When I first came to the States (from England) back in 1999 to work with the Hand of Help program, I served as a
Missionary in Northern California in a small town called Fortuna. It was a pleasant little town in Humboldt County, but there
was not much going on in the Church for the young people to get involved in. Paul Scott (another British Missionary)
and myself set about starting a new youth program. When we started we had nothing - no money, a classroom with 4 chairs,
but tons of support and encouragement from Brother Fred. When we left a year later, we had applied for a grant and received
$12,000 to build a new youth center and give the teens what they always had desired - a place to come, play music, share their
faith and meet others in the local area. It was a tough, but miraculous year. One in which I will never forget.
I
moved to San Francisco in 2001 to work at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Daly City. Hand of Help made it possible for me
to learn and grow in ministry. I worked as a youth minister, young adult minister, RCIA Director and musician.
it was a wonderful experience. I even took time to get my Masters in Theology at the Franciscan School of Theology in
Berkeley.
Once I graduated, I had the opportunity of moving to work with students in Campus Ministry at the University
of San Diego. i worked there for 3 years before continuing on in my ministerial journey to recently move to Hawaii this
last August. Here I will work as the Campus Minister at the University of Hawaii. There is a lot of work to be
done here and I am looking forward to the Challenge.
In my first year in Fortuna - we travelled (to get away from
the fog) to three places - San Francisco, San Diego and Hawaii. Who would have thought that first year would have been
so providential in mapping out my future as a minister (we did stop off in Las Vegas, but I am ignoring that for now)
There
is so much to be done with the young people in our Church today. I am excited for the challenge and grateful for this
program in allowing me to live the life I feel called to live.
