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Tri-Parish member sent to Bolivia with Salesian Lay Missioners: It’s either sink or float and nobody has sunk yet
by Kathryn Pasker Ineck
ICR Assistant Editor
Commissioned by the Salesian Lay Missioners in August and headed to Bolivia to serve at an orphanage home to girls aged infant to 18, Noelle Chmelik does not speak Spanish— Yet.
Chmelik, Tri-parish member, Cottonwood, grew up on “the Prairie” in central Idaho, the youngest of eight children born to Jim and Coleen Chmelik and aunt to 17 nieces and nephews, “so, a big Catholic family,” she describes with an affectionate laugh.
Enter the Salesians
While attending SEEK 2025 in Salt Lake City as a high school senior, Chmelik met a representative for the Salesian Lay Missioners (SLMs), described on their website as “a Catholic association of men and women seeking to answer God’s missionary call in their own lives by dedicating themselves to works of education, evangelization and human development among poor youth,” and she was intrigued by their conversation.
“A lot of people don’t go out very far,” Chmelik commented, noting that, often in Idaho, residents tend to stay close to home when putting down their own roots.
The missioner told her that he served “a year and then went to college, and he said it made him a better student.” Also noteworthy to Chmelik was that the cost of working in the mission field is covered when a missioner commits to a year, and “that was also really intriguing.”
Although she attended Ave Maria University for the 2025-26 school year, Chmelik kept the missioner’s pamphlet, knowing that she would not likely be able to afford a subsequent years of school there.
In reading Saint Pope John Paul the Great: His Five Loves by Jason Evert, Chmelik was struck by something the saint wrote when considering some intense manual labor he had worked: “I was a laborer for 4 years, and for me those 4 years of work are worth more than two doctorate degrees.” The idea resonated with her and she wondered: maybe “this is my mini doctorate degree.”
As far as continuing at Ave versus mission work, “I was just seeing what doors were gonna open up the best”: another year at Ave “wasn’t really looking doable, and these doors (to the SLMs) just opened up beautifully, so I just pursued that.”
In the tradition of St. John Bosco
The Salesian Society of Canada notes that St. John Bosco “wanted to dedicate his life to keeping youngsters close to God. As a boy, he used to repeat to his friends stories he had read or sermons he had heard and lead his listeners in the Rosary … he learned (juggling, acrobatics, and magic) tricks and put on his own shows; the price of admission was joining in the common recitation of the Rosary.”
As a priest in Turin, Italy, Bosco followed the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales, emulating the saint’s simplicity and kindness and established the Society of St. Francis de Sales – the Salesians – grounding his educational style “based on reason, religion, and loving-kindness.”
The Salesian Lay Missioners “share in the tradition, prayer, work, family spirit, community life and educational method of the Salesians of Don Bosco, while living in community with Salesians and other missioners.”
Perhaps not coincidentally, Chmelik graduated from St. John Bosco Academy in Cottonwood.
Informed by Salesian philosophy, St. John Bosco Academy, states that their “Teachers and staff motivate students through love expressed in self-giving, kindness and patience. We emulate St. John Bosco’s method of discipline, emphasizing reason, kindness and religion in each classroom and throughout the campus.”
Making the faith her own
Chmelik said that growing up Catholic sometimes felt like “going through the motions.” There were, however, multiple examples of mentors in faith. “Someone told me in high school (that) your faith is like working out, you know, you have to work at it and you won’t see results till later. (This is) learning how to, essentially, form your soul.”
Those mentors changed her trajectory, as did the retreats she attended. “(I) got … to the point where I wanted to go to Ave to grow more.”
And grow, she did.
“Ave was super instrumental on my perspectives … My theology classes were amazing there and my friends were also amazing. It … gave me a glimpse into what heaven is like in the sense that this is a community of saints. Obviously, you know, we’re still imperfect, but it … shows you what you’re made for: this beautiful community all in touch with the Lord.”
Application process
When Chmelik moved forward to apply to the Salesian Lay Missioners, her parents were surprised because it felt like a last-minute decision: “They were, like, are you sure? Are you sure about this? They’ve always had a trust in my decisions (though), so it wasn’t really a battle or anything. They’re very supportive.”
The application process usually takes three to six months and involves paperwork, a discernment weekend, and orientation.
For Chmelik, that timeframe was compressed. The paperwork “was pretty extensive but it was necessary,” noting that it helped with her discernment. She attended the three-week orientation in New York over the summer with eight other men and women.
“I’d never met any of these people in person, only talked on the phone,” Chmelik recounted. “So when I landed, I was just trusting that they were who they said they were, and I took a leap of faith. I wasn’t let down. The moment I got in the car with them, we just clicked, and I felt this huge wave of peace and certainty — I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be.”
“My experience during training was absolutely amazing,” she continued. “I grew really close to the people training with me, and by the end of the three weeks, we were like a little family! The first week was mental and spiritual training and preparation. The second week was a service week, and the third was a retreat. The hike we did with Fr. Mike was such a fun experience — we hiked to a lake, celebrated Mass, and went swimming. It was such a memorable time with such awesome people.”
Commissioning
When Chmelik and the other lay missioners were commissioned on Aug. 14, Father Dominic Tran, SDB, said in his homily: “God’s call (is) to make Christ present, whether we do that in the missions or in our ordinary lives at home.
The Virgin Mary models that for us; when she visited her relative Elizabeth, both Elizabeth and unborn John recognized the presence of Jesus immediately on Mary’s greeting her cousin, before she did a single thing.”
Seven of the new missioners will go to mission territories in Amazonian Ecuador, in Okinawa, Bolivia and to the FMA provincialate in San Antonio. Chmelik and Veronica D’Andrea from Etobicoke, Ontario, will go to Montero, Bolivia, where the Salesians have had a presence since the 1960s.
While Chmelik wanted to go to South America or Africa; D’Andrea was specifically interested in Bolivia. The new friends saw they could choose to be assigned together and decided to submit Bolivia as their preference.
“We’ll be in Montero at an orphanage, with the Salesians and sisters (serving) about 150 girls.”
The Salesians have had a presence at that location since the 1960s so the work will be in continuing efforts toward serving the community rather than establishing something new.
As for Spanish? The language will come.
“I’m studying right now … some of the girls have to study English, so I might help in that way. (Also, the Salesians have) sent missioners down there before who didn’t know a thing about Spanish. And it’s either a sink or float, and nobody has sunk yet … I’m actually kind of excited for that.”
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