As Lent begins, how are you hoping to grow in your faith and share it with others? Gina’s story witnesses to the power of reaching out to others for encouragement and community. What does it inspire you to put into action in your own life this Lent?
Gina Hackl is a wife and mother of seven. She loves being a mom and one of the leaders of a fruitful women’s group that has been meeting for six years in Appleton, Wisconsin. When she joined the group around four years ago, it clicked for her. “I don’t really connect with anyone more than I do with other moms who are working their way through what it’s like to be a parent. We can connect on everything, from the very practical to higher-order things. But all of it comes back to how we live as good Christian wives and mothers in today’s world.”
From the start, Gina found a great group of moms who were eager to spend time together growing in community and faith through Jesus Christ. At first, around ten to twenty women met on Friday mornings. Then, as several of the families grew, some wanted to shift meeting days. Gina and a few others wanted to keep meeting on Fridays so she stepped up to lead.
What do their meetings look like? They first enjoy some goodies and social time for about half an hour, taking a break to drop their little ones off for childcare. Then, they spend around an hour reading and discussing spiritual content followed by a closing prayer. They often have additional social time as they pick up their children.
Gina reflected on how relevant to moms the group is, “Our kids are experiencing a lot of similar things in the school and social environments. As women, we can bring all of that before the Lord and evaluate it within our own hearts as we walk this road.” She went on to say that the group has become a highlight of the week for everyone involved.
Gina was formed and trained as a leader during her college years at a key campus ministry impacted by the Evangelical Catholic. So for the first two years after the group split, Gina led the women’s group on her own. The group grew so much they needed to find a new location. Gina sensed the difficulty of leading the group by herself. She wanted to be personable following up with the women who weren’t able to make it. She wanted to ask their prayer intentions and provide individual care. She knew she couldn’t do it all alone. So, in the spring of 2022, Gina prayed that the Lord would send more leaders. “Lord, the harvest is so abundant. I am just a simple woman and I can’t do this alone!” Jesus heard her prayer!
That summer, St. Pius X Parish in Appleton, Wisconsin was running an Evangelical Catholic Reach More Mission Training group. Jeanne, a woman from the school where Gina’s kids attend, had just finished going through it. Gina invited her to get together to talk about her training experience. They talked about ideas for her personal apostolate and Gina asked her how she felt about running Reach More Mission Training for the women’s group. “Glory and praise to God, it fit exactly what Jeanne was thinking about for her own apostolate moving forward. It was very humbling to see how God laid that out. And now we have leaders in spades. I’m so grateful.”
That fall of 2022, the group had their kickoff event with thirty to forty women attending. They enjoyed social time and shared what was on tap for their group that year. Ten women discerned to go through Mission Training and the rest did the Scripture discussion. In the fall of 2023, the women that went through Reach More led the Scripture study and another group of ten went through the second Reach More Mission Training group. This year, the group is still going strong with thirty to thirty-five women attending weekly. After running consecutive training groups for two years, they now have twenty trained leaders among them.
When asked what words of encouragement she has for other women discerning their apostolate, Gina reflected, “You don’t have to know it all. You just have to trust God and work with the Holy Spirit. I think the most impactful times of my own apostolate have been when I’m struggling, because I find the more transparent I am with my own struggles, the more people connect with them. And then, you can find the Lord together.” Indeed, it was when she felt overwhelmed by leading a larger group that the Spirit moved Gina to pray. From there, it was He who led the women’s group into a whole new season of forming leaders.
Although Gina and Jeanne continue to guide the team, there are now other women who have taken on different roles. These include managing the Facebook page, planning the content, and providing ongoing spiritual encouragement for individual women. The outreach, collaboration, and community-building happening in Appleton are a reflection of our good Father, who Jesus named the Lord of the harvest (c.f. Matthew 9:38).
