Building Up Leaders in Foreign Lands — with Mariel Conti
Season 1, Episode 14 | Originally aired on September 20, 2019
About the episode
"God turned that desire around. He said, 'You want to go to Asia? Do it for me!'"
Mariel Conti had always thought that she would one day vacation in Asia, but God had even bigger plans for her. This year, Mariel spent three months in Hong Kong serving with the St. Francis Xavier Lay Missionary Society. Her mission was to help build up a faith community for the English-speaking young adults who lived there. In a city that is big and fast paced, the culture definitely took some getting used to, but the one thing that kept her grounded was her faith in God. This episode features a conversation with Mariel about her desires to travel to Asia, how God challenged her, and how her surrender to the mission helped her discover the importance of community life in faith.
Listen to the episode
Meet Mariel Conti
Mariel Conti studied Human Resources at the business school of Simon Fraser University. In the beginning of her university years, Mariel had dreamt of the “corporate life.” She attended numerous case competitions as an undergraduate and was involved in business clubs. However, the course of her life changed when she met a campus ministry called Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO). It was during this same time that she also became the head of a youth ministry. She first encountered Jesus then. As time went on, Mariel realized that she was filled with more joy serving in ministry as opposed to her extra-curriculars in business school. At this point, she knew that she was called to a life that is more than just corporate. In 2017, Mariel went on a 10-day mission to Mexico City and in 2019, she went on a mission in Hong Kong for over 3 months. In her final years of university, Mariel sought ways where she could serve her faith while practicing what she studied. Now, Mariel works as a full-time missionary with CCO; she will also be applying her business background by working in the CCO’s human resource department.