Photo Caption: Woodhull native and 2012 University of Illinois graduate Kristin DeSutter has created a website to offer faith-filled young adults a solid Catholic presence on the Internet and in social media.

By: By Jennifer Willems

CHAMPAIGN — Kristin DeSutter will receive her bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications from the University of Illinois this weekend and has already accepted a job in St. Louis. While that means leaving St. John’s Catholic Newman Center, she’s made certain her faith and friends will be coming with her.

DeSutter created a website, “Young Catholic Women — Exceptional Daughters of God” in January to maintain that Catholic community, encourage other faith-filled young adults and to offer a solid Catholic presence in the realm of social media. In just five months, more that 6,800 people have found their way to youngcatholicwomen.com and more than 120 people follow the Young Catholic Women page on Facebook.

The goal is “to honor the rich traditions of the Catholic Church by fostering spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical growth with Christ and with one another.”

“What I really want to give to people is a Catholic voice in today’s society, to know there are people who are still striving for holiness and people who are just like them,” she told The Catholic Post. “I’ll be in St. Louis. I won’t have the same support group, but I will still have people like me — girls and guys alike — when they look at this site.”

To date there are 41 members on the Young Catholic Women team, including people who have their own blogs in addition to contributing to DeSutter’s website. A variety of topics can be found under six main headings: Spiritual Growth, Pro-Life, Relationships, Making Your Mark, Join and Play.

Under Spiritual Growth, for example, is an area for vocations that covers separate conversations for college life, lay life, religious life and “mish” life, written by a missionary with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students.

Under Relationships is an area for “What Guys Think” that includes reflections on female dignity and how to define beauty from the perspective of young Catholic men at the University of Illinois.

“I never expected guys to be part of our team,” DeSutter admitted. “That’s been one of the most rewarding parts of all. It’s what girls want to hear most and what we need to hear most — how they strive for holiness. They want to be that for us.”

Hearing their perspectives can make young Catholic women stronger in their faith and help them in return, she said.

A HUGE GIFT
The daughter of Randy and Susie DeSutter, Kristin was raised on a farm in rural Woodhull with her brother, Matthew. The extended DeSutter family typically grows 1,000 acres of soybeans and 4,000 acres of corn.

Members of St. John the Apostle Parish there, the DeSutters have deep roots in the faith community. Kristin said her great-grandmother donated the land on which the church was built. Her father has served as an usher and her mother has cleaned the church and they’ve all worked at the annual chicken dinner, for which the parish is famous.

“One of my favorite things growing up was saying our prayers before bed — the Hail Mary, Our Father and Angel of God,” she recalled. “I feel lucky to have that strong foundation that was built at home.”

She has carried that spirit of involvement over into her life at St. John’s Catholic Newman Center. In addition to traveling to Los Angeles over spring break with the center’s Service and Justice Outreach, DeSutter has been a lector and FOCUS Bible study leader.

She said she got involved in creating websites when she was a reporter for her Future Farmers of America section and AlWood High School. She also put together a personal website for professional growth.

What makes Young Catholic Women special is that it’s been a “huge, yet unexpected gift” from God, according to DeSutter.

“I’ve always asked God to help me be a good, wise leader of this site,” she said. “I definitely want his guidance. I want it to be what he wants it be.”