“They are the best young people, because they are the ones God gave us”

Statute 9 of our Apostolic Life Project mentions that the Salesian Cooperators “Educate young people to find, in faith and in the Sacraments, the risen Christ, so that they discover in Him the meaning of life to grow as new men and women.” ”

And in Bastión, a popular area of ​​Guayaquil – Ecuador, is where our Salesian Sister Cooperator Viviana García, sc, accompanies, with the support of her Center “Casa Don Bosco”, the presence of a Youth Group called “Merciful Youth”. The experience of her apostolic charity, a gift from God, is the sensitive fiber, as a Salesian Cooperator, that unites her to God and, through Him, to the young people.

The youth group is for young people, a space for learning, personal and spiritual growth in an environment of family and friends. Every Sunday they meet to experience Don Bosco’s Oratory (patio, church, school, home) overcoming their fears, limitations and leaving the comforts to go meet children and adolescents in the area to evangelize; in addition to maintaining the training proposal of being missionary volunteers, as has happened in some years.

In this phrase Viviana summarizes her pastoral choice: “Seeing them grow in age, wisdom, living and experiencing service to others teaches me that the time dedicated and given to each one is worth it.”

Continuing to search for these youth niches and reaching young people with apostolic charity is a constant in the animated apostolates in our Province of Ecuador.