Author : Evan Holway Date : July 3, 2018

My senior year of high school, I realized I wanted my faith to be who I was and not just a hobby.” Truman junior, Ben Wolf, knew he was looking to grow in his faith during college. After touring Newman on a campus visit, Ben knew Newman and Truman was where he wanted to be.

“My first experience was the Freshman Week BBQ. Everyone was so kind. They were giving away food and people came up and talked to me. I felt a sense of community that every freshman is looking for. I found this place where everyone was striving to find their faith and be a community.”

As an accounting major, Ben spends much of his time in Violette Hall on campus. In his free time, you can find him a block north on Davis Street at the Newman Center. “Newman is my home. It’s my main organization where I put most of my time. I care about it the most and want to make it better.”

Ben attended the Awakenings retreat his freshman year. “When I went on Awakenings my freshman year, it was a great experience. It was more mature than high school retreats I’d been on and pushed me in my faith.”

Since that life-changing weekend, Ben’s faith matured and he dove into a deeper relationship with Christ. He has served in several leadership roles including the Liturgy Committee and bible study leader. This spring, he returned to Awakenings this time
as rector. “Awakenings is a call to action – what are you going to do about your faith? In going through college and discovering who I want to be, having responsibility in my faith was something I fell in love with.”

This responsibility is something that has guided Ben through his time at Truman. “I’ve realized we receive a lot of love, but we have the responsibility as well to reach for it and go find the love. It’s not just going to show up on our doorstep. We have to work where we can for the people who haven’t found it yet. I have this sense of responsibility as I go out into the world. Because of Newman, I have this backbone that I want to keep building on in my future Catholic communities. Now I understand that this is what it means to strive to be a saint – doing what God wants us to do – not only loving people from afar but loving them face to face and being involved in their lives.”

Ben has seen this love play out in the lives of his friends. “I had a friend who wasn’t involved in her faith and after she went on Awakenings, it changed her life. She told me ‘I could have never thought this was going to be my life. It’s better than I could have imagined.’”

Without you, Ben wouldn’t have been able to grow in his Catholic faith while at college. Your support provides a space where students can not only experience the love of God, but learn how to share that love with others. It is through your prayerful, consistent support that allows the Newman Center’s doors to be open, welcoming in those seeking Christ’s love. Ben knows it’s a place unlike any other on campus, “It’s hard to put into words, Newman is so special. It’s my home.”

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Evan Holway

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