Anchors Aweigh!

Bible studies have begun!  Wednesday at 1900 (7 pm) about 12 midshipmen came to delve into the Sacred Scriptures.  This was a special moment for me.  After four years of waiting, I was finally able to give to these midshipmen the very thing that rocked the very foundations of my life.

But even moments like these are never void of setbacks!  I sat waiting at Gate 1 of the Naval Academy for an essential part of any good Bible study: Papa John's pizza.  The delivery time came and the delivery time went... still no pizza!  Defeated, I walked back to inform the hungry "mids" that spiritual food, the Word of God, would have to suffice for the night.  Fortunately,  they received the news with a laugh and we all sat down to pray.

I was excited, a little nervous, and eager to begin.  I opened up the night with a brief explanation of Salvation history and how the drama of human existence unfolds within its narrative.  We examined creation as the context of God's filial intimacy with man; how man's ultimate end is to know and love the Lord; Original Sin and man's fall from Grace; finally, we heard God's merciful promise of redemption.

The guys really clung to the notion that we're called to respond to God's love by "tilling" or working within creation.  We aren't too busy to be holy because our busyness is the very means by which we can become holy.  We don't need to leave the world, to leave the workplace, to be a saint because sanctity is found in the midst of the most ordinary things, if only we offer them to God!

Even though we didn't have Papa John's, I was pleased with how the night went.  There is definitely room for improvement but I'm excited to get better each week.  Thank you for making this all possible.  I gratefully pray for all of you daily. It's things like this that bring hope to the world!

P.S. I have a different Scripture study that begins this Monday!  Keep it in your prayers, please.

An Update: On "Discipleship"

"Discipleship" is the mentoring we do as FOCUS missionaries.  We call it discipleship because it uses the same evangelical logic as our Savior.  We stand alongside the many midshipmen who have engaged their faith on a deeper level and help them find other students to help in their faith journey.

Ted Murner, Brendan Belschner, and Tim Cadigan have been working with the FOCUS missionaries for at least the past year and have taken on a leadership role in the Catholic community.  They are the men I am fortunate enough to be working beside.  The formation they have received at the Naval Academy has shaped them into some of the most impressive young men I have ever encountered and it is one of the greatest joys in my life to help them find and share Christ in the midst of their daily work.

It is difficult though because I firmly believe that discipleship must be formed upon friendship and mutual trust/respect.  So one of the challenges of discipleship is finding ways to get involved in their lives so I can know them on a more personal level.  It's a challenge that I gladly embrace because I can already tell God has great things in-store for the brotherhood I find with these guys.  I have a lot to learn from them and hopefully, I can help them along the way too.

As a FOCUS missionary, I'll also be helping these guys lead Bible studies for their peers.  Bible studies start next week, so it is both an exciting and hectic time at the Academy.  Please Keep Ted, Brendan, and Tim in your prayers.  These are our Church's future leaders!  Thank you for enabling me to enter into the lives of these men in such a radical way.  God bless all of you on my support team!  Our work is underway!

Beyond doing discipleship with these men, I'll be leading a couple Bible studies for a bunch of the other midshipmen.  But I'll tell you more about that NEXT WEEK.

Leaky Lucy

The whole building was shaking and we all evacuated the restaurant.  Nobody expected an earthquake in Annapolis!  It happened Tuesday afternoon and, when the day had finally finished, I went back to the apartment to work on my car, Lucy.  Lucy had a mystery leak and I was determined to solve it!

Kyle and I figured it was coming from the windshield... nothing duct tape couldn't fix!  We proceeded to put the tape "discreetly" around Lucy's windshield and sunroof.  Kind of tacky, I know, but it did the trick!  Or did it?

Four days later, Lucy's leak was in for the ultimate test: Hurricane Irene.  I decided Lucy was in for a losing battle so I tried to help her chances by getting a car cover from Target.  The neighbor jokingly asked if I was trying to protect the paint job on my faded '94 Jetta.  Unfortunately, I didn't check whether the generic car cover fit Lucy's girlish figure until the wind and rain was full force.  It didn't fit well at all.

The next day I opened the door and experienced the overwhelming smell of mold.  It was mold from Lucy's leak.  I pulled the carpet back and tried to dry the carpet and rubber padding out for hours.  It felt dry but the smell was worse than ever!  Finally, two days ago, I was drying the car out with the girls' hairdryers and discovered a layer of insulation under the rubber padding and it was infested with mold!

Nasty Mold and Insulation

Last night, I pulled back the top two layers, ripped out the moldy insulation, sprayed the whole area down with bleach, and dried it all with a heat gun!  Lucy now wears a new scent: bleach.  It was disgusting but I'm glad it's finally over.  Kyle and I discovered the leak was coming from the passenger side door and I'm going to get it rehung next week.

In the end, I wouldn't have traded this experience for the world.  Lucy is well worth the work! 

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!