Peruvian young people learn new type of mission spirituality

Published: 2006-03-03

LIMA, Peru (CNS) -- When Emilio Benito Samayani was growing up in Arequipa, a balmy city in the southern highlands of Peru, he was involved in parish youth groups, but found that they often fell into a rut. When he joined Youth Without Borders, a missionary group affiliated with Vatican missionary agencies, he discovered what had been missing. Instead of just going to meetings, he said, "When you do mission, the question is what are you going to do between now and the next meeting?" That meant making his faith a deeper part of his everyday life. "It was hard for me to learn the (missionary) spirituality -- it's nice, but it's hard to live out," said Benito, 27. Before joining Youth Without Borders, Benito thought that being a missionary meant carrying the Gospel message to far-off lands. "But now I know that it means proclaiming it where I live, within my family, so that they are also drawn" to Jesus, he said.

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