Benedictine College is located about an hour away from Kansas City in Atchison Kansas.

I spent the first ten years of my life in Wisconsin, where I went to Catholic school. I wasn’t exactly a ‘gifted’ child, but I sure made up for it in Religion class. For some reason – perhaps it was the Holy Spirit – it was much easier for me to appreciate Christ’s universal love and his conquering of sin than the tedious amount of busywork that plagues students of all ages. It made me stick out like a sore thumb, but it set the groundwork for a lifetime in service to holy mother church.

Years later, when I was a student at the University of Colorado, I decided to seriously double down on my faith. I already knew from years of altar serving that if God stood with me, then nothing could stand against me, so I got heavily involved at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center, which is by some distance the best Newman Center in the world.

I primarily led students in prayer to end abortion. Before long I began to take part in homeless outreach as well, with a wonderful organization called Christ in the City. Juggling all these responsibilities with school was taxing, but that’s all part of having life and having it more abundantly. It’s centered on living as a witness to Christ as he works in the lives of others. My work in these two very difficult areas of ministry wasn’t driven by numbers. There was nothing in a worldly sense I felt I could accomplish. The goal was to find the most vulnerable, remind them of Christ’s love and let the Holy Spirit do the rest. I may never know all the good that came from those years of ministry, but it’s not necessarily for me to know, it’s for God to work through.

Bringing Christ to where he’s denied most was my top priority, but as my time in college came to a close, a different form of ministry I had not considered presented itself. I didn’t know very much about FOCUS when I applied, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like I could continue the type of work I was doing in Colorado. In only a few weeks I was interviewed, hired and sent off to Doane University, where I spent the first year of my mission. It was a joy to walk with students in Nebraska on their journey towards the Eucharist, and I’ll remember it for the rest of my life. Now I’m placed at Benedictine College, and I can’t wait to share with you all the Holy Spirit has in store!

My work at Benedictine College can only be made possible by your generosity. I don’t mean that you’ll be supporting me in some roundabout way, as if I’m a PBS show. I mean that in a very real way your support is 100% making my mission possible.

Let me put it to you this way: any accomplishment the Holy Spirit places in my path on campus would not happen if I wasn’t there. I can only be there if people like you fund my mission. It isn’t that much of a stretch to say that your support is tangibly making a difference in the faith life of students. In a very palpable way, by supporting me you join me on mission, and I’d love for you to join me!