POCAHONTAS
For Shea Capps Niswonger and Cade Niswonger, parishioners at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Pocahontas, faith is at the center of their marriage.
The couple is involved in youth ministry, serving on the diocese’s adult team for Search, a retreat for high school upperclassmen to find support in their faith and deepen their relationship with Christ.
Twenty-four-year-old Shea has a passion for helping people, working as a nurse. She grew up in a large Catholic family and was always involved in youth ministry. Her parents, Dwayne and Angie Capps, “laid that foundation,” she said, first bringing her to youth ministry when she was in sixth grade, and her passion “carried over into (her) adult life.”
Cade, 29, is a recent convert to the Catholic Church, originally Free Will Baptist. The couple started their dating life going to Mass on Saturday and a Baptist service on Sunday. However, that developed into just going to the Catholic Church. What drew him into the faith was “really just going to Mass week by week and learning more,” he said.
The couple has a passion for working with kids. Cade Niswonger is a sixth-grade math teacher and high school basketball coach.
“Working with kids and guiding them,” Shea said, “that’s one of the main reasons why we work with Search. Youth ministry is one of my most passionate aspects.”
Ultimately, faith “covers everything (they) do,” Shea said, adding that “the main goal in marriage is to get your spouse to heaven.”
“We try to love like Christ, forgive like Christ and see Christ in each other,” she said.
What national or global issue are you most passionate about?
“Mine would probably be abortion.” (Cade)
“Mine has always been, ever since I was a teenager, homelessness. I wanted to be a social worker, and then I ended up becoming a nurse because I could help people that way too.” (Shea)
More stories will appear in our 15 Young Adults Who Inspire Us 2024 Section as they are posted online.
