By BARBARA MARTIN MORO/Staff Writer
From being in the corporate world for 25 years to having a life of horse-showing competitions to helping students at UT Tyler grow in their faith, Shannon Decraene, the general manager at the Saint John Paul II Catholic Campus Ministry, touches many lives.
THE JOURNEY
Decraene graduated from UT Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in Commercial Art and Communications. Her first years in the industry were filled with fun, art and creativity.
“I was working at advertising agencies and design firms, and it was very different. We worked long hours and late hours, but it was very fun people,” Decraene said.
It was not until she started to work with corporations that Decraene began to glimpse the dark side of the industry.
“It was [a] very ladder-climbing, backstabbing, dog-eat-dog kind of thing, and I didn’t go home feeling great. I wasn’t surrounded by people that would help me grow in my faith. I was surrounded by people who were all running in the opposite direction, and, after several years of that, I knew I was done,” Decraene said.
After 25 years of working in the editorial design industry, Decraene started looking for ministry-related jobs, but the results were scarce.
One night, Decraene heard a notification on her phone. She opened and read it.
“I got this ping, and it said: ‘one new church job in Tyler’ and I started laughing: ‘oh, one! How fun!’” she said. “I opened it up and it was the Diocese of Tyler, and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s my church!’”
She immediately applied, then went to sleep. The next morning, Decraene received a call from the chaplain for an interview.
“I went in for an interview, and he hired me that day,” Decraene recalled.
The job she had just been hired for was a managerial position at the Catholic campus ministry right next to UT Tyler.
THE JP2
Saint John Paul II, or as many students like to call it, “the JP2,” is dedicated to help Catholic students grow in their faith while in college. The center provides daily sacraments like Mass or confession, as well as mission trips, weekly events and activities, fellowship meals, and a physical space to study, pray or hang out with friends.
Picture ice cream, a blender, coffee flavors lined up on the table, a blackboard with the special of the day carefully written on it, and Decraene handling cups of the special, topped with whipped cream. Being a barista and listening and mentoring each student, Decraene wears many hats in a single day. She does it all for the Lord she loves and for her passion for working with young people, particularly college students.
“They’re going through a very trying time in their life, but at the same time, they’re so bright and energetic and excited about their faith. It’s just a joy to be around them, and hopefully minister to them as much as I can, even if it’s just with food,” Decraene said.
Moses Medrano has been frequenting the center for almost a year. He said Decraene is the one “running the show.” Medrano highlights her hospitality.
“She tries to make you feel at home. She really tries to get to know you and make you open up,” Medrano said.
He also vividly remembers his first encounter with Decraene.
“I wasn’t talking to anybody because I usually don’t, and I was sitting here at the bar. She comes up to me and just starts talking to me. She just seemed really interested in what my major was, and all those general questions, but she made it seem like she really did care,” Medrano said.
For Medrano, the greatest teaching he has received from Decraene’s presence in the center is that caring for people and demonstrating it in little ways “goes a long way.”
Austin Zammit is also a UT Tyler student who has known Decraene and has been coming to the center for more than three years. Zammit has found in the JP2 “a place to belong” and in Decraene “a motherly figure.”
“She takes care of us, makes sure that we are ‘healthy and well fed,’ as she might say. She keeps the place running,” Zammit said.
Zammit highlights Decraene’s sense of humor and her ability to understand what each student needs, which he describes as “motherly instinct.”
“There is a love that can transcend blood. I consider Shannon to be a motherly figure. Someone I can rely on, trust and be myself with,” said Zammit.
EQUINE THERAPY MINISTRY
But for Decraene, the day is not over after her 9 to 5 job and the hour commute home. Instead, upon her arrival, 12 horses wait for their meal.
Decraene is the founder of “The King’s Rein Equine Assisted Outreach,” an equine therapy ministry reaching out to people dealing with trauma and behavioral, emotional or mental problems.
“Some of the clients that come are underage sex traffic victims, women who’ve been in prison, drug and alcohol recoveries, domestic violence, people with mental issues, or suicidal cutting, things like that. So, they’re physically able, but they’re still struggling with a lot of things, because of their life experiences,” she explained.
Decraene grew up with horses. Throughout her professional career, she participated in show competitions until one day it didn’t fulfill her anymore. But she had horses, and after praying and discerning, she decided to give the equine therapy ministry a try.
“Horses are very interesting because they’re like mirrors, but they’re not judgmental. So, if a person is angry, they’ll just turn around and move away from that, but they’re not really judging them, they’re just saying: ‘I can’t, I don’t want that, I can’t deal with that.’ So, it puts the participant in a position of saying, ‘well, if I really want this relationship, I’m gonna have to control my behavior and my emotions,’” Decraene said.
With awe and a smile in her face, Decraene described how years ago she received a call from Refuge of Light, a safe home for underaged sex traffic victims. They were looking for an equine therapy program, and the lady on the phone asked if they could come. After their visit, the same lady tried donating to the equine therapy ministry, but Decraene could not accept it since her ministry was not a nonprofit yet. She recalled how the lady asked if Decraene was looking for a board member. She said she did, and promised to pray about the lady’s proposal about becoming part of it.
“I went inside, I pulled out all my paperwork that I had started for a 501(c)(3), and I had this list of people of potential board members. Her name was on them. And I thought: ‘I don’t even remember writing that down.’ I had spoken to her eight months before she came and I don’t know why I wrote that down there,” Decraene recalled. “God is funny,” she added.
THE MOTIVATION
Seven-and-a-half years have passed since this event, and ever since, Decraene has seen many fruits in the people seeking healing and joy in “The King’s Rein.” For Decraene, this whole journey is about letting the Holy Spirit guide her.
“Sometimes it’s faith, and you pray for leading. You go out there, you start doing your job, and you just trust that you will be doing what He wants you to do. Other times I’ll get these impressions in my mind, almost like somebody’s saying something to me, but it’s not a voice. And I’ll say: ‘do this,’ and again, ‘do this,’ and the third time the same message comes, and I’m like: ‘Okay, I’m paying attention.’ And there have been times where God has shown me that was the Holy Spirit because of feedback I got,” she said.
Decraene’s joy in working in both ministries is knowing that God is leading her steps.
“One of the things that excites me the most is to feel like I am being directed by God and the Holy Spirit,” she said.
She fulfills the Gospel’s passage in which Jesus said, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them.” (Matthew 7:19-20) Decraene’s fruits have proven to be good and abundant.
