Meet the Missionaries

2021 Summer Missionary My name is Clare Dvoracek and I am from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I am 19 years old and I just finished my freshman year at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. I majored in music and plan to continue with it, but before going back to school I will be a year-round missionary with Lumen Christi. I decided to serve with Lumen Christi this summer quite spontaneously but the Lord knew that a summer of formation was what I needed. Clare served parishes in the Sioux Falls area on team Sts. JPII & Teresa of Calcutta with Brady Martinez, Brady Van Overschelde, and Sophie Jones.

2022 Summer Missionary Hey! I'm Brady Martinez and I'm from Vermillion, SD. I just finished my sophomore year of college at Saint John Vianney Seminary. I have been skydiving and cliff jumping before, even though I don’t really like heights. Brady is serving parishes throughout the diocese with his teammates: Zach Liebl, Allison Kluver and Courtney Holt.

2021 Summer Missionary My name is Maddie Mingo, and I am from Omaha, NE.  Currently, I attend South Dakota State University, where I am studying Mechanical Engineering with a Biomedical Engineering minor. I am 22 years old, and will be a “super” senior this fall. I became a Lumen Christi missionary because I wanted to grow stronger in the Catholic faith, and also because I desired to serve others. Maddie served parishes across the diocese on team Sts. Therese of Lisieux & Thomas Aquinas with Cole Hardie, Christian Howlett, and Elizabeth Meert.

2022 Summer Missionary Hello! My name is AnneMarie Smith and I'm from Groton, SD. I will be a senior at SDSU this fall studying music education. I have been told that I give great hugs and am always hungry and cold. AnneMarie is serving parishes throughout the diocese with her teammates: Ella Ulmer, Mason Krause and Luke Tunge.

2021 Summer Missionary My name is Elizabeth Meert. I am from Sioux Falls and I am 18 years old. I graduated from O’Gorman High School this year. I will be a freshman at the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND in the fall. I have not chosen a major yet, but I plan to minor in Catholic Studies and Spanish. I decided to be a Lumen Christi missionary because of my passion to spread the love of Christ. Also, I desired to grow deeper in relationship with God and to find a community of others striving to live for Christ. Elizabeth served parishes across the diocese on team Sts. Therese of Lisieux & Thomas Aquinas with Cole Hardie, Christian Howlett, and Maddie Mingo.

2021 Summer Missionary My name is Brady Van Overschelde. I am 19 years old and from Sioux Falls, SD. I just finished my freshman year of college at South Dakota State University. My hope is to graduate with a degree in computer science. Initially I was not interested in serving as a Lumen Christi missionary, but thankfully, the Lord persistently called me and I answered with a yes. This summer has been the biggest blessing of my life. Brady served parishes in the Sioux Falls area on team Sts. JPII & Teresa of Calcutta with Brady Martinez, Clare Dvoracek, and Sophie Jones.

2022 Summer Missionary I'm Allison Kluver from Watertown and love doodling and like to pretend that I could make stickers out of them. My favorite thing to doodle is wildflowers and I want to be the patron saint of wildflowers. Since I don't have an Etsy shop, I'll stick with going to Northern State University for Elementary and Special Education. Allison is serving parishes across the diocese with her teammates: Brady Martinez, Zach Liebl and Courtney Holt.

2021 Summer Missionary My name is Cole Hardie.  I am 19 years old and from Sioux Falls, SD. I am entering my second year of seminary at St. John Vianney Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities. I became a Lumen Christi missionary so that I could share the light of Christ with others, familiarize myself with the Diocese of Sioux Falls (that God willing, I will be serving one day as a priest), and fall more deeply in love with Jesus Christ. Cole served parishes across the diocese as the leader on team Sts. Therese of Lisieux & Thomas Aquinas with Christian Howlett, Elizabeth Meert, and Maddie Mingo.

2021 Summer Missionary My name is Kelsie Olson. I am 19 years old and from Elk Point, South Dakota. I will be a sophomore at South Dakota State University, and I am studying early childhood education. I became a Lumen Christi missionary so I could grow closer to Christ and share that joy with others, and this summer I was blessed to do just that. The Aberdeen area of the diocese is really special and it was a gift to serve them this summer.  Kelsie served parishes in the Aberdeen deanery on team Bls. Pier Giorgio Frassati & Chiara Badano with Anna Fischer, Avery Starr and Donnie Yackley.

2021 Summer Missionary My name is Avery Starr. I am 19 years old and a sophomore at SDSU where I am studying journalism. I am from Sioux Falls, SD. I have a neurological condition, cerebral palsy, that has made it hard for me to even walk. Through the grace of God however, I have been able to not let that stop me, and now hope to one day be on American Ninja Warrior. I joined Lumen Christi this summer because I knew I wanted to study journalism, but talking about current events is pointless without knowing how to share the best news ever, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Avery served parishes in the Aberdeen deanery on team Bls. Pier Giorgio Frassati & Chiara Badano with Kelsie Olson, Anna Fischer and…