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A Letter from the President & CEO of Commissioned by Christ Like so many good things on this earth, Commissioned by Christ started out as a seed. A seed of faith planted in my heart, nurtured by love, time, and events in my life that lead me to meet the right people, in the right places, at the right times. Ryan Woodard, Joe Coyne, and I founded Commissioned by Christ on the principles laid out by the Church about mission work. CBC’s focus in everything we do is to be in communion with the greater Church and to aid the Church in her mission work. Traditionally mission work is thought to be the work of priests and religious in far-away lands dedicating years of their lives to love and service to the poor. Thank God for those devoted Catholics who are able and willing to sacrifice their lives to further God's good work and His word. But what about the rest of us? Those Catholics who feel a deeper calling to do God's will than just going to Mass on Sunday, maybe feel called to mission work, or just want to do something constructive with our vacation time and money. God has entrusted responsibilities to working adults and families that sometimes can't be laid down for long periods of time. But many people get at least two weeks of vacation time per year – why not spend one of those giving back to God and deepening our faith? My vision for CBC is to inspire greater love for Christ and love for mission work in the greater Church – a Church that is as beautiful and diverse as each and every person who enters her doors. Each mission team should be a mirror image of that greater Church and every mission trip a magnifying glass held up to our everyday lives – the mission that we live out every day. God has blessed CBC abundantly in allowing us to complete our first of, God willing, many mission trips to come. He brought together 18 strangers and made them a family. He sent down His Holy Spirit upon the mission team and created friendships that will last a lifetime and memories that will endure for many years to come. The love experienced within this small community of missionaries is what I pray for the Church as a whole. What if you came to Mass every Sunday and felt completely loved and accepted? What if you couldn't wait to come to Mass every week because you felt Christ's love so strongly in your community of faith that you never wanted to leave? What if you felt so on fire for God and burned with His love so as to want to tell the entire world the Good News. That is the work of the Holy Spirit – and that is what I pray for. May we all pray that Christ continues to lead our work, the Holy Spirit continues to inspire our missionaries and the receiving communities that we visit, and that God would open the doors that need to be opened and give us the courage to enter those doors in faith.
May God bless you, Jessica S. Aldrich
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