An October Letter from American University
October 2019 Chronicles
Savannah and Casey, slaves of Jesus Christ, called to be apostles of His love, daughters of our providential Father, sheep among wolves, abandoned to His mission by the grace of God and the power of Christ’s Cross and Resurrection; to all God’s beloved in Corvallis, OR: Peace to you and greetings from Washington DC!
We hope all is well at the Newman Center, in your households, within the community, your families, in your studies, and most especially in your spiritual lives! We’re writing to share some stories from our time missioning out here on the east coast (don’t worry, the west coast is still the best coast)!
We’ve been here a little over 2 months. There’ve been quite a few amazing developments out here at American University. As of this year, we launched the first ever Venture Retreat (full of surprises, of course). Of the 10 freshmen who came, many are now serving on the Alpha team and one even on the leadership team! They already have such a desire to serve and grow in their faith! That desire doesn’t come from our human efforts during that retreat weekend; it’s a special grace given by God that He entrusts to us to help develop. Isn’t that amazing? God has chosen to work in and through us so that others can deepen their relationship with Him.
We can hardly believe that we’re already on our 6th week of Alpha! Our retreat is in 3 weeks (please pray for us!). Our students appreciate how intellectual and thoughtful the talks have been. It seems like Alpha is the only venue on campus they have to freely express their personal thoughts on faith and religion. The University here is quite different from OSU. Many professors and fellow classmates have much more secular views on religion and Christianity (especially Catholicism) and make their opinions known. Students are confronted, in a very real way, by their professors and peers about their religion and this creates an environment that’s somewhat hostile for them to share without persecution or judgement. Could you imagine your statistics professor sharing their opinions about the Church and belittling Christians? Or someone from your floor saying they feel disrespected and personally offended that you’re a Christian? Or hanging out with a group of friends who are gossiping about some girl because she goes to Church on Sunday as you're considering going on the Venture Retreat? That’s what these students face.
And that’s why it is so good that we are here. At Savannah’s Alpha table, there’s a young woman who is currently converting from Islam to Catholicism. She shared that the more she learned about her Muslim faith, the more distant she felt from God and realized God was gently guiding her toward Catholicism. Now, she feels closer to Him again and has confidence that Catholicism is true. Another student at her table is an international student from China who was raised Buddist. He is very open to learning about Christianity, has been sharing deeply, asking questions about Christ, and has already committed to attending the retreat. At Casey’s Alpha table, there are two guys who are friends from high school. One goes to AU and the other attends Georgetown. Although they both grew up Catholic, they had never asked themselves these big questions about Jesus and Faith. It’s been amazing to watch them open up, let God in, and to see their willingness to take steps of faith. These are just a couple stories from the 30 participants we have coming to Alpha. The Alpha team fasts every Wednesday for this course and we’re convinced that God hears and blesses us far more than we deserve.
This year we also have (for the first time ever) 2 households: The House of Merciful Love and Casa Maria Magdalena. These households are such bright beacons of light here at AU and give much hope to our small but growing community that it is possible, yes, even as a University student in DC, to live as intentional disciples.
As for us, we wake up every day asking for the grace to abandon ourselves to this mission. As Fr. Maximo says, “we must give it all to win it all!” We like to imagine potential Newman Center locations on our walk to campus every morning, we’re making friends and rosaries, and we follow Fr. Maximo’s advice in regards to holiness and night prayer. We miss you all dearly. There will always be a special place in our hearts for the Newman Center at OSU. Please pray for us as we pray for you.
With Love,
Savannah and Casey
Casey and Savannah are alumni of Oregon State University and former volunteer missionaries at the OSU Newman Center. This year they are missionaries at the Catholic campus ministry at American University in Washington, D.C. with the Saint John Society.
If you have any writings, spiritual notions, or things of interest that you would like to be considered for our blog, please contact us at website@osunewman.org.