“These one-on-ones helped me to recognize Jesus’ love for me for the first time and taught me that someone cared enough to share this with me and teach me.”
2018 gave us many stories at which to marvel, stories of Jesus’ indescribable love for us, stories of lives changed, hearts healed, hope renewed. Kristen, a theater major at a Midwestern university, felt her world break open when her roommate introduced her to Jesus this past year.
Raised in a non-Catholic home, she’d felt all “those” questions weighing on her heart: the whys, what does it all mean, why are we here, what’s the point? Her longing for a deeper connection to life and meaning nagged at her until her roommate proposed Tea Time with Jesus, weekly one-on-one meetings to talk life, purpose, and . . . Jesus.
Where did her roommate get the idea to reach out? Well, from Jesus working in her heart, but also from her training with the EC. Kristen’s roommate has received formation with the EC and felt ready to walk into mission and reach out to those looking for answers beyond the quick fixes and soundbites offered in a world of tweet-sized philosophy and apps for “everything.”
“These one-on-ones helped me to recognize Jesus’ love for me for the first time and taught me that someone cared enough to share this with me and teach me.” Kristen grins when she describes her meetings with her roommate and the feeling of care those meetings gave her.
Now, Kristen is on her way to a deeper life of discipleship—and life in the Catholic Church. She has moved to convert and even looks forward to journeying with the EC for her own discipleship formation. She wants to bring the love of Jesus to her friends in the theater program:
“I learned that there is a real relationship with Jesus and with others. I must practice the art of listening to know where they are at and how I can bring Jesus to them.”
