Roger Kyaw Thu SVD, from Myanmar, is nearing the end of his initial formation to become a missionary priest and has been assigned to the Australia Province, saying he was attracted to missionary life by the idea of going to places where he is most needed.

Roger is to be ordained a deacon on October 1 at Our Lady of Africa Church in Chicago, Illinois, an SVD parish in the United States not far from where he has been undergoing his formation.

Roger grew up in a rural village in Myanmar, called Kyun Taw.

“I came from a farming family,” he says. “In fact, almost everyone in the village was farmer. My village is about 10 miles away from Loikaw, the capital of Kayah state in the South-eastern region of Myanmar. I am from an ethnic minority group called Kayan.”

Roger went to primary school in his village and helped out on family farms before and after school. Then, at 16, he joined the minor seminary in his home diocese while studying at a public high school. After high school, he went to university, majoring in Mathematics, and stayed in the intermediate seminary, learning some English there. In 2014, he obtained an SVD scholarship and went to the US as a diocesan seminarian to study Language and Philosophy.

Having grown up Catholic, Roger says he first discerned a call to the priesthood at age 14.

“My grandfathers were the first generation to come to the Christian faith in my family,” he says. “We were evangelised by the PIME missionaries from Italy. The majority of the people in the area I grew up in were Christians.

“I first felt the call to the priesthood when I was 14 years old during my first year in the boarding school in my home parish. I was inspired by the life and holiness of my pastor.

“However, I was afraid to express it to him. One day, my associate pastor asked me if I wanted to join the minor seminary and I replied yes without hesitation. That was the beginning of my vocation, so to speak.”

Roger’s first contact with the Divine Word Missionaries was in 2014 when he accepted a scholarship which the SVDs offered to his home diocese, giving him the opportunity to study at Divine Word College in Epworth, Iowa.

Spending time with the SVDs in Chicago Province helped open his eyes to the possibility of missionary life.

“The community living and the idea of going to places where you are most needed really attracted me to consider missionary vocation,” he says.

“Over the years, I have found the joy of meeting new people and of being welcomed by strangers. I think I am in love with the God who surprises me with strangers.”

Roger decided to join the Divine Word Missionaries in 2016 after two years of getting to know the SVDs in Chicago Province, professing his first vows in August 2019. As he approached his ordination to the diaconate recently, he learnt that his first missionary assignment would be to the Australia Province, which incorporates his home country of Myanmar as well as Australia, New Zealand and Thailand. He will take up the assignment following his diaconate year and priestly ordination.

Roger says he is looking forward to being able to go home and see his family after 10 years in the US, but is also keen to embrace new opportunities coming his way.

“I am excited to be on mission for the first time after long years of study,” he says.

“I am looking forward to my first assignment to the AUS Province as it provides me with many opportunities for different ministries and different places.”