I am serving at THE Ohio State University with this awesome team where I will be mainly working with the male athlete population!

I am from the small city of Sheboygan Falls in the great state of Wisconsin and I am the youngest of three siblings raised in a Catholic family. God has always been an important part of my life as I lived a block away from our local Catholic church where my family were active members. As I grew up I was blessed to be taught a solid foundation in the faith and good morals. In high school I excelled in academics, band and especially sports. Wanting to continue my pursuit of achievement and excellence I decided to commit to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh to study kinesiology and play college football.

During my early years at college I worked hard to obtain good grades and a starting spot on the team. However, I frivolously directed all of my efforts towards the things of the world and found myself only giving God my spare time leaving me internally removed from Him. I knew that I was missing something but I did not know what it was. Thankfully through God’s grace the VC FOCUS missionaries at UW-Oshkosh pursued me and showed me just what I was missing. They invited me into and mentored me in a life of meaning with greater devotion to the Lord. In this time of reconversion God gently showed me through the sacraments, prayer, mission trips, and many other ways what it meant to fulfill the call of Jesus to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all you mind.” (Mt 22:37) While striving to honor God as my primary goal, Jesus made his love known for me in a deeper personal way and I found myself desiring to share my experience with others.

When deciding how to respond to the call to share my renewed awareness of God’s love, I gravitated to a theological concept from Saint Thomas Aquinas where he reminds us that God’s grace builds on nature. As a part of my God given nature I received an ingrained capacity for excellence and servant leadership, a seasoned experience in the rollercoaster of athletics and a foundation of a good upbringing. Serving as a VC FOCUS missionary aligned nearly perfectly as an opportunity for me to allow God to work through my nature and to bring His grace not only to myself but to those who like me are so desperately in need of it. Now I am delighted to serve the athlete population at THE Ohio State University on mission and I pray that God is able to use me as an instrument of His will to bring all to know of their identity as beloved children of the Father.

When I answered the call serve the Lord and to join FOCUS, I made the decision to rely on the prayerful and financial support of mission partners to help me live this mission. If you are interested in joining my support team, please contact me at (920)917-0524 or at [email protected]. It would be a true joy to have you join on this mission to more greatly know Jesus Christ and to make him known!