Welcome to "The Yard"

After a 30 hour drive in my "new" '94 Volkswagen, I arrived in Annapolis this week.  It has been a hectic transition and there is much to be done.  Between FOCUS, Maryland, the Naval Academy and living in an apartment, there are a lot of foreign things in my life right now.  Luckily, all of them are exciting because it makes getting acclimated a whole lot easier.

The Apartment

THE APARTMENT:

Getting settled in has been quite the task.  Having my mom around for the first couple of days really helped the process though!  We had a bit of a mold issue in the basement that needed to be resolved and we re-caulked both the showers.  Not to mention, a midshipmen and his buddies had been living in the apartment over the summer and did a good job of trashing the place.  I felt bad for Kyle, my team leader, because he got blasted with most of the work before I arrived.  The place is definitely "broken in" but it's the perfect apartment for a couple of guy missionaries.

ANNAPOLIS:

Annapolis, MD

It's beauty is in the past... but it's past is alive TODAY!  The downtown area is all brick roads with colonial houses and buildings.  It runs right up to where the Severn River meets the Chesapeake Bay and the city dock is filled with impressive yachts.  The dock is called "Ego Alley" because people bring their yachts there just so others can admire them.  The Academy is right at the heart of it all!

"The Yard":

The Chapel

Is also known as the U.S. Naval Academy.  Words cannot express the gratitude I feel towards God and to all of you who have brought me here.  The Academy itself is incredible.  I'll just post some pictures because it's hard to describe... hopefully they do it justice!  The people?  Well, they are even more impressive.  The midshipmen that I've met have great character and a deep love of their faith.  The past FOCUS missionaries have done an incredible job at the Academy because the midshipmen seem sold on the program.  I'm just excited to further cultivate these great young men and women and to reach out to those students who haven't received this amazing opportunity yet.  Just seeing the fruits of FOCUS' past work has reaffirmed why I have surrendered the next two years of my life to this program.

FOCUS:

Most of the students have not arrived on campus yet; so I've been working to familiarize myself with the campus, meet the chaplains, and click with my team.  The chaplains are very supportive of the work we're doing and they remind us of that each week when they take us out to eat!  The last two days have been filled with team meetings to sketch an overview of our goals and expectations for the year.

Missionaries with Alexander Charles (A Student Leader)

MISSION PARTNERS:

To those who are making this possible, thank you.  I feel so blessed to meet these men and women, who have sacrificed so much for our country, and to see their love of God.  FOCUS is an amazing organization made possible by amazing people.

Trust in God.. A Car! Two cars? Crazy!

God always provides for his faithful!  I'm sure we've all encountered times in life where we receive more than we ever could have dreamed.  I've felt that way every single day during this month of fundraising!

We are all hyper-sensitive to our needs and sometimes we worry that God isn't so aware.  We become filled with fear at the sacrifices God might call us to make, as though He's uninterested in our heart's desires.  At least I fear that!  So He reminds me, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear... Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides." (Mt 6:25, 32-33)

Although I'd sometimes look at fundraising as a daunting task and envision myself as an Isrealite in the desert:  God has sent me out here to die of famine!  Whenever I reached this point, I'd go to the chapel and pray for help.

Just this week, I had been asking God for a car to use out in Annapolis.  It seemed like a long shot but nothing is too big for our God!  Within the week, I received an email from my regional director saying that an old missionary wanted to donate a car.  It was the answer to my prayers!  Just when my hope was on the rise, I found out another missionary received the car... Dang it!  But, I just knew that God had not forgotten me.  Then, a couple days later, one of my monthly donors offered me his old car!  I couldn't believe it.  The very next day, I met with a family that offered me another car, in case the first one didn't work out!  I was in awe.

Obviously, I'm not going to take both cars but God has given me some peace-of-mind in knowing that I'll have a car for next year.  He loves us, He really does.  Jesus paitently waits for us to trust in him, to come to him with our needs, and then he always provides.  Just like He promised.

Jesus appeared to Saint Faustina in a vision and told her the one thing that hurts him more than any other.  Do you know what that is?  Our refusal to trust in Him.

Jesus, I trust in you.  Jesus, I trust in you.  Jesus, I trust in you.

P.S.
I didn't get a Ferrari

Fundraising: An Inside Look

Many people have asked about my overall experience of fundraising.  So I wanted to answer that question with an inside look into raising funds.  You may be surprised by my response!

Simply put, I did not want to fundraise!  I avoided FOCUS like the plague for years because of it.  I saw it as an imprudent risk and a disservice to others.  In my mind, fundraising was intruding on people’s lives, twisting their arms, and guilt tripping them until they begrudgingly donated.  Not to mention, losing my friends, reputation, and self-respect in the process. 

What I feared...

Over the past two weeks, I have not experienced any of those things, not even once.  In fact, I’ve witnessed the complete opposite from what I expected.  Want to know why?  It’s really quite simple…people are good!  My fears were built around a society made up of Ebenezer Scrooges.  When, in reality, people have loving hearts and want to see others happy too.  Normally, the people I’m most scared to meet with (who will remain unnamed!) have become my biggest donors!  People see that FOCUS is radically transforming our culture in a dynamic way, it’s exactly what they’ve hoped for in the world, and they are excited to be a part of it!

