When Carmen and Andrew DeCelle first stepped onto campus at
George Mason University in Fairfax their freshman year, they
did not know their futures included college life long after
graduation.
The couple originally met before the first day of class in
the fall of 2008. Carmen was from Springfield, and Andrew was
from Falls Church. They knew each other through the Catholic
Campus Ministry and from singing in the church choir. Neither
felt more for the other than friendship at the time.
“The only reason I started liking Carmen was, in
(Eucharistic) Adoration one day, the thought of ‘why don’t
you like Carmen’ popped into my head,” said Andrew about his
change in feelings. “Had I not been attentive to what God was
trying to tell me, I wouldn’t have ended up with Carmen.”
They both agreed on one thing: On Nov. 1, 2011, Andrew
confessed his feelings to the woman he now calls his wife.
“Our faith brought us together,” said Andrew without
hesitating. “There is no way we would have ever gotten
together if we hadn’t been involved in ministry.”
Catholic Campus Ministry impacted their lives more than just
bringing the two together. It helped them discover what God
was calling them to do.
“I had been growing a lot the past years in my faith and
reaching out to people on a college campus,” said Carmen,
whose smile grew as big as her eight-month baby bump the more
she talked. “I could tell that I came alive a lot more when I
was doing college ministry work. It wasn’t even just me; it
wasn’t really about how awesome or skilled I was, but that
this was where I needed to be.”
Andrew said the first glimpse of his calling came while
building houses with Habitat for Humanity as an alternative
spring break trip. “I was very inspired by my campus minister
and my guide who was interning at Mason at the time,” he
said. “I just saw the joy that they had, and thought, ‘This
is a really cool thing that they get to do for their actual
job: to lead students on these trips and help them grow in
their faith.’ It attracted me to Youth Apostles, which
ultimately brought me into this desire to serve other people
and bring them to Christ.”
With the love of Christ in their hearts and the wisdom of the
Holy Spirit in their minds, Carmen and Andrew both answered
their call to be missionaries on a college campus.
Carmen became a Fellowship of Catholic University Students
missionary for the University of Kentucky after graduation to
fulfill her desire to serve others. Her decision allowed
Andrew the freedom to do the same. For a year and a half, the
two dated long distance as they pursued the same passion but
in different states.
Then, Carmen was able to witness one of her proudest moments
as a missionary. She attributes the Holy Spirit working
through her brought a young girl back into the church.
After being separated for more than a year, Carmen and Andrew
reunited at Virginia Tech’s Catholic Campus Ministry, the
Newman Community.
“We’re the relational aspect to the Newman Community,” said
Carmen about their job in Blacksburg. “Essentially, our job
is to be on campus and invite students to grow in their
relationship with Jesus as well as to inspire them and build
them up through Bible study, called small groups. Really, we
prep them for a Christ-centered life.”
Building their relationship around God has helped them become
stronger together. They see working together as a positive
way to grow in their love of God and their service of others.
“In terms of Carmen and Andrew’s ministry, they have decided
to be FOCUS missionaries together,” said Chris Hitzelberger,
director of the Newman Catholic Campus Ministry. “I think on
a college campus, it’s very easy to focus on college life
that you forget a little bit about the bigger picture. I
think Andrew and Carmen force that bigger picture into the
eyes of the students here because they are living out their
vocation.”
“A lot of our work ends up being not even really us but the
students that we mentor and the students in their bible
studies and that they reached out to,” said Carmen.
Their love of God, each other and members of the community
has made a difference in the lives of students at Virginia
Tech. The couple found both religious and intimate love at a
Catholic Campus Ministry. Now, as leaders themselves, they
are showing a new generation of students how to love God and
live out the vocation of married life.
Schneider is a sophomore multimedia journalism student at
Virginia Tech and a parishioner of All Saints Church in
Manassas.
