mother Abbess” of our family, especially when it came to developing us rambunctious boys. My dad, Father Michael Scheip, is a Roman Catholic priest. He was already ordained as a Lutheran minister when he married my mother. He converted to Catholicism and was ordained within the Roman Rite after my middle brother was born. Witnessing my dad live out Holy Orders has presented me with an authentic understanding of what serving the Church with fidelity and joy is like.

My family has continually supported an atmosphere that promotes care, curiosity, prayer, charity, and some amazing roughhousing experiences with the siblings. My family moved down to Sarasota, Florida in 1996 when I was just one year old. I went to a few Sarasota Catholic parishes for Mass because of my father’s assignments, but mostly Incarnation Catholic Church. I attended St. Martha Catholic school for grades 1-8, followed by Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School.

SM: After graduating with an associate degree in 2016, you immediately dove into mission-based volunteerism: first, in a Franciscan-run shelter for the unhoused as a resident advocate; and next, as a children’s mentor in a Franciscan-run domestic violence shelter. What led you down this path? Was it happenstance, or did you already know you wanted to be of service to others?

AJ: I can recall as an eight-year-old having a genuine experience with my older brother, Peter, who is currently a paralegal and has always been intrigued with local legislation. One day, he scurried me over to his computer screen displaying a recently published survey measuring the “Meanest Cities Towards Homeless.” He pointed at the top of the list; I was shocked to see “#1: Sarasota, Florida.” In this moment, it stirred my inner motivation to seek out the rejects of our society whom Jesus shepherds so often.

During my first year of college, I spent the summer months serving and living within a hospitality house and soup kitchen in Skid Row with the Los Angeles Catholic Worker. This intentional community’s drive towards the mission of serving God’s unprivileged in an authentic way was life-changing. I experienced God’s peace and purpose by being fully immersed in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Ever since, I have continued to thirst for Christ in these moments and people.

SM: Did these early experiences influence your decision to return to college? What was your vision for using your social policy and relations degree?

AJ: There was some intentionality towards having a future career in social policy and education. I knew it would provide a steppingstone towards serving God’s people through humanitarian means. At the same time, there was some uncertainty on the specifics of that call. As it ends up, God intended me to be a 2nd grade special education teacher, surrounded by kids who felt like my own. I am so thankful for that experience, and without it, I doubt I would be having this interview. Thank God that I trusted His process!

SM: When did you first learn of the Salesian Lay Missioner Program? What motivated you to apply? Did your family and friends support your decision?

AJ: After these missionary experiences and starting my job at an elementary school, I knew I was called to serve young children in my community through academic settings. Yet, I always had a tugging in my heart that I wanted to live in an intentional community amongst Catholic religious while serving the poor through Gospel values. I first encountered the Salesians when I was serving in New York City. After a year of teaching, I researched live-in missionary programs that were authentically Catholic and came across the Salesian Lay Missioners. Seeing that they were true to the Magisterium and had missionaries live amongst Salesians for prayer and service, I was convinced.

I conveyed to a teacher friend whom I met early in my career about my intentions towards being with Christ as a missionary. She intensely said to me, “AJ, I heard something in your voice the first day I met you when you were telling me your missionary stories. In that voice, I knew there was a fire in you that nothing could extinguish.” Most of my friends and family know I have been deeply desiring this experience for so long. Let’s just say everyone, myself included, are exclaiming, “Finally! Thank you, God!” As we know though, it is all in God’s timing.

SM: What was the application process like for you? Were you excited? Nervous? A little of both? Did you have a particular location and/or placement you were hoping to get?

AJ: I sought the program out in 2022. I sensed that I was not ready yet to make the plunge. I rekindled my communication with Adam Rudin, director of the Salesian Lay Missioners program, and it has been a smooth discernment process. He has a gift of listening and understanding, which made the process feel natural and authentic. Adam heard that I was seeking out locations that had extreme poverty with vulnerable populations. I live and work in one of the most affluent areas of Florida, where material wealth and comfort are an excess. Now, I hunger to serve those on the other side of the spectrum.

I sought out locations outside Central and South America. I have worked with refugees in the United States from these regions and felt compelled to serve outside of these areas. Initially, I didn’t feel a strong pull to serve in Africa, so I discussed Asia with Adam. We collaboratively worked towards finding a location near Cambodia or Vietnam. However, one day over the phone, Adam casually mentioned an opportunity in Palabek, Uganda. Here, the Salesians serve mostly young children and women refugees at a refugee settlement. Once he spoke about it, Jesus said in my heart, “I am there.” I have welcomed this opportunity since that conversation and am ecstatic to be given this call.

SM: How did you feel when you learned you were accepted into the program and where you would serve? What were your biggest fears? What were you most excited about?

AJ: Everything has felt natural and smooth. Being accepted to the program isn’t like the stereotypical experience of a high school senior getting admitted to Harvard. It was something deeper; once I was accepted, it was a deep sense of, “Okay Lord, this is what You want, and I trust that.”

I’ve had some doubts, of course. I questioned whether I would feel useful and content in my daily actions. I was a special education 2nd grade home-room teacher; that was my identity. Leaving my school to become an SLM stripped that identity, and I wasn’t sure what my new one would be. I have come to surrender completely to God’s will through the Salesians. I have full faith that they will guide me in whatever capacity He needs me. I have gained a new identity—Salesian Lay Missioner—and I am ecstatic.

SM: Tell us about your placement. Where and who will you serve? What roles will you play?

AJ: I will serve at a refugee settlement in Palabek, Uganda, about 30 kilometers from the South Sudan border. Most of the refugees are from South Sudan, and 60% of those refugees are under the age of 13. The abundance of work that the Salesians do there is inspiring. Pastoral work seems to be the main focal point. There is a preschool directed by a Salesian sister. Catechesis is a focus, especially towards training catechists to go out to other local communities to spread the Good News.

SM: What is the single biggest hope you have for your time as an SLM?

AJ: I hope I can live out Jesus’ will in my life. I will surrender to any struggles and hurdles he presents my way, even when I do not understand why. At the end of the day, I am seeking the face of Jesus and I hope those I serve see Him through me.