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Karly Brooks and Kenzie Cundall: The faith connectors

Karly Brooks, who wears her head shaved, laughs with Kenzie Cundall outside Christ the King Church in Little Rock Aug. 13. The friends recently started a young adult group for the parish that meets monthly.
Karly Brooks, who wears her head shaved, laughs with Kenzie Cundall outside Christ the King Church in Little Rock Aug. 13. The friends recently started a young adult group for the parish that meets monthly.

When Karly Brooks and Kenzie Cundall went out for coffee two years ago, they quickly realized they were going to be friends. 

Cundall, 25, grew up attending Christ the King Church in Little Rock. She left her job as the aftercare program/summer camp director for a career in media marketing. Faith is a priority, growing up in a supportive family, including an older brother, Father Brian Cundall. 

Brooks, 28, who began attending Christ the King four years ago, is “the great connector,” bringing people together, everyone from her rock climbing group to her Electric Cowboy group. A hematology and oncology nurse at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Brooks enjoys making kids laugh, even jumping out of a box to spray silly string at coworkers. 

The two recently formed a Christ the King young adult group. They cooperate with the young adult group at Our Lady of the Holy Souls in Little Rock, each planning monthly events. 

“It's one thing to have people in your life who care about you and know you and love you, and that's very important. But there's a part of me that doesn't feel like I can be fully known until someone knows me in the context of my faith,” Cundall said. “… It's not that those other relationships don't matter as much or anything like that, but to not have to be able to explain why I am the way that I am to someone is really beautiful because they just get it.”

Having a Catholic-centered group, not just Christian-based, makes it even more special. 

“I love going and sitting in adoration and so being able to sit in the adoration chapel and do praise and worship, these Catholic-specific events, my soul thirsts for that, and it's fulfilled by seeing all of these people on fire for their specific Catholic faith,” Brooks said.

Aprille Hanson Spivey

Aprille Hanson Spivey has contributed to Arkansas Catholic as a freelancer and associate editor since 2010. She leads the Beacon of Hope grief ministry at St. Joseph Church in Conway.

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