My name is Grant Ginther. God has called me to serve college students at the University of Oregon! Thomas More Catholic Center, hooping with students at the rec, leading bible study, or encountering individuals around campus. Hailing from Hays America, I grew up in a caring and supportive family. I underwent Catholic education from kindergarten through my senior year of high school, graduating from the great Thomas More Prep-Marian High School. I had been rightly raised to work hard and pursue success in all that I did, but at a certain point this pursuit had lead to my finding identity in academics and athletics.
Because I was no longer partaking in athletics after high school, a void in my identity needed to be filled. I quickly found myself chasing temporary pleasures along with obsession over grades. Thinking, like many other college students do, that these grasps at identity would lead to lasting happiness and abundance of life, another way to experience being known and loved did not exist in my mind. It took a determined FOCUS missionary and investment from an older member of the fraternity to show me otherwise.
A simple invitation to bible study and other programs from these two men coupled with conversations after mass and St. Slowly ingraining myself into the St. After having believed the purpose of living was to be materially successful, God reached out to me with an alternative proposition.
He told me I was created to love. This helped me to understand that what each and every soul desires is to be known and loved, and the ultimate gift we can be to each other is a vessel of love.
That is how Jesus found me, through the love of others, and that is how I intend to help him find more souls, through loving those He has placed in front of me. As a missionary, I long to help lost college students know where they can be found, especially for my fellow brothers in fraternities, who already possess natural skills of leadership, brotherhood, and excellence.