Some people do not donate. And they don’t for two reasons: (1) Either I did a poor job of explaining God’s work of FOCUS (2) or they are at a really tough spot financially.  But never because they don’t want to be a part of something both life changing and world changing… who wouldn’t want that?  Besides, if someone were to utterly reject this mission, it isn’t me that they reject but rather God’s work at the Naval Academy.  It’s God’s work, not mine.  I’m just an instrument in his handiwork!

...What I've found.

In the end, fundraising is an incredible blessing.  Every single day, I see several people respond with abounding generosity to God’s invitation! I get to see Christ alive in them. It’s beautiful being at the heart of this journey with so many other incredible people and I can’t wait to see who else will join us!

Thank you to those who are supporting this work.  So many lives will be changed through your sacrifice and I can’t wait to see how God blesses our own lives along the way.  And, for those of you that have just learned about FOCUS, join us!  I’d love for everyone to have this in their life!

Mile High Ministry

During my flight from Champaign to Cincinnati, I sat next to the president of a Methodist college.  Being worn out from 5-weeks of training, meeting a stranger wasn't very appealing but I REMEMBERED MY MISSION PARTNERS!  Every day, you inspire me beyond my natural inclinations...

I introduced myself and we exchanged information for awhile.  I learned about her work and she learned that I was a Catholic missionary at the Naval Academy.  It was an incredible opportunity to learn about each others faith!

We talked for a long time and I learned a lot about the Methodist faith that I had not know before and she was really surprised about Catholicism.  It was such a blessing being able to address some of her misconceptions about the Church but, most of all, we both left that flight with a deeper love of Jesus Christ.  Hopefully that love, with the Holy Spirit's aid, will lead her into eternal life!  What if we met again in Heaven?

She mentioned how thankful she was for me saying, "hello" and how she felt reinvigorated to lead her college faithfully!  Not to mention, she is going to use our conversation as the school's vision this year!  It's crazy that such an incredible conversation only happened because of your support.  God bless your generous sacrifice to the work of FOCUS!

ONE CRAZY NIGHT!

I had been working all evening on fundraising when my team leader, Kyle, encouraged me to take a break and have a beer.  We went to MURPHY'S PUB with several other missionaries.  Kyle immediately went over to a table of random guys and struck up a conversation while I talked with Brian, another missionary, across the room.  The whole table of guys was laughing and having a great time. 20 minutes later, the whole table stood up to leave. Intrigued, Brian and I walked over and introduced ourselves to the guys Kyle had met.


As Kyle closed the tab, the students told me that they were all going to JOE'S.  Joe's Brewery is insane... in the worst kind of way.  It's the bar where everyone goes to hookup.  One of the guys jokingly summed it up by saying, "At Joe's you pay $5 to get an STD!"

Standing in the long line outside the bar, the guys told me the topic of conversation:  True love.  The guys originally thought people should just do whatever they want.  But now, they were beginning to see that true love requires us to sacrifice what we want for the beloved's needs.  To seal the deal, we told them we'd demonstrate on the dance floor...

JOE'S BREWERY

In the midst of the "bumping-and-grinding", we asked girls to dance with us in a different kind of way.  They were hesitant at first but loved it by the end!  We treated them with brotherly love and they were astonished!  Kyle danced with the same girl for over 45 minutes and her face was glowing with joy.

One of the guys we had been talking to was in awe.  He said, "You guys are seriously messin' with my mind... I stopped believing in that kind of thing a long time ago."  I invited him outside and we started to talk.  He opened up his heart to me about the hurt he experienced in past relationships and I explained how God desires for him to have healing and freedom.  He was genuinely awestruck about Catholicism!  I gave him my number so we could talk later.

My heart breaks for all of those people in despair at Joe's Brewery.  They've given up on true love and now settle for living for pleasure, like animals.  They deserve so much more and it was an incredible blessing to show them that true love and happiness is real and attainable through Christ.  Friday night was one of the best nights of my life.  THANKS FOR MAKING ALL OF THIS POSSIBLE!

Love Against Evil

Last night, all of FOCUS' men missionaries went and prayed outside of an "Adult Boutique" store.  We met in the chapel to pray and then walked to the store.  In the midst of the hustle-and-bustle of a busy college town, a hundred guys walking in silence was probably quite the sight to see!

We cornered the store and prayed a rosary.  It was simple, yet profound and I know we made an impact.  We may never see the fruit that comes from our prayer but we must have boundless confidence in God's concern for his children.  He has shown us the extent of His love through Christ Crucified and I cannot believe such love could ever remain ineffective!

As we walked, the Holy Spirit filled me with a new understanding of Christ's presence in my life:  God is truly in me.  I have been grafted into the life of Christ through Baptism.  His life courses through my entire being and therefore, I carry power from On High! "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Gal 2:20)

We were warring with evil but I was filled with confidence in Christ's presence.  I felt like Saint Paul!  "For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us form the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 8:38-39)

This same confidence was transposed onto those whom we were praying for and I know that Jesus worked in their lives last night.  Praise be to God!

Why A Blog?

God bless OUR work with FOCUS!  We stand at the threshold of an incredible journey which, by God's grace, will reach the ends of the earth and penetrate the hearts of many, including our own.  We have committed ourselves to a divine task, a work of God, for the salvation of human lives.

With God's help, this blog can be a source of life for all of us.  Through it I hope you can enter more fully into the missionary activities you've so generously made possible.  Nothing has ever fit my heart's desires more radically and I want YOU with me, every step of the way.