June 10, 2025 • 8 mins
How does God work in the everyday moments of our lives? Jack's story reveals the extraordinary way a simple pickup soccer game led to one of his most profound missionary experiences at the University of Connecticut.
When Jack and his fellow missionaries met Kate through campus soccer, they couldn't have predicted where this chance encounter would lead. After an unusual post-game workout session involving 100 burpees, Kate introduced herself as someone "chain-smoking cigarettes, reading CS Lewis, and trying to figure out what this world's all about." This curious introduction sparked a friendship that soon included her boyfriend Johnny, who came from a family with no faith background and an actively atheist father.
This extraordinary transformation reminds us that evangelization often happens not through elaborate programs but through authentic relationships and creating spaces where others can genuinely encounter Christ. Sometimes, simply exposing Jesus in our lives can make all the difference for someone else's spiritual journey. Where might your next pickup game or casual conversation lead?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to Unwritten, a podcast dedicated to sharing
stories of the movement of theHoly Spirit in the world.
Today I'm your host, trevorBureka, and on today's episode
we're getting to hear from JackKrasoffi.
One of my favorite elementaryschool teachers used to often
quote to us this thoughtful lineattributed to Socrates an
unexamined life is not worthliving Now.
(00:27):
While my sixth grade self mightnot have taken that very far,
the line came to mind often whenI became a freshman in college
and started meeting so manydifferent people with different
backgrounds, both religiouslyand culturally, from myself, and
it led me in a place ofquestioning a lot of the ways
that I had come to believe, whatI believed about the world and
really led me to examine my life.
(00:49):
And I didn't meet most of thesepeople through formal settings,
but most of them through doingthings that I loved, like
playing basketball, eating foodstill love those things and
otherwise just being active infaith and sports-related
settings.
That's why, with today's story,jack shares how one pickup
soccer game led to one of themore surprising encounters and
(01:12):
stories of his missionaryjourney.
Welcome to the show and listenin.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
While I was a missionary at UConn we had a
habit of playing a lot of pickupsoccer to meet students and
there was one day in particularwhere we met a crazy student and
we had played for two hours andthen afterwards she invited us
over to do 100 burpees and 50push-ups.
We were like, who is this girl?
(01:43):
Her name was Kate and we hadgot to talking.
She said who are you?
I said I'm a Catholicmissionary.
She said oh, that's interesting.
I know missionaries and I'vegot some questions for you.
I've been chain smokingcigarettes, reading CS Lewis and
trying to figure out what thisworld's all about.
Well, we became friends.
I introduced her to my femaleteammates.
(02:04):
We hit off a relationship andwe met her boyfriend at the time
, johnny, and Johnny, me and theother guys at UConn became
really good friends.
He started hanging out.
We would always have peopleover for fires at UConn.
We had a big bonfire pit in thebackyard and we would sit till
(02:25):
midnight 1am sitting andchatting about the deeper things
in life.
Shortly after Johnny and Katehad started hanging around at
the bonfires and getting intosome of these deeper
conversations, one day they justwalked into Mass about five
minutes after it started andjust sat down in the back.
(02:45):
All the missionaries were kindof side-eyeing each other like
what is going on?
Why are they here?
Neither of them were Catholic,and so we met up with them after
Mass and they said, yeah, wehad a death in the fam, we just
had to pray.
We had to come to Mass to pray.
It was crazy.
Just they started showing up inrandom places and there was one
(03:08):
night where Johnny had saidsomething that really struck me
by the fire.
He said I've been reading JohnPaul II and he talks about
freedom.
And I just don't know if youcan say that you're free if you
don't take responsibility forsomething.
And I thought to myself man,what is happening to this guy?
(03:29):
He's thinking about these deepphilosophical topics he's
wrestling with.
If you're just free to dowhatever you want, or is real
freedom being able to love otherpeople and take responsibility
for the things in your life?
And I saw these gearscontinuing to turn through our
conversations.
He would ask me about theteachings of the church.
(03:49):
He asked me about same-sexattraction, the male priesthood
and the authority of thepriesthood, the true presence of
Jesus Christ in the Eucharist,and I could see this was someone
that was really searching.
He would look up YouTube videoson his own and try to find the
truth.
One day in Bible study he camein and the topic that day was
(04:14):
John, chapter 4, day in Biblestudy he came in and the topic
that day was John, chapter fourthe woman at the well.
This woman who had lived a lifeof of lust and who society had
looked down on.
Jesus looked at her with eyesof love and I pulled up a video
of the chosen to to try andbring a video effect to to show
the guys what, what this lookslike and how they could pray
(04:35):
with it.
Johnny was particularly quietthat day in Bible study.
He didn't say much until theend, when the video had finished
, and he got up from the tableand looked at the three or four
other guys there and he saidguys, I have to tell you, all
week I have been watching thisvideo from the Chosen and the
(04:59):
gaze that Jesus has on the womanat the well struck me.
I didn't know that God loved me.
I didn't know that God lovedlike that.
