Abide in My Love

"As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Abide in my love."~ John 15:9

As our busy time of Fall Outreach is slowing down, I am reminded of how everything we do is completely dependent on God. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. We have exhausted our energies, efforts, and time these past few weeks on meeting new students, investing more deeply in current students, and interceding for the campus. It has been a fruitful couple of weeks that will now propel us into the regular flow of the semester. 

New BC missionaries with Benedictine's President Minnis at the Beanie Banquet, a beginning of the year tradition for freshmen, transfer students, and new staff

These past two weeks, we have been starting up our bible studies and mentorship on campus again. I am directly investing in seven women, meeting weekly with them for one-on-one mentorship. Out of those seven women are seven more whom they are investing in. This "chain" is a community of women who will walk with each other in sharing their faith with others. I am also leading two bible studies of senior women. Over the next week, upwards of 80 bible studies will begin on Benedictine's campus, with the majority of them being student-led. Please keep these in your prayers!

Saying "yes" to God's call

On another exciting note, Bridget, one of the students that I mentored while at Winona State University in 2011-2012, just entered the community of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist last month. Bridget will spend a year in formation with 20 other young women in Indiana as a postulant before taking her first vows and becoming a novice next August. Please pray for Bridget as she adjusts to this new way of life and continues to hear God's will! Below is her story:

Growing up in southern Minnesota in a Catholic family of 7, I was drawn to involvement in our parish's youth group early on. But it wasn't until I ventured off to Winona State University in the fall of 2011 that I began to really grow in my Catholic faith through experiences with FOCUS, the Newman Center, daily Mass and a daily holy hour. It wasn't long before my vocation was at the forefront of my mind and I felt a strong draw towards religious life! I looked into a few Orders but, on the spur of the moment, decided to visit the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist for their 2012 November Retreat. I knew upon spending this weekend with the Sisters that this Community to which Jesus was calling me becuase I was filled with such peace and JOY! I am immensely grateful to those who have helped me in this journey, especially my family and Fr. Jason Kern for his spiritual fatherhood and guidance!

Being the princess of God that she is! 

Bridget (left of center) with her postulant class 

Crossing a new bridge

Atchison bridge and railroad on the Missouri River

Hello from Atchison, Kansas!

Well, the time has come for another new year on mission. I can't believe that I've already been serving with FOCUS for over two years and am beginning another new school year on a different campus. Though it is tiring to move again and start over with new places, faces, and friendships for the third year in a row, I know that God has called me here for a specific reason (other than the obvious of getting married to Aaron).

We are entering into the thrust of Fall Outreach, the busiest time of the school year. Later this week, all of the Benedictine College (BC) students will converge on campus to kick off the new school year. FOCUS team Benedictine has been hard at work faithfully preparing for a fruitful year. Here is a quick look at what lies ahead for us in the next week:

• Thursday, August 22nd- Student missionary evangelization workshop and welcome BBQ
• Friday, August 23rd- building relationships with the women I'll be mentoring this year 
• Saturday, August 24th- Freshmen move in and FOCUS Dodgeball event
• Sunday, August 25th- Campus welcome events and meeting new students
• Monday, August 26th- "Monday Madness" outreach event 
• Tuesday, August 27th- Beanie banquet and FOCUS Luau (complete with suckled pig) 
• Wednesday, August 28th- Classes begin for BC students 

The goal at the end of these next couple weeks is that we will have met more people than we ever thought possible and built bridges with many students and staff on campus. Our regular schedule and weekly Bible studies will begin around the first week of September. 

Thank you for your prayers for team BC as we embark on this time of Fall Outreach and meeting souls for Jesus Christ!

UW-L Slideshow

Goodbye Eagles, Hello Ravens!

"Love that cannot suffer is not worthy of that name."~ St. Clare of Assisi

Hello from week three of FOCUS new staff training here in Ave Maria, Florida! The bugs are flying, the alligators are swimming, and the sun is blazing. So far, it's been a great time here of training, formation, and spiritual growth. But before I bring you down south, I need to catch you up on the end of my time up north!

We finished the school year in La Crosse in a truly blessed manner. Our students had a bittersweetness about them as they looked into the summer while saying "goodbye" to a year that went a little too quickly. Though I knew pretty much since Aaron and I got engaged about the unlikeliness of my returning to La Crosse for another school year, it still made it difficult to part from the roots I had planted there. I spent my last day on campus going up to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe (a true theme for my year there) with a group of my female students from this year. It was a beautiful "send off" as one of them put it... a great way to go as women back to the source and summit of our faith-- our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ and His bride, the Church.

