Lincoln Diocese
CV NEWS FEED // A Catholic convert recently shared the inspirational story of how Servant of God Michelle Duppong changed her life and brought her to the faith.
Duppong was a Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) missionary at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln when she met Ashley Stevens, who was searching for the truth and beginning to take an interest in the Catholic faith after experiences in the Methodist, Presbyterian, and non-denominational churches.
Stevens wrote for the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, that she was struck by Duppong’s “innate sense of community, of hospitality, kindness, and warmth” and immediately decided to meet with her again to discuss Catholicism.
“Our personalities, even our interests, were in a lot of ways on the opposite ends of the spectrum, but she never saw that. She just saw a sister striving to know the truth,” Stevens wrote.
The two met every week for the entire school year to go through a Catholic, Scripture-based apologetics book.
“Without her taking the time to meet with me, the time to invite me into her life and vibrant community, to be my friend, my life would look very different,” she added.
Stevens wrote that she converted to Catholicism shortly afterward and joined the FOCUS staff, working alongside Duppong. Now, almost 10 years after Duppong suddenly died of cancer at 31, Stevens still praises the work Duppong did to set her on the way to the faith.
“Her wisdom to first see what we had in common, which I was surprised to see was the good majority, eased my fears,” she recalled. “Her friendship and love, completely unconditional, if I became Catholic or not, gave me the support and community I needed, to know I was not running the race alone.”
She added, “My life wouldn’t be what it is today without her invitation, witness, and joy.”
As CatholicVote previously reported, Duppong is currently on the way to canonization. Her cause for beatification was opened by the Diocese of Bismarck in 2022.
CatholicVote also reported that a documentary about Duppong’s life, “Radiating Joy,” will hit theaters across the country on November 12.
