We encounter God in an intimate relationship through daily prayer, the sacraments and the Scriptures.
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” – John 15:11-13
“Not all of us can do great things, but we can all do small things with great love.” – St. Mother Teresa
I am a first-year missionary serving at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota! I will be primarily working with student-athletes through an outreach in FOCUS called Varsity Catholic. I am so excited to be serving at UMary and I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for myself, my team and those we are blessed to serve!
I was born and raised in a Catholic household in the GREAT state of Texas. Through the generosity of the Lord and the hard work of my parents I was able to attend Catholic school all the way from elementary through college!
As a result of my Catholic education, I began receiving intellectual formation in the faith from a very young age and I loved being the kid in youth group who could answer all the questions. However, I lacked one very important thing: an actual relationship with Jesus Christ. It wasn’t until middle school that I began to realize that there was a difference between knowing a lot about Jesus and actually having a relationship with Him.
Before I entered high school, I had a profound encounter with our Lord in the Sacrament of Confession and this is where the seeds of my relationship with Jesus were planted. Fast-forward to the end of my freshman year in college, I had been at Ave Maria University for the year and I was having a bit of a rough time. Being so far away from home, I was struggling with loneliness. I had the gift of playing soccer at Ave, but I was struggling with the demands of being a collegiate athlete and my relationship with Jesus was very transactional. I really only went to Jesus when something was wrong or I wanted to feel better. Then, I suffered a severe ankle injury and I was forced to rely on crutches and friends for the last two weeks of school. It was here, in this injury, that I experienced another deep encounter with Our Lord. Jesus revealed to me that I was not only completely and utterly dependent on Him for everything, but that He wanted my whole heart!
It was also during this injury that the idea of being a missionary was introduced to me for the first time. While crutching around campus, I met a FOCUS missionary who was visiting Ave and she told me about what she did. I absolutely loved what she told me about serving alongside Jesus and I became open to the idea of becoming a missionary. After this, I switched my health science major to a double major in communications and theology.
From there, my life radically changed, I began having a consistent prayer life and joined multiple clubs/groups on campus all oriented towards growing in faith and sharing Jesus with others. After serving at a summer camp called Annunciation Heights for two summers, my desire for mission only grew. By the time I got to my senior year, I was able to co-lead my team Bible study and co-disciple some of my fellow teammates! It was through these beautiful opportunities to serve my teammates and through the mentorship of my Coaches who had become dear friends, that I grew a heart for student-athlete outreach and discerned the Lord’s call to become a FOCUS missionary!
When I answered the call to join FOCUS, I made the decision to rely on the prayerful and financial support of mission partners to help me through this mission. We are all members of the body of Christ and each member participates or gives differently. Your support allows me to bring other lost souls to Christ as someone else did for each of us! Jesus tells us in John 6:38 to “give, and it will be given to you” and I firmly trust that through our partnership, Jesus will bring many more souls to Himself. If you are interested in going on mission together, please let me know of the best way to reach you and we can set up a time to talk. I would love to pray for you and share this mission with you! Please never hesitate to reach out and contact me: [email protected], 832-515-1757
We encounter God in an intimate relationship through daily prayer, the sacraments and the Scriptures.
By building genuine friendships, we meet students on a deeper level.
We teach students how to share the gospel, who in turn teach other students how to pass it on.