The 50 or so taking part including organisers, Salesians and Volunteers will be welcomed tomorrow afternoon 13 January at the “Resurrection Garden” Retreat House in Nairobi, where the Congress is being held. Working sessions will begin the next morning.
There are a number of items on the agenda. On the first day, Fr Dominic Sequeira, from the Youth Ministry Department will focus on the Salesian notions of service and volunteering. On the second day Massimo Zortea, President of the VIS, will present a model of sustainable human development on the basis of voluntary service and relevant projects. Finally, the relationship between “Voluntary Service and Evangelisation,” will be the subject of an analysis led by Fr Stanislaw Rafalko, from the Department for the Missions during the third day.
The aims of the Congress are to reaffirm the role of Youth Ministry in formation for voluntary service; to offer common, valid and effective criteria for Voluntary Service in Africa; to identify criteria for a Salesian, ecclesial and social evaluation of the activities of Voluntary Service in the continent; to promote Voluntary Service in the Provinces of the Region; to present to young Africans the opportunity of significant experiences in social and missionary commitment, so that they may develop an attitude of service of the poorest and most needy and cultivate a vocational option; to re-enforce the significance of voluntary service as expressed in the hand-book “Voluntary Service in the Salesian Mission” (YM and Missions Departments, January 2008): opening up the practical application of and the interior attitude towards service.
Published 12/01/2010
