I have been called to serve the cadets at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut! These very special and dedicated students are being formed and trained to ensure the safety, security, and stewardship of our nation’s waters—to save lives. I am very honored and excited to be a part of their faith journey, and through my role I hope to show them the joy of having a personal relationship with Christ as well as how that can inform and inflame their call to serve our nation.

My team — Isabella, Andrew, Jane, and Ryan

The Coast Guard cadets!

I was raised Catholic alongside my four brothers and one sister but began to fall away just before high school when my family moved to Tokyo, Japan. In Japan it was easy for me to treat my faith as little more than a “family tradition” seeing as none of my friends were Catholic, and most of them valued things that were definitively contrary to the treasures of the Church. I fell into excessive drinking, partying, and even the hookup culture during this time, and all the while thought that I was finally free.

My faith did not truly start to become my own until my first year of college back in the States at Villanova University (Go Cats!), when I was taken under the wing of my dear friend (now seminarian for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia) Dom. Dom helped break me out of my dishonest and indulgent lifestyle that I had adopted in high school by first and foremost showing me that being a man of virtue and faith was just about the manliest thing that I could do. Perhaps even more crucially, Dom showed me that I wasn’t alone. There were other young men out there, like him, who shared this nagging desire for truth, goodness, and beauty. I wasn’t a dork for wanting to go to Mass; it was cool (because it was true) to be young and Catholic.

My faith continued to grow especially through the influence of my three summers working as a camp counselor/staff support for Camp Wojtyla, a Catholic summer camp up in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Shoutout to founders Scott & Annie Powell who were some of the first missionaries for FOCUS!

Needless to say, there is much more to my story—many more ways that God has proven his undying pursuit of me—and I’d be so happy to share all of that in person. What’s most important is why I chose to become a full-time Catholic missionary: I feel a specific call to go out and find the men and women like high school me and bring them back into the Father’s arms. In such a time as this, when our Church is up against so much, this is the least that I could do for Christ.

When I answered the call to join FOCUS, I made the commitment to rely on the prayerful and financial support of mission partners to help me through this mission. This opportunity to trust in the Lord’s providence and generosity is humbling but very rewarding in itself. 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 would be honored to share this mission with you.

You can reach me at 610-216-4627 or [email protected]

God bless you,

Andrew