Nina Cardillo

Hey! My name’s Nina. I’m a FOCUS missionary with the East Area Team!

Where I serve

For 5 years God called me to serve college students at the University of Maine, Orono. It was such a gift to serve the students and community there! Over the years I grew such much in my relationship with God, helped many students come to know Jesus, led Bible studies, and coached teammates in fulfilling the Great Commission.

Now as a 6th year missionary God has called me to serve Him in mission in a broader way, as a program director for the East Area Team. In my role I support the efforts, planning, and logistics for the team that oversees the 46 campuses in the East Area encompassing schools from Maine down the East Coast through North Carolina. I work closely with 4 regional directors that over the efforts and coach team directors at schools across all of New England, the DC/Baltimore area, New York City, and western Pennsylvania.

Even though I am no longer on the ground on campus my role is still vital to the mission of FOCUS and work of evangelization on college campuses. As part of an Area Team my everyday tasks have an even greater impact than before!

My Story

As a missionary, my greatest desire is to lead all students to Christ. I was raised Catholic and it has always been important to me. But it wasn’t until early in my sophomore year of high school that I really made the faith my own and took a more active role in my faith. There is always room to grow, I knew this but I didn’t know how I needed to continue to grow.

I got to college and God immediately put people in my life that showed me my area of growth, giving God control of everything in my life and having a personal relationship with Him. Thought it may seem funny it was often easier to give God control of everything than to have a personal relationship with Him. I just didn’t know what it looked like to really know God. FOCUS missionaries on my campus helped me to start that relationship by encouraging and challenging me to pray daily. It is truly incredible the connection between my trust in God and my commitment to daily prayer.

Throughout college I realized that I have a heart for supporting college students. I did this in various ways during my time in undergrad. One of the things that I struggled with was that I felt restricted in how much of my faith I could or felt comfortable sharing with those around me. I felt I could not give the fullest help to those I encountered because I often could not bring up God with them. How do I tell a student that is stressed about an exam that I know everything will be okay, but I cannot mention God? I know everything will be okay because I trust God and His plan. FOCUS gives the opportunity to support college students and help them grow with the fullness of truth, from a faith centered background.

Your Impact

When I answered the call to join FOCUS, I made the decision to rely on the spiritual and financial support of mission partners to help me through this mission. I’ve been blessed with the most amazing people who have journeyed with me as I serve on campus. If you are interested in partnering with me, please let me know of the best way to reach you and I will schedule an appointment. I’d be honored to share this mission with you.

I invite you to join me in my mission to serve college students. It is a hard time for most as they struggle with identity, rejection, and living on their own. College is an important time that often either makes or breaks someone’s faith. I have seen it happen too many times where someone is strong in their faith in high school but gets caught up in the messes that college can bring. Through my mission work I can be there to guide college students through growing their faith to be a strong foundation for the rest of their lives.

Find other missionaries

FOCUS brings the joy of the Gospel to colleges and parishes across the United States (and beyond)!
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We encounter God in an intimate relationship through daily prayer, the sacraments and the Scriptures.

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Build Virtuous Friendships

By building genuine friendships, we meet students on a deeper level.

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Teach Others to Share Christ

We teach students how to share the gospel, who in turn teach other students how to pass it on.

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