My BYM Experience

I first heard about Belen Youth Missions when I was a sixth-grade student at Belen, and it was something I always wanted to participate in. I thought of it as an adventure and a great experience. However, in the days leading up to our trip to the Dominican Republic, I became very uneasy. The thought of showering in cold water, sleeping on the floor in hot weather, and using latrines did not sound appealing to me at all. But I was committed to the trip, so off I went to the Commissioning Mass the night before we left the country. It was this Mass that changed my tune again, when I heard Father Willie say, “You are here not because you signed up on the correct day and time, or because you’re one of the lucky 62. You’re here because you're the answer to the prayers of every single person in the village of Corocito. People who have been praying for years, decades, for easy access to water in their village.” That struck me. Our group was traveling to the mountains of the Dominican Republic for no other reason than God was sending us to answer someone else’s prayers. From the second I heard this, my focus shifted. I stopped worrying, and I kept that message at the forefront of my mind for the duration of the mission. Every time I or my classmates got tired, got blisters, got hot, or just wanted to call it a day, we continued to dig, because we knew what we were there for. We were called to work to the best of our abilities everyday to serve the people of Corocito well and for the greater glory of God. We were there to prove to ourselves and the villagers that we were who they had been praying for.

We could not fail. We could not give up. While there were moments when the trip became tiring, our outlook was always positive, because we knew we were there on a mission. Every day at 4 p.m., we would get in the beds of the pickup trucks and head back to our camp. Upon arrival, we would all shower and prepare ourselves for daily Mass at 6 p.m. It was at these Masses where we each individually grew closer to God, especially during our shared homilies in which Father Willie invited us all to share our experiences from the day. Hearing each person’s comments and reflections on his own experiences, allowed us to learn why it was that God called each one of us to be on the trip, and what it was that He wanted us to gain from it. It was an integral part of each day, and the trip overall.

Each BYM Mass, beginning with the Commissioning Mass, and each day of work for the

people of Corocito have changed my outlook on my days even after returning home. Am I continuing to be the answer to someone’s prayer today? So I challenge all my classmates and those reading this to think the same moving forward… you might be the answer to someone’s prayer at any given moment or the only encounter that person may have with Jesus. So whose prayer have you answered recently, and more importantly, whose prayer will you answer next?

Registration for the annual Belen Youth Missions to the Dominican Republic will open to members of the class of 2025 in January 2024. Click here to see pictures from this year’s BYM.