If His love is real, I don'tneed any lesser loves.
And I got to confess, guys,this was the first week ever
where I actively decided to notsmoke weed, I took my bag of
weed, I took my joint and Ithrew it in the trash, because
(05:27):
if Jesus' love is like that, Iwant it.
Things developed from there,with Johnny and with Kate, our
friendship with the missionaries, and we hung out all the time.
One day, we went to a breweryand we were chatting with Kate.
Our friendship with themissionaries, and we hung out
all the time.
One day, we went to a breweryand we were chatting with them,
and they opened up about howthey started to live chastity
within their relationship.
They threw away the birthcontrol and contraception,
because they said if God madethis, why do we have to do all
(05:50):
these complicated things toavoid the thing that God made,
which was true love and chastity?
It was incredible to see Godchanging the hearts of these two
young people and to have afront row seat to this miracle
that was happening.
What's crazy, though, is thatJohnny grew up in a family with
(06:11):
no faith.
He was wrestling with freedom,he was wrestling with virtue, he
was wrestling with the love ofGod all with no faith background
, a dad who was a militantatheist and a mom who didn't
care that much, he had no reasonto be wrestling with God's love
and what to believe in.
(06:31):
And yet God was breaking intohis life and so we convinced him
to go to the SEEK conference.
This was back in COVID, so itwas local at the University of
Connecticut, and I rememberJohnny really wrestling with all
the teachings.
It was the teachings of thefaith that he was wrestling with
.
I could see the wheels turningthe whole week.
(06:54):
But it came to a pivotal momentand that was Adoration Night and
in Adoration we debriefed.
Afterwards Mary encountered him.
He saw the Blessed Mother andhe felt a love like he had felt
earlier from that Bible studywhen he saw Jesus' gaze.
But he saw it in prayer and itwas his Blessed Mother looking
on him with love and it changedhim.
(07:17):
It lit a spark in him.
This encounter with the blessedmother and Jesus in adoration
at Sikh led him to join RCIA andjourney towards receiving his
sacraments.
He hadn't been baptized, he hadnothing and he went through the
whole program and on the Eastervigil Johnny came into the
(07:39):
church.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Thanks so much, jack, for sharing the story.
I want to point out somethingthat's striking me from this
story, and it's the shift inJohnny's relationship to his
faith, not just from notpracticing to practicing, but
it's instead the shift thathappened, from him being open to
him, intensely seeking Jesus,as many foundations of his life
began to shift.
Johnny didn't come into thechurch as a passive recipient,
(08:08):
but he came in as an activeseeker and eventually became
someone who had fallen in lovewith the Lord and was willing to
transform his life as a result.
Let's remember that sometimes,simply our willingness to expose
Jesus in our life can be allthe difference for someone else
to start seeking him in theirown.
Thanks so much, jack, forsharing your story, and thanks
so much to you for listening tothis week's episode of Unwritten
(08:29):
.
Can't wait to see you next week.
Welcome to Unwritten, a podcast dedicated to sharing
stories of the movement of theHoly Spirit in the world.
Today I'm your host, trevorBureka, and on today's episode
we're getting to hear from JackKrasoffi.
One of my favorite elementaryschool teachers used to often
quote to us this thoughtful lineattributed to Socrates an
unexamined life is not worthliving Now.
(00:27):
While my sixth grade self mightnot have taken that very far,
the line came to mind often whenI became a freshman in college
and started meeting so manydifferent people with different
backgrounds, both religiouslyand culturally, from myself, and
it led me in a place ofquestioning a lot of the ways
that I had come to believe, whatI believed about the world and
really led me to examine my life.
(00:49):
And I didn't meet most of thesepeople through formal settings,
but most of them through doingthings that I loved, like
playing basketball, eating foodstill love those things and
otherwise just being active infaith and sports-related
settings.
That's why, with today's story,jack shares how one pickup
soccer game led to one of themore surprising encounters and
(01:12):
stories of his missionaryjourney.
Welcome to the show and listenin.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
While I was a missionary at UConn we had a
habit of playing a lot of pickupsoccer to meet students and
there was one day in particularwhere we met a crazy student and
we had played for two hours andthen afterwards she invited us
over to do 100 burpees and 50push-ups.
We were like, who is this girl?
(01:43):
Her name was Kate and we hadgot to talking.
She said who are you?
I said I'm a Catholicmissionary.
She said oh, that's interesting.
I know missionaries and I'vegot some questions for you.
I've been chain smokingcigarettes, reading CS Lewis and
trying to figure out what thisworld's all about.
Well, we became friends.
I introduced her to my femaleteammates.
(02:04):
We hit off a relationship andwe met her boyfriend at the time
, johnny, and Johnny, me and theother guys at UConn became
really good friends.
He started hanging out.
We would always have peopleover for fires at UConn.
We had a big bonfire pit in thebackyard and we would sit till
(02:25):
midnight 1am sitting andchatting about the deeper things
in life.
