What does "friendship as ministry" mean, and what does that look like? Find out in our recently published video of the 29th USCCA International Conference session, "Friendship as Ministry":
About the Panelists
Greta Frei
Greta Frei is a PhD student in the Department of History at Boston University working with Dr. Eugenio Menegon. Greta received a BS in Computer Science along with a supplemental major in Chinese from the University of Notre Dame. Her undergraduate thesis explored the theme of suffering in Su Xuelin’s novel Heart of Thorns, a semi-autobiographical work about a May Fourth intellectual who converts to Catholicism. Greta also worked in Notre Dame’s natural language processing research lab where she explored how computers can be used to process human language. At Boston University, she combines her love of Chinese, literature, religion, and technology to research the impact of Christianity on the development of Chinese literary and intellectual history. Greta leverages her technological background to visualize and analyze Christianity’s development in China.
Kathleen O'Brien
Kathleen O’Brien’s commitment to her Catholic faith and passion for Chinese culture were nurtured during her time at Bradley University, where she was a religious studies and philosophy major. Upon graduation, she dedicated three years as a Maryknoll lay missionary, teaching English in China at Jilin Agricultural College and Jilin Catholic Seminary. Kathleen has a master’s in systematic theology at Catholic Theological Union. She was also a full-time USCCA staff member from Fall 2021–Spring 2023 tasked with launching the Chinese and American Friendship Ministry. She now works for Maryknoll in the Mission Formation Department and is heavily involved with her local parish serving as the co-chair of the Parish Council. She will speak on the successes and challenges of engaging national Chinese students on US campuses.
Yujia (Sam) Zhai
Yujia (Sam) Zhai is a Theology doctoral candidate at Boston College concentrated in Comparative Theology and Christian-Jewish Relations. Born and raised in Tianjin, China, Sam came to the USA as a college student majoring in Physics and Computer Science at University of Southern California. He became a Catholic in 2013 and went on to earn two Master's degrees at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Sam will share how his experiences with a multicultural U.S. campus, research in Christian-Jewish relations, and reflection on friendships have shaped his Catholic identity and commitment as a Chinese student in America.
The USCCA's Chinese and American Friendship Ministry provides programming of welcome and outreach to Chinese international students; it also enhances the ability of theology professors, campus ministers, and other university members who work with these students, to successfully engage them on campus.
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