(ANS – Taisha) – “Now I am a missionary in Ecuador since 2005 … The area assigned to me is in the Ecuadorian rainforest where there are neither roads nor paths, only many rivers and the forest … Indeed, life is tough but I will never exchange the joy I experience in my heart in sharing Christ with the Shuar !”. This is the testimony of Fr Anton Odrobiňák, a Salesian missionary from Slovakia.

I was born in the north of Slovakia near the border with Poland in a very religious family. As a young man I was very athletic and I really liked weight lifting. I was the champion in my country! In fact I was part of a group champions of Slovakia. One day a friend, who was also part of this group, introduced me to a man who was a professor of mathematics and physics. He was a professor of mathematics and physics in Secondary School but could not work publicly as a professor because he was persecuted for his faith by the then communist regime that ruled the country.

He lived in the city where I was doing my Secondary School so I visited him often. We called him “godfather”. We would meet there and read the Bible, he taught us how to meditate; we talked about his life, his work, of the meaning of life, of God. He also invited to mountain shelters for spiritual retreats, recollections, and walks but he never introduced himself as a priest or a Salesian. The professor helped me a lot to discover my Christian, Salesian, priestly and missionary vocation.

Once he invited a missionary to Ecuador - Fr. Jan Sutka - his companion in the Salesian Secondary School before the communists took over the country. It was the first ever for me to meet a missionary. For the first time I also heard about the Shuar people and their culture. This meeting was the birth of my missionary vocation!

After Secondary School I began studies in veterinary medicine at the University but I had problems with my studies because I gave too much time to weight lifting. Fortunately I was attending meetings of a group of university students whose leader was a Salesian Cooperator. Through him I came to know the Salesian Cooperators, and especially the Salesians. I went to their house for prayers, meditation, confession, as well as to study the lives of the saints, philosophy, theology, and for some apostolate with the boys.

After my studies and one year of military service, I worked as a veterinarian and in the Post Office. But then in 1988 I decided to join the Salesians following all stages of formation in my country. After my ordination I was in charge of the Oratory and then chaplain in the Salesian parish in Bratislava.

Now I am a missionary in Ecuador since 2005. For the first four years I worked in the periphery of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Now I am in Taisha. Our community is made up of 3 Salesians and a lay volunteer and we take care of 32 Shuar communities. The area assigned to me is in the Ecuadorian rainforest where there are neither roads nor paths, only many rivers and the forest. One travels only by motorboat, on horseback or on foot. Every week I have to prepare the motorboat, gasoline, bags and all that is needed for my pastoral work. Indeed, life is tough but I will never exchange the joy I experience in my heart in sharing Christ with the Shuar !

This and other testimonies are available on Cagliero 11 (Bulletin of the Missions Department) on the website sdb.org.

Published 03/04/2015