My first year on staff I served at Virginia Tech in beautiful Blacksburg, Virginia. After that, God called me to The University of Alabama where I had the privilege to serve for 6 years. As I enter into my 8th year with FOCUS, I am now serving the alumni team as Community of Mission Project Manager.

Encountering FOCUS missionaries as I was a student at Auburn University and being able to serve as a campus missionary myself completely changed my life! And while I’m no longer on campus every day, I’m still working to fulfill the same mission: forming missionary disciples who go out and transform the world.

Here’s what I’ve seen time and time again: we spend years forming strong missionary disciples on campus and then right after graduation, many of them hit a wall. They’re navigating some of life’s biggest transitions all at once, moving to a new city, starting a new job, and leaving behind their faith community. Often, there’s no clear place for them to land where they can stay rooted in mission. It’s not because they’ve lost interest; they just lack the support they truly need to keep moving forward. Without a community to walk with them through the different ways mission looks in each stage of life, the fire we helped ignite in college can begin to fade.

That’s why we’re building Communities of Mission- we want to provide places where alumni can stay connected, keep growing, and live mission for the long haul. This is truly the next step to everything we start on campus. As an alumni team, we see this work as the final puzzle piece to the mission of FOCUS and it’s a need I’ve witnessed every single year in the students I’ve watched graduate, move away, and attempt to live mission in a new way.

So while I’m no longer walking with students on campus, I am walking with alumni- nurses, teachers, engineers, entrepreneurs, young parents (the list goes on!)- who are striving to live out their faith in the real world.

This is the fruit of campus ministry and it still needs tending.

As I reflect on my time on campus, I feel deeply dedicated to ensuring the students I’ve accompanied, both current and former, have the support they need to keep growing in their faith and sharing it with those around them.

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 served on campus. This next phase of the mission is just as critical as the campus years, and it’s only possible because of your support. Your generosity helps make sure the disciples we formed in college don’t lose momentum, but instead become leaders in the Church, in their parishes, in their workplaces, and in their families. You aren’t just supporting me. You’re helping build the Church beyond the college campus! Please keep our efforts and all the alumni we’re serving in your prayers.

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!