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Katelyn Petras

petras_katelyn.jpg“Campus ministry during my college years is where I learned to put my faith into practice,” says Katelyn Petras. “For the first time, I was away from my parents and out on my own, so I had to not just rely on what Mom and Dad told me was true. I had to find it out for myself.”

Katelyn connected to the CCO’s ministry during her first year at California University of Pennsylvania. “I grew up in a family that was involved in church planting for most of my younger years, so I was used to being actively involved in church work,” she says. “Being a student and being able to help out my campus ministry was great, because I felt like I was actually doing something to make a difference.”

In addition to serving on the fellowship group’s leadership team, Katelyn applied her artistic skills to helping to promote campus ministry activities on campus, by designing T-shirts and flyers. That experience set the stage for the graphic design work she is doing today, both on a volunteer and professional level.

“I design all the promotional material that my church needs,” Katelyn says. “During college, I realized that I wanted my faith to be a part of every area of my life, including my career. I felt like God wanted me to use my graphic design skills for his purpose, but then I forgot about it and just assumed graphic design was a very secular world and I that I would graduate and get a fantastic high-paying job at one of the big firms in Pittsburgh. That didn’t happen. I applied for everything I could find for about a year, and nothing came of it.

“Now I feel that God is calling me to start my own graphic design business called Design On Purpose. I want to help churches with their advertising and promotional efforts. I’ve noticed that so many churches and other ministries just have badly designed materials. I want to do something with my life for God. He’s the one who gave me these skills in design, so I want to give them back to Him for His glory.”

Katelyn and her husband, Brandon, live in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and they are active members of Living Waters Community Church. Besides her design work, Katelyn helps with Vacation Bible School and hopes to get more involved with the youth. She is also involved in a community Bible study.

“My faith keeps me grounded in all the areas of my life that would unraveled otherwise,” Katelyn says. “It was my faith that kept me going this past year while my husband was deployed to Iraq. God actually brought us closer to one another even though we were thousands of miles apart.

“If I wasn’t involved with campus ministry during college, I don’t know if I would have had as close of a relationship with God as I do. Going to Bible studies every week and being involved in a discipleship program made it easier to not slack off on doing devotions and having prayer time. After graduating college and getting involved in a church, I still feel that strong desire to want to be a part of a ministry wherever I am.”