The Culture Project is an initiative of young people set out to restore culture through the experience of virtue. The Cleveland missionary team is dedicated to sharing messages of respecting the dignity of a human person and living a life of sexual integrity with those in middle schools, high schools and parish youth ministry groups.
The eight missionaries are from different places throughout the country including Texas, Louisiana, Colorado, Indiana and New York. Five missionaries are available for on site presentations and three are available for virtual presentations.
KAITLYN RIPPLINGER is a 2021 graduate from Benedictine College where she studied music and theology. She was born and raised in North Dakota, where she initially fell in love with Christ and grew in relationship with Him. After taking a class about Pope Saint John Paul II her junior year, Kaitlyn was drawn more deeply to the conviction to “love people, use things”. Although she doesn’t remember precisely when she learned about the Culture Project, she was drawn to their mission of upholding the dignity of human life and reminding others that they are loved immensely by the Father. “The Lord has revealed to my heart a calling to be his missionary. I desire to answer this call by sharing his message of authentic love.”
Originally from Houston, HELEN TRUMBLE studied Biology at the University of Dallas and planned to attend medical school, but eventually realized the Lord was calling her to pursue a Masters in Theology which she finished in 2021. After hearing a talk by a former Culture Project Missionary, she fell in love with their mission of renewing the culture by proclaiming the truth about human dignity and sexuality. “Young people today grow up in a culture that glorifies sin and encourages them to live mediocre lives, leaving them feeling restless, empty and depressed when they are meant to be saints. I want to be a witness to how living a virtuous life can lead to true joy and authentic happiness as we grow closer to God and to each other!”
MICHAEL SOBUS is a 2022 graduate of the Franciscan University of Steubenville with a BS in Biology and minors in Theology & Chemistry. He grew up in northern Virginia, went to high school in North Carolina, and currently calls South Carolina his home. He ran Cross Country and Track throughout high school and college. Michael discovered The Culture Project in college at a party hosted by several current missionaries. He had been taking a Theology of the Body course that semester and felt convicted to spread the message of human dignity and sexual integrity for Christ; then The Culture Project showed up at his campus that weekend. “The message of human dignity, hope, and sexual integrity that The Culture Project promotes is one I was extremely grateful to encounter; I look forward to sharing this gratitude and message as a missionary with those who may currently struggle with darkness or doubt surrounding their worth (John 1:5).”
SAM ARNOLD graduated in 2022 from the University of Maryland with a degree in Kinesiology. He grew up in a military family with 14 children. He heard about The Culture Project when they reached out to him to see if he was interested in applying to be a missionary in the summer of 2022. The focus on the beauty of sexuality in their mission as well as their sense of community painted a beautiful picture of hope that made him realize that he wanted to live that message. Two weeks after learning about The Culture Project Sam discerned that he was meant to spend a year as a Culture Project missionary. «Delivering the message of a desire for authentic love and respect for human dignity is something I quickly realized was the most important thing I could do this year.»
EMILY NAJVAR is a 2022 graduate cum laude of the University of Dallas with a BA in Theology. Emily served as a missionary in the summer of 2020 with Dumb Ox Ministries where she found her passion for sharing the message of the dignity and beauty of the human body and sexuality with many different people and watching them come alive as they embraced this truth for themselves. She heard about The Culture Project through her time with Dumb Ox, various SEEK conferences and her brother who encouraged her to apply. The message of the beauty, truth, goodness and immense value of the human person shared by The Culture Project is something she longs to pass on to others in turn. After much discernment, Emily answered the call to give her life in service as a missionary for a year for The Culture Project. “I have never seen people come more alive than when they hear this message spoken over their lives and truly find joy in the deepest parts of themselves. I became a missionary so I could take this message to those who struggle to see their dignity and the beauty of what it means to simply be human as created by God with an infinite and unique love specifically for them.”
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