Many of our students have entered their summers with a strong will, devoted prayer life, and spirit of evangelization eager to share their joy in Christ with their friends back home. Several of them are traveling the country, from Ireland to Africa and in between for studies and mission. Though I have said "goodbye" to the women and men at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, it should only bring me tears of joy and gratitude for a year well-lived. I am excited to see the fruits that God will bear in FOCUS' second year on campus.

My last day on campus in La Crosse

Now for some news...... For the upcoming 2013-2014 school year, I will officially be serving as a full-time missionary at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas! Aaron and I will be side-by-side, along with our 8 other teammates, reaching college students for Christ and empowering them to be the future leaders of the Church and the world.  I am excited for this new adventure, having gone from helping start up FOCUS on two campuses to now serving at the first-ever FOCUS campus. Benedictine is a thriving Catholic college who has truly reclaimed their identity over the past 15 years, thanks in part to FOCUS' presence there. I am ready to help reach the lost amongst the Catholic community there and help build up students to reach their peers on a wide variety of levels. Below is a picture of me with my new team on the beach here in south Florida! 

FOCUS @ Benedictine, 2013-2014

Now what? For the next two and a half weeks, I will be continuing my service at New Staff Training for FOCUS. Below is the latest all staff picture for FOCUS 2013-2014. I'm pretty easy to spot in the bright yellow skirt in the front row! :). I will be returning to Colorado for about two and a half weeks in July to hopefully meet up with many of you, spend time with my family, and finish up some wedding plans. Like the St. Clare of Assisi quote I listed at the top, these past six weeks have been full of many changes but have also been graced in so many ways, all in the name of love. 

Haiti Reflections

Our entire group in Warf Jeremie, Haiti on the second day 

I can't believe it's already been a month since I've gone to Haiti. As I mentioned in my previous post, there were many amazing fruits that were borne in my heart and the hearts of the students and fellow missionaries on the trip. Having some space from the trip has allowed me for more reflection time on the top "take-aways" from the experience:

• Poverty is a huge reality in our world and is at times the norm rather than the exception. This has helped me have a better perspective on the own poverty that the U.S. experiences, as well as just how "privileged" our lives truly are as middle class Americans with a college education. As a result, we must use the gifts and resources we've been given to give back to others in need and truly build up the body of Christ. 

• It doesn't take a lot in one's life to be happy. Material things and media are bigger causes of unhappiness than not having "things." It sometimes takes being stripped of these material goods to realize the true joy that you have within you. I saw that reality play out not only in our students but in myself during the week. 

• One of the most important things we can have in our lives is hope. I saw so many people who had lost their hope--or who never had it to begin with. However, Jesus can restore all hope and joy in one's heart and life. Amidst all the destruction and brokenness that Haiti is still experiencing, there is still the love and light of Christ reigning throughout that country-- and the world.

• God can move very fast in someone's life. The students who went on the trip with us all had very profound experiences and deeper conversions in their faith. It amazed me how many of them were transformed from the inside out from the beginning of the week to the end of the week. I was so blessed to be a witness to the ways God was moving in their lives, and to truly embrace a 24/7 missionary lifestyle, utilizing both the corporal and spiritual works of mercy in such an intentional way.

• One of the most amazing things about going on a mission trip is the impact it continues to have once you've come back. The stories keep coming from our students and missionaries on the trip about the amazing ways God has graced our lives with new zeal and strength for what He's calling us to do. We even have a student who has decided to get confirmed in the Catholic faith, after not believing in God for most of her life. Praise God!

Please enjoy a video slideshow below that one of our students put together from the week. Thank you again for helping make this experience possible. God bless! 

Hearts Changed in Haiti

Bonjou! [Good morning]!

Well, I have returned safely from the mission trip to Haiti. Though I have returned and am easing back into my life and mission ground here, I know that I am not quite the same. There is no way I could be after a remarkable week such as this.

Our group of 12 missionaries (4 FOCUS missionaries and 8 students) experienced and shared the love of Christ in such a unique way this past week with the beautiful people of Haiti. In the countless ways that we were different from one-another, we shared the common bond of being children of God-- with all the joy and suffering that comes with that.

