Jessica is a former UL-Lafayette student from Covington, LA. At UL, she was involved with the Ragin' Cajun Catholics at Our Lady of Wisdom Catholic Church and Student Center. Going on a mission with College Missions Company was just one of the many ways that Jessica was growing in her discipleship as a Catholic while she was a college student. Jessica is now a missionary with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) at Wichita State University. Here is her testimony about her experience on mission, and what it means to be a missionary:
"I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to New Mexico with College Missions Company in 2017. What I learned the most was the many people crave relationships, and they have a desire to be known, loved, and cared for. What mission showed me most was how to meet this need by being present to the people I was with. This was making God’s love known to them. It required stepping out of my comfort zone in many ways, but it was only by making myself uncomfortable that I was able to grow and show that love to others.
Mission is as simple as eating lunch with the elderly and being there to laugh and smile with them as they tell stories about their lives. Mission is as simple as laying down flooring in someone’s home, because they can’t do it alone. Now, as a FOCUS missionary, I work with college students every day, simply being a presence to them in their daily college lives, where I can help them know God’s love through similar ways.
Let us all strive to bring God’s love to the world through our relationship with each other at home, a foreign country, the workplace, school, or anywhere God is asking you to be."