As the saying goes, when one door closes, God opens another. So when things fell apart, I trusted that God would open another.

The plan had been to bring eight college and young adult leaders to Mission Training Camp in Lansing. Experts would train our young adults to lead Catholic evangelistic Bible studies at Saginaw Valley State University, Alma College and Holy Family Parish in Sandusky.

Everything was set... until the event was canceled only weeks before.

These young adults had devoted countless hours to build community and evangelize. It was our responsibility as a Diocese to invest in them and give them the skills to thrive.

The question soon became, “Why can’t we do this in Saginaw?”  

That was the beginning of our very own Mission Bootcamp.

The Holy Spirit opened many doors, as we quickly assembled a team of evangelization experts, including a FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) missionary from Central Michigan University. Best of all, thanks to your generous support through Christ’s Mission Appeal, we could cover the cost for each leader.

At Mission Bootcamp, leaders learned to fuel their spiritual lives through daily prayer.

“The first step of creating community on your campus is if you’re on fire, people are going to see and want that for themselves,” shared Helena Kucera, a senior political science student at Alma College.

Students also practiced leading a Bible study, articulating their faith story and sharing the Gospel message. Using these skills, Helena and fellow Alma student Ella Cusack launched a Catholic women’s Bible study on campus.

“Mission Bootcamp is a two-day masterclass of how you can run your campus ministry... in a quick and easy way,” Helena summarized. “Next year, we’ll go again.”

If you’re interested in supporting campus ministry or attending Mission Bootcamp next year, reach out to Taylor at tpiotrzkowski@diosag.org