Paul J. Kim – international Catholic speaker, beatboxer and comedian – will bring his skills and faith to all ages at the end of this month in Glassboro, Wildwood and Williamstown.
“How beautiful it will be for students to hear his personal story and learn more about how important their Catholic faith is,” said Patricia Mancuso, principal of Saint Mary School, Williamstown, one of the four locations Kim will visit.
Kim is the author the online course “A Catholic Guide to Adulting,” founder of the Triumph Men’s Conference and has released two music albums. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, and a master’s in marriage and family therapy from Hope International University in Fullerton, Calif.
His visit to the Diocese of Camden will start at 7 p.m. Oct. 26, at Rowan University’s Chamberlain Student Center, Glassboro. The next morning, he will share his story with fifth-through-eighth-graders at Saint Mary School. On Oct. 28, Kim’s message will be shared in the morning with Wildwood Catholic Academy high school students in Wildwood, and at 7 p.m. with the Our Lady of Peace, Williamstown, parish community in the church.
Kari Janisse, Catholic Campus Minister at Rowan University, is confident that the speaker from Austin, Texas, “will touch hearts and allow attendees to have an encounter with Christ.” She has been a witness to Kim’s impact on the young Church; in March 2020, she helped facilitate Kim’s visit to Our Lady of Peace Parish.
For those not belonging to or connected with a parish, especially, she says, “Kim is the kind that can reach them through his music, ministry and comedy.”
Father Cadmus Mazzarella, pastor of Wildwood’s nearby Notre Dame de la Mer Parish, previously held that assignment at Our Lady of Peace, and, like Janisse, was present for Kim’s witness in Williamstown. It was important to him that Kim visit Wildwood Catholic Academy this time around.
“He was a great grace and blessing for the youth and adults,” Father Mazzarella remembered, especially the young Church, whom Kim “connected with in a powerful way, through his humor, witness, and conversion stories.”
Two of the youth in attendance for that talk were youth ministry members Cat Morales and Ryan Petrie, now coordinator and assistant coordinator of the Williamstown parish’s Youth and Young Adult Ministry, respectively.
Kim “is an example and role model” for the faith, who “makes being Catholic cool,” Morales said.
Petrie recalled hearing Kim reflect on his own personal struggles growing up. “As a young man [myself] trying to live my faith, his stories, told in a graceful way with a love of God, inspired me to share my own faith and help others” come to know Christ, Petrie said.
Kim’s presentations at Rowan University and Our Lady of Peace Parish are open to all ages and families. For more information on his Glassboro visit, email youthministerkari@gmail.com. For more information on the Williamstown event, call Our Lady of Peace Parish at 856-629-6142, or visit www.oloppyouthministry.com.