I have the privilege of serving at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina!! I’ve loved the Abbey since transferring there as a student in the spring of 2022. Through God’s grace, I’ve been given an opportunity to come back and serve as a part-time FOCUS missionary while I finish up my last year of college. Here’s our team!!

Left to right: Sam, myself, Becca, David, and Jacie! (missing from photo)

I grew up in the Catholic Church, but the extent of that was going to Mass every Sunday. Through that time, I started to put my faith in the world and myself, and I slowly started to believe God wasn’t real. That it was all up to me. I spent a lot of time alone, and didn’t really belive I was worth investing in. I was comfortable with this isolation, however I was deeply unhappy. After my freshman year of college, I was invited on a college retreat where I met FOCUS missionaries for the first time. They didn’t impress me with their words, say anything wise, or establish any credit in that encounter; they just wanted to know me and my story. That simple encounter really made me feel loved by them, and their desire to be my friend deeply impacted me. After the retreat ended I was ready to go back to my former life, but the missionaries I met called me and extended a simple invitation to hang out. It was such a pure and intentional invitation, and I felt like, for the first time, that I had people who cared about me. So much so that I wanted to go where they went. Through their friendship, guidnance, encouragment, and support I saw the Lord in their lives and I saw how He wanted to be in mine. I never knew what it was really like to let Jesus be my friend. I never knew that all He wanted was to be in relationship with me. These simple things transformed my heart and I fell in love with the Catholic Church and her sacraments. I found myself wanting to go deeper and deeper in my faith because I found that my real identity was within, not somewhere out there. After being in bible stuides and leading some on my own, and after walking with men through their own difficulties and desires, my heart for mission began to grow, and I couldn’t ignore the fact that I just wanted to help others encounter Jesus the same way others helped me encounter Him. To know Christ Jesus and fulfill The Great Commission.