ORLANDO | Jamie Mellado initially went to a University of Central Florida Catholic Campus Ministry event to support a friend hoping to find a girl he liked.

Although the relationship didn’t work out, Mellado discovered a welcoming environment and true joy. He met Christ in action and craved more. Mellado testifies how walking with one person or group of people can change their life.

Every Catholic is called to evangelize by virtue of their Baptism. At Catholic Campus Ministry, the community works as one body to accompany students on their journey to a relationship with Jesus Christ. CCM is already practicing what the National Eucharistic Revival calls for in this year of mission — that each person “walk with one”.

Mellado’s mom fell in love with a Jehovah Witness when he was 5 years old. For the next 10 years, that’s all Mellado knew.

“For my mom and grandmother, Jesus is Jesus wherever you go,” he said. “And I was so young, I didn’t know the difference myself.”

Mellado’s stepfather left when he was 15.

“I decided not to invest in faith. I found it kind of ridiculous,” Mellado recalled. “I didn’t believe God existed, but if He did, He probably didn’t like me all that much. That was my thought-process as a teen.”

In college he was invited to join a Bible study. Reluctant at first, he eventually sat in on a couple of sessions and found he liked it.

“I realized I needed some (faith) in my life,” Mellado said. But his girlfriend, “not just an atheist, but anti-God” according to Mellado, wanted nothing to do with it. The disagreement led to a tough breakup.

About a year later, he met a young Catholic woman at work who “gave the most persuasive, thought-out responses to these big, themed questions I had,” he said. It piqued his interest to learn more about Catholicism, launching him into a frenzy of reading.

“But I had nowhere to go. I had no community. I didn’t even know what it meant to be Catholic,” he recalled. That was until his friend asked him to go with him to a CCM event run by the Brotherhood of Hope and St. Paul’s Outreach Missionaries.

Wanting more, he spoke to Brother Adam Neri of the Brotherhood of Hope. Brother Neri spent hours talking to him. Mellado kept asking, “Is this a good community and a place where I could learn and grow in the faith?” Brother Neri assured him, “You can make a home here.”

Mellado attended a KnightFire event where he met Father Benjamin Lehnertz who answered Mellado’s many questions. There he also met friends who have become “family,” Mellado said. Whether he was happy or very low, his CCM friends were there.

“For me, I feel God’s touch most at those moments, when I’m in a low place and He calls one of His children, one of my siblings come and look after me,” Mellado said.

Living in Millenia, Mellado took two buses, which took two hours to get to CCM events. Upon learning this, Brother Sawyer Phillips of the Brotherhood of Hope, was taken in by Mellado deep desire for “authentic friendships.”

“People are looking for somewhere they can be themselves and be welcomed and accepted while at the same time able to grow together and journey toward something bigger than themselves,” Brother Phillips said, who explained St. Paul’s Outreach follows a model of accompaniment that helps meet people where they are.

“Belonging leads into believing, into becoming,” he said. “I was able to be there when Jamie needed time to process life. It’s an honor to hear somebody’s heart and what they’re going through because I don’t deserve to hear it, and I actually don’t have the answers a lot of times. I am just there to love them.”

“The coolest thing about it is, God already knows what peopleneed and I get to be a part of it with Him,” the brother continued. “It’s a humbling recognition that other people are going through things that I may never encounter. But in all of it, God’s love is present.”

Seeing how Mellado has grown in confidence and knowing he has a strong foundation brings Brother Phillips great joy.

“He has now become a man that has come to belong and grown in his belief. It’s become a foundation for his life, and he is becoming more of a disciple every day. And he’s able to share that now with other people,” Brother Phillips said. “He’s a support for people, an encourager. He’s a witness. That’s the way God works.”

Flavio Teimouri agreed. He met Mellado at CCM events. Making a point of getting to know new people, Teimouri invited Mellado to sit with him at Mass. Although Teimouri graduated the following month, God put it on his heart to walk with Mellado beyond graduation. The two became close friends.

Teimouri immediately connected with Mellado. Bullied growing up, Teimouri endured trials that made him feel rejected. CCM was the first place he found he could be himself, be honest and be with people who were equipped to pray with him, talk to him and get to know him.

“I was received in love and that set my heart ablaze,” Teimouri, said adding he wanted to help others experience those feelings. “I got to see these people that deeply knew the Lord lavish this love on everyone who walked through the door. I want to uphold that culture. I want to be Jesus to people through showering them in the same love I received.”

Teimouri and his friends offered Mellado a place to stay on late nights, so he didn’t have to take a long bus ride home. They taught him how to cook and drive.

“We all got to be brothers to Jamie and got to see him grow,” Teimouri said.

Mellado received the Sacrament of Confirmation in April 2024 and graduated from UCF. Currently in school for marine mechanics, he still helps at CCM. With a passion for Scripture, he often leads bible study and currently heads a weekly men’s group.

“There are a lot of good communities out there, but CCM is something very, very special,” Mellado said. “It’s great to have the full truth that is Catholicism. But to have a heart that’s full is really beautiful.”

For more information on how to “walk with one” during this mission year, click here.

By Glenda Meekins of the Florida Catholic staff, October 17, 2024