There is so much that I could share about this week, so I think I might devote a couple blog posts to sharing both the experiences we had there and the fruits I have gained from it. For now though, the biggest question I keep getting is "what did you do all week?" Therefore, here is a (somewhat) brief recap of the week, with pictures at the bottom:

**Every week day we attended morning Mass at 5:30am in Creole, English Spanish, and French, respectively, which was the best way to start the day and was so beautiful to experience Mass in a different language and culture.

Sunday (3/17): Flew to Haiti, arrived at the compound (a beautiful several thousand acre property built by the Scalabrini Fathers, a religious order of priests from Italy. The property also contained two seminaries with 300 seminarians in residence, a religious order of sisters, the bishop's residence, a couple missionary organizations, a retreat center, and health care professionals for a medical and therapy clinic).

Monday (3/18): Traveled via tap-tap (a tin structure that hooks up to a pick-up truck and can hold at least 12 people in the back) to Warf Jeremie and Missio Bella orphanage and school. This is one of the poorest places in Haiti, with homes consisting of 20 square feet of tin or cardboard walls and desolation everywhere. We visited every classroom at the mission and played with the kids, who called us "blanc" (white). They were excited and filled with joy to have these strangers play with them, which was such a contrast from the desolation we saw in the people of the village on our way in. For the first full day, this was quite the impactful experience.

Tuesday (3/19): Stayed at the compound and helped out in the factories and grounds keeping, including a pasta factory and bread factory. I also had the opportunity to attend a zumba workout class put on by the therapy clinic for Haitian people looking to increase their mobility and health. This was probably one of the best experiences I had because for that hour we were all the same-- across languages, cultures, races, and class levels-- we came together for a common goal, and it was beautiful.

Wednesday (3/20): Visited the Missionaries of Charity's orphanage for the dying- this orphanage, established and run by Mother Teresa's religious order, finds abandoned and sick babies of Haiti and gives them the care they need until they pass away or return to health. This was definitely the most difficult day emotionally, seeing the fear and pain in these babies' eyes, and knowing that all we could do was give them that "look of love which they crave" if only for a couple hours.

Thursday (3/21): Visit Corail, a village established after the 2010 earthquake for families who lost their homes. The Scalabrini Fathers help run a school there and have also built a church which will be opened on April 14th. We walked around to some of the homes in the village (which were much sturdier than most we'd seen in Haiti but not much larger) and prayed with people in their homes, which was extremely powerful.

Friday (3/22): Helped out at the compound with a youth group retreat for the Haitian youth of Corail, and also went back to Corail for the Stations of the Cross, in which we walked around the entire village on a dusty road for about two hours with adults and children of Corail. This was beautiful because it felt like Jesus' walk to Calvary.

Saturday (3/23): Flew back to NYC after some sad goodbyes to the beautiful people of Haiti and missionaries at the compound.

Sunday (3/24): Debriefing in New York and Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral with Cardinal Dolan, followed by sad goodbyes to all the students and missionaries on the trip.

I will be making another post next week about the fruits of this trip, particularly in regards to the changed hearts of the students and missionaries on the trip. Thank you for your prayers and support-- it was such a gift to be there and I will truly not be quite the same. God bless!  "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." ~Matthew 25:40

Our entire group of 12 crammed into the tap-tap

Two of our students making friends in Warf Jeremie

Beautiful girls in Corail who walked with me for the two-hour Stations of the Cross

The Faithfulness of God

Happy March!

Wow, a lot has certainly happened on campus and in my life this past month. God is good and His plans are truly amazing. Even in this season of Lent, as we are all committing ourselves to deeper practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, God remains faithful to us in the desert. We are reminded in yesterday's second reading for Mass, that "no trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it." ~1 Corinthians 10:13 

I will be traveling to Haiti on March 16-24th for a FOCUS Spring Break mission trip with 11 other missionaries and students from around the U.S. Please keep us in your prayers! Thank you for your prayers and support of this mission. Please enjoy a brief picture recap of the past month's highlights below:

As most of you hopefully know from my February Newsletter, Aaron Lofy and I got engaged on February 1st at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse. Aaron and I have set the date for October 26, 2013 in Granby, CO. Thank you so much for your prayers for us during this exciting time!

February 8th: Winona-La Crosse dinner and dance

February 9th: Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe with my Sophomore Bible Study 

February 12th: Wisconsin Right to Life Legislative Conference- We traveled to Madison to learn how to talk to our local legislators about life issues. 

February 13th: Ash Wednesday "advertising" on campus