My Dear Mission Partners, Prayer Warriors, and Readers alike...
One year...
75 hours of weekly team meetings...
Close to 150 hours of "barehanded" on-campus face-to-face evangelization...
Nearly 250 Masses...
Over 100 hours spent answering questions with the MSU atheist-club...
Several retreats...
Dozens upon dozens of Bible studies...
A few sleepless nights...
Well over 64 hours of student-leader mentorship...
And if my math is right, nearly 900 cups of coffee later...
All multiplied by 4 missionaries...
And my first year as a Catholic missionary has drawn to a close!
Phew! Still alive and kickin' :)
But of all those fun statistics, the most important has to be the 13 new "student missionaries" who have taken up the call of the Great Commission (Matthew 28), and Christ's heartfelt desire to see the His Gospel spread through true friendships with all sincerity and charity. Outreaching to friends in their dorms, classes, sport teams, clubs, and relationships, these students are changing Montclair's campus one day at a time. And, in the words of Dean Rosemary Howell, Dean of Students, "the community of Catholic leaders that these FOCUS missionaries have fostered here at MSU have shown all of us here at the university what it means to be Catholic - deeply in LOVE with Jesus Christ and willing to spread His Love with open arms!"
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| Students at our end of the year BBQ! ( And yup, that's a GIANT volleyball) |
As these students (John K, Mike , Matt, Dave, John O, Dan, Stephanie, Katie, Christine, Ana, Dorothy, Lauren, and Aimee) embark on their summers and prepare to return to campus this Fall, please join me in praying for them and their resolve to be attentive to what God wants to do IN them rather than THROUGH them now and in the days to come.
Without your consistent financial support and constant prayers, none of this would have been possible. Please know that it's truly been my greatest honor and joy to be a missionary on your behalf this past year!
However, as we enter into another year, some things are changing on our team, and I just wanted to take a moment and fill you all in on some of the more important changes taking place in the apostolate for the coming year regarding myself and each of my teammates.
First and foremost, my teammate Patrick Caskey and his wife, Melissa, just had their first-born! Say hello and welcome to the newest member of the Caskey-Clan, Thomas Patrick Caskey, or Tommy Caskey!
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| Pat 'n Tommy |
Secondly, and after three years of serving as a Catholic missionary with FOCUS, our team director, Christine, will be leaving staff and moving back to Cincinnati to work for the one-and-only Matthew Kelly, author of best-selling books such as Building Better Families, Rediscover Catholicism, and Confessions of a Mega-Church Pastor.
And lastly, but surely not the least, both Elisabetta and myself are being stationed at new campuses this Fall! Having seen the community here at Montclair grow in leaps and bounds, and in much prayer and discernment the regional FOCUS office came to the conclusion that we'd be best able to serve elsewhere in the coming year, and brand new missionaries will come to continue the mission at MSU in our stead this Fall! Praise God, and pray for us as we move on to new mission fields!
Be on the lookout for another newsletter in the next month as I receive further info on where I'll be stationed next year! :)
