God has called us to serve college students at Minnesota State University Mankato! You’ll typically find us hanging out on campus, the Newman center, grabbing a bite to eat with someone, or hosting at our home. We have a pretty cool stories about how Jesus has changed our lives — We think you should hear it sometime! Come find us and we would love to share it with you. 🙂

Jared grew up in Hartington a small town in northeast Nebraska and went to college at Wayne State College. While studying public accounting at WSC, Jared took on his faith as his own during his sophomore year of college. It was while walking with a FOCUS missionary he cultivated divine intimacy with Jesus and authentic friendship with others. Those key elements allowed Jared to grow the most in his Catholic faith and developed a changed perspective on life around him. He started leading others that year and the rest of college while trying to stay as close to Christ and his new friends as possible. Through this he was able to attend 3 of the FOCUS conferences and 2 mission trips while he was a student. These experiences drastically impacted his love for the Gospel and sharing that with others. This, along with other movements of his heart, led Jared to saying yes to serve with FOCUS. Now in his 6th year a full-time missionary, he is so grateful for everyone he has been on mission with and had the opportunity to encounter. Leading others and helping them be disciples of Christ propels Jared to live as a missionary disciple in this full-time capacity with FOCUS.

Emily grew up in the Saint Paul, Minnesota area. She attended Saint Agnes High school and grew to make her faith her own. She attended Minnesota State University, Mankato where she encountered FOCUS missionaries, Michael and Ashley Mortenson. Through their witness to marriage and mission Emily encountered Jesus in a new way. Their love and sacrifice for each other and those around them healed parts of me I didn’t know were broken.

Jared and Emily met in 2021 at Wayne State College graduation. Emily spent her first year as a missionary their and Jared came back for graduation. We met and got to know each other more at staff training that summer. We started dating and 6 months later Jared asked Emily to marry him. We married May of 2022 and Mary Grace joined the family March 10th, 2023!

As missionaries, our greatest desire is to lead all students to Christ. Our lives have been transformed by Jesus and we want nothing more than to bring this joy to others and introduce them to the life-changing message of the Gospel. In His ministry on earth, Jesus humbled Himself to meet us on our level, taking on our humanity, and spent most of His time investing deeply in a few. We look to Jesus’ own example to find the best method of reaching the world. We’ve been constantly amazed by the different souls we’ve encountered on campus.

“The harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few.”

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.