Connecting College Students for Christ

Every testimony starts off with this amazing life changing story. Some with sports injuries, others with a significant medical condition. While I could also start from either of those focal points, mine starts off with good old fashion hard work.  I was about 13 and shoveling snow, for an elderly lady, that my dad had just recently introduced me too.  After shoveling for a couple of hours, I heard this voice say “Stoen would you like some water?” I perk my head up and took some water. 

After that job, our relationship would be different. Years go by of my doing work for her. I saw a different side to her than most, they only saw her on the surface.  Some would describe her as an elderly lady in a wheelchair that was lonely and lived by herself. I saw her as this very bright, intelligent individual that wasn’t afraid of speaking the truth, devoting her time, talents and treasures to the Father. Also, the type of person that wouldn’t selfishly hold on to them, but sharing them with others every day. However, you wouldn’t gather any of those traits from looking only on the surface level. Going forward, after completing many a job for her we would spend time discussing life. Having discussions on how faith is working in our lives.  It should be noted that these discussions weren’t about how He has worked in the past, but how He is working in our lives today. 

I would make it a priority to have discussions with her, sometimes, as she aged, it was tricky. I didn’t have these discussion because I knew she didn’t have many people to talk too, or to feel good about myself for self-gain or social status. Most of the time I wouldn’t even want to be paid for doing jobs for her because I thought having those memorable discussions were payment enough.  She passed away before I graduated high school. Now this special individual won’t be named because I think that is the way that she would have wanted it. This individual was wheelchair bound, but she didn’t let that stop her, she was a teacher for 30+ years. 

Little did I know, that every day she would pack a lunch instead of going out to eat.  She took the money that she would have spent on lunch for 30 years into a college scholarship fund for a deserving student, a student she believed would live up to strong, Christian values and a strong sense of community. During my gift opening at graduation, I opened this scholarship awarded for $10,000. If she wouldn’t have passed away a few months before, I wouldn’t have gotten to know who had helped me with college.   That’s the way she had set it up! Knowing how she had helped me out was crazy to me.  Someone that I would just do work for and have great conversations, thinking nothing of it.

Now fast-forward a couple of years. I was sitting in the chapel at the University of South Dakota and I heard Father say we need help keeping our lights on so the doors don’t close for the Newman Center. I began praying and that’s where I had the idea for CatholicHelp.  I applied a lot of dedication, hard work, resources and time but it is all worth it because I had a great teacher. Helping us, help others is what we do here at CatholicHelp.