In 1981, the SALESIAN LAY MISSIONERS (SLM) Program was created to give lay people the opportunity to work and make a difference in some of the poorest parts of the world. Since then, over 300 men and women have given one year or more of their life to work alongside Salesians in over 35 countries. Throughout the years, they have served with the Salesians in orphanages, youth centers, schools, parishes and community outreach programs. They are provided with food and a place to live but receive no salary.

During their time of service, SLMs witness, firsthand, the effects of extreme poverty. They learn to work with very little resources and also come to understand how important it is to be a “caring presence” among the community.

The work at times can be extremely difficult; to hold a 3-year old girl whose entire face was burned by boiling water left on the stove by her passed-out mother; to look after 100 girls sent to a Salesian orphanage because their family life was filled with abuse and neglect; to try and convince a 10-year-old boy living on the street that there is more to life than drug addiction and that there is a way out... and the list goes on and on.

At the same time, the experience proves to be one of the most life-changing times of the SLM’s life; spending the afternoon organizing the parish food distribution program, teaching a group of Bolivian farming kids how to research different topics with a multimedia encyclopedia; watching a mother’s face light up after answering a long division problem correctly.

Upon completion of their time, SLMs return home with a greater sense of appreciation for what they have, how they have been raised, and the many blessings they have been given throughout their lives. Sometimes the SLM experience changes people in ways that they least expected, many times via a career change. It is not uncommon for returning SLMs to enter the medical, teaching or nonprofit fields. Visit our web site at: www.salesians.org/slm