I did not choose to come to Taiwan
I acquired it as a mission of God
even though it was through my superior I received this mission
When I was in my second... no my first year of Philosophy
I had the chance to talk to my provincial
and I felt this desire in me to
to go abroad for a mission
So I asked my Provincial
if it was possible if I could do my regency
What we call regency
is an apostolic stage
which lasts about two or three years in the Jesuits
To be honest, I didn't really... I didn't think
that he would send me one day for my regency in another province
but I expressed the desires I carried inside of me
Our province, the one to which I belong as a Jesuit
The province of Western Africa
includes 14 countries
and there are 10 regents
10 brothers finishing their philosophy and waiting to be sent for regency
and there were many needs in our province
Certain communities
were asking for two Jesuits, other countries wanted three or four
You understand that, having 14 countries
wih only 10 people
9 to 10 people
means that your margin of possibilities
is technically reduced
But a province in the Society of Jesus is more than just "technical"
The other aspect which didn't make me feel very confident was
that it was not common in my province
to send Jesuits abroad for their regency
maybe after becoming a priest
it is possible to be sent elsewhere
All of this together...
I just expressed myself as I was asked
as is usually done in the Society, I expressed
the desires I felt
after completing my discernment
regardless of what the superior would do
So, I was ready
I was available to go anywhere it was required of me
but I knew that the priority would be the province
So, I unremarkably went back to my Philosophy studies
And one day
I went online
as usual
to read my mail, and I had received
a letter from my Provincial
This was really strange
He told me that he wanted to
send me to another province, but that it wouldn't be
another province in Africa
a province of the Jesuits in Africa
And it wouldn't be in the West either
After reading the letter, to be honest with you
It was like... I was a bit nervous
I went straight to the chapel
to talk to the Lord, to tell him a little bit how I felt
I wasn't there for a long time, only 15 minutes, but it was long enough
because those 15 minutes allowed me to calm myself
to feel at peace, and after those 15 minutes
I was more available
I didn't automatically reply my superior
The next day, I wrote him an e-mail saying I was available for the mission
But so far, I still didn't know the country
that I would be sent to
He responded me, saying: "Ok, thanks for being available"
And I waited and waited and waited
and one month later
during this time I thought a bit more about India
Just because I had a companion in the same province who
had studied in India
so I said to myself: "No doubt, if it is in Asia,
no doubt it will be India
A month later he sent me an e-mail saying: "I want to send you to Taiwan"
But in Taiwan, I didn't know anyone
Later on, he came and we conversed
and discussed the mission
that he was assigning me
My mission was mostly to get to know the culture, Taiwanese culture
The culture...how can I say... Chinese culture
in general terms
because there are more and more Chinese people coming to Africa
And it is good... Chinese, and Taiwanese coming more and more to Africa
so it is good, also, to understand
the culture, to understand exactly to what extent we can work with each other
mostly from a pastoral standpoint
and also for a bit more... social justice
a bit more justice in the exchanges
a bit more fraternity and mutual respect
in the exchanges between Africa and Taiwan
and the exchanges between Africa and China
there you have it, my story
The Taiwanese are hospitable
That is my personal experience
Hospitable, polite, generous
this I will stress three times
I have experienced much generosity from the Taiwanese I have encountered
I remember once, I was lost
I needed to take the bus
but I had gone in the wrong direction
and finally I realised
I got off the bus
I approached someone I didn't know at all
and this person took the time to listen to me
She didn't know the exact number of the bus that I had to take
Very generously, she picked up her phone, called another friend
they talked for about 15 minutes
I didn't know her, she didn't know me
And here she was, helping me
she waited with me
until the bus she had to take had already left, but she still waited
to solve the problem with me
and only once the problem was solved
and she had left the driver in charge of me, did she finally leave
I found this amazing!
How, in such an industrialized country
could there be such a sense of humaneness
and I think that this is one of the things that has touched me most about Taiwan
and which gives me the feeling
of being at home