My name is Belinda Ferrari, born and raised Catholic. I have two wonderful adult married children, and two beautiful grand babies. Instead of a biography let me tell my recent roadmap to following Gods signs leading me here.

Two Summers ago, I was blessed to travel across 19 different states to explore a part of this great country, like the Black Hills, Ol’ Faithful, and Mount Rushmore (my dream trip). Well God had better plans!

As I started my trip, and after a quick prayer of guidance and protection at the start of the trip, God set up this different plan! I found a brown sign on the Highway in WV and one for petroglyphs in OH and followed them. So I guess God said ‘that is how I will come to her’. Nearly every brown road sign I saw after that was religious and specifically Catholic in nature, and He kept putting these brown road signs in my path. The Eucharistic Congress happened to be on the radio, as I drove through many of those states. Gods signs led me to the most beautiful mountain shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Wisconsin, the mountain camp owned by Sr Cabrini In Colorado, a incredible glass and wood structure just off the highway, called the Shrine to the Holy Family in Nebraska, a Catholic Native American school in SD, a few cathedrals and shrines, and the only Marian apparition approved by the Vatican at Our Lady of Champion, Wisconsin. My little trip to see some natural and man made wonders had turned into a pilgrimage with Gods signs leading the way, and the word of God in my ears.

I knew God was calling me to let Him be more fully involved in all aspects of my life, and showed me the beauty that comes with that surrender. I was able to attend daily mass, adoration and Sunday masses in many different Catholic Churches. Some huge and empty, some packed in the tiniest space on a reservation, that would be considered a chapel elsewhere. All adoring Christ!

One of my past volunteer passions was working with the teens and adults of our parish to get them to a local mission trip with our Diocese. I was encouraged by one of the missionary moms to look at this program, as her family had also been a part of CMT. It is a combination of prayer and passion that has brought me to work here. I am so excited that CMT not only works on Native American reservations, but also provides help in locations, of natural disasters, and in poverty stricken areas, across the Americas and Caribbean, all the while helping Catholic teens, young adults, and their church leaders from across the country be missionaries and spread the Good News, to others. I am excited that I will be able to talk to many of our supporters from all over the country, in the coming year as the Director of Development. I am so very excited to join the team at Catholic Mission Trips and maybe get the chance to visit your parish, to share the mission work of CMT.

Favorite Scripture: Matthew 5:14-26 “You are the light of the world. a city built upon a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor would someone light a lamp and then put it under a basket,” “ in the same way let your light shine so it can be seen by others; this will enable them to observe your good works and give praise to your Father in Heaven.”