Shortly after Johnny and Katehad started hanging around at
the bonfires and getting intosome of these deeper
conversations, one day they justwalked into Mass about five
minutes after it started andjust sat down in the back.
(02:45):
All the missionaries were kindof side-eyeing each other like
what is going on?
Why are they here?
Neither of them were Catholic,and so we met up with them after
Mass and they said, yeah, wehad a death in the fam, we just
had to pray.
We had to come to Mass to pray.
It was crazy.
Just they started showing up inrandom places and there was one
(03:08):
night where Johnny had saidsomething that really struck me
by the fire.
He said I've been reading JohnPaul II and he talks about
freedom.
And I just don't know if youcan say that you're free if you
don't take responsibility forsomething.
And I thought to myself man,what is happening to this guy?
(03:29):
He's thinking about these deepphilosophical topics he's
wrestling with.
If you're just free to dowhatever you want, or is real
freedom being able to love otherpeople and take responsibility
for the things in your life?
And I saw these gearscontinuing to turn through our
conversations.
He would ask me about theteachings of the church.
(03:49):
He asked me about same-sexattraction, the male priesthood
and the authority of thepriesthood, the true presence of
Jesus Christ in the Eucharist,and I could see this was someone
that was really searching.
He would look up YouTube videoson his own and try to find the
truth.
One day in Bible study he camein and the topic that day was
(04:14):
John, chapter 4, day in Biblestudy he came in and the topic
that day was John, chapter fourthe woman at the well.
This woman who had lived a lifeof of lust and who society had
looked down on.
Jesus looked at her with eyesof love and I pulled up a video
of the chosen to to try andbring a video effect to to show
the guys what, what this lookslike and how they could pray
(04:35):
with it.
Johnny was particularly quietthat day in Bible study.
He didn't say much until theend, when the video had finished
, and he got up from the tableand looked at the three or four
other guys there and he saidguys, I have to tell you, all
week I have been watching thisvideo from the Chosen and the
(04:59):
gaze that Jesus has on the womanat the well struck me.
I didn't know that God loved me.
I didn't know that God lovedlike that.
If His love is real, I don'tneed any lesser loves.
And I got to confess, guys,this was the first week ever
where I actively decided to notsmoke weed, I took my bag of
weed, I took my joint and Ithrew it in the trash, because
(05:27):
if Jesus' love is like that, Iwant it.
Things developed from there,with Johnny and with Kate, our
friendship with the missionaries, and we hung out all the time.
One day, we went to a breweryand we were chatting with Kate.
Our friendship with themissionaries, and we hung out
all the time.
One day, we went to a breweryand we were chatting with them,
and they opened up about howthey started to live chastity
within their relationship.
They threw away the birthcontrol and contraception,
because they said if God madethis, why do we have to do all
(05:50):
these complicated things toavoid the thing that God made,
which was true love and chastity?
It was incredible to see Godchanging the hearts of these two
young people and to have afront row seat to this miracle
that was happening.
What's crazy, though, is thatJohnny grew up in a family with
(06:11):
no faith.
He was wrestling with freedom,he was wrestling with virtue, he
was wrestling with the love ofGod all with no faith background
, a dad who was a militantatheist and a mom who didn't
care that much, he had no reasonto be wrestling with God's love
and what to believe in.
(06:31):
And yet God was breaking intohis life and so we convinced him
to go to the SEEK conference.
This was back in COVID, so itwas local at the University of
Connecticut, and I rememberJohnny really wrestling with all
the teachings.
It was the teachings of thefaith that he was wrestling with
.
I could see the wheels turningthe whole week.
(06:54):
But it came to a pivotal momentand that was Adoration Night and
in Adoration we debriefed.
Afterwards Mary encountered him.
He saw the Blessed Mother andhe felt a love like he had felt
earlier from that Bible studywhen he saw Jesus' gaze.
But he saw it in prayer and itwas his Blessed Mother looking
on him with love and it changedhim.
(07:17):
It lit a spark in him.
This encounter with the blessedmother and Jesus in adoration
at Sikh led him to join RCIA andjourney towards receiving his
sacraments.
He hadn't been baptized, he hadnothing and he went through the
whole program and on the Eastervigil Johnny came into the
(07:39):
church.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Thanks so much, jack, for sharing the story.
I want to point out somethingthat's striking me from this
story, and it's the shift inJohnny's relationship to his
faith, not just from notpracticing to practicing, but
it's instead the shift thathappened, from him being open to
him, intensely seeking Jesus,as many foundations of his life
began to shift.
Johnny didn't come into thechurch as a passive recipient,
(08:08):
but he came in as an activeseeker and eventually became
someone who had fallen in lovewith the Lord and was willing to
transform his life as a result.
Let's remember that sometimes,simply our willingness to expose
Jesus in our life can be allthe difference for someone else
to start seeking him in theirown.
Thanks so much, jack, forsharing your story, and thanks
so much to you for listening tothis week's episode of Unwritten
(08:29):
.
Can't wait to see you next week.
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