YOUR VOCATION When and how did you receive the call to join the priesthood and why did you choose to join the Mill Hill order? At the age of 12, I was an altar server at a requiem mass in my village for a Bishop who had died in Indonesia. At that time, there was an initiative to build a small shopping center in the village. During the homily, the main celebrant at the mass urged the local people to consider building a care home for the elderly instead. He said that the elderly had done their part for society and now needed attention in their last years. At this mass, I realised that Liturgy and improving the quality of life go hand in hand. It was then that I told my mum that I wanted to be a priest. She said that I should revisit that decision when I was 16, and first get some dancing lessons!   So, at the age of 16, I started my formation at the Mill Hill minor seminary in Hoorn and stayed there till the age of 18. Between the age of 18 and 20, I studied philosophy at the Mill Hill College in Roosendaal, and then moved to study theology at Mill Hill in London.After my Deaconate ordination, I was sent as a missionary to Nairobi, Kenya, where I stayed for 18 months. I then enrolled as a Ph.D. candidate in Louvain and was sent to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where I stayed for 5 years. I returned to get my Ph.D. in Louvain and went back to Rio where I stayed for another 6 years.I chose to join the Mill Hill order as I resonated with their mission, values, and philosophy-that religion and the priesthood are not about blindly following the rules and canon law, but it’s about using your intelligence and sound reason to deal with problems and challenges that life throws at you as a priest in the most extreme surroundings of the poor and the privileged.   Fr. Sjaak gave...