"I don't think of ourselves has evangelists," Christina said, "but we really are evangelizing our faith."
The family considers each trip a pilgrimage. Kara prays for the priests and their parish before Mass begins. Regardless of where they travel, they said God is always with them.
Seeing the universal Church and all the godly encounters "gives me great hope and it has strengthened my faith," Christina said.
"We are a vibrant Church," she said, "We've survived over 2,000 years and we will still be here."
A notebook filled with messages from every priest documents the entire journey. One priest wrote a message inviting Kara to serve Mass at his home parish in Ireland. She hopes to make the trip for her twenty-first birthday.
"It's emotional to see this," Christina said with tears in her eyes.
After struggling with infertility for many years, Christina became pregnant. When doctors told Christina and Rick their daughter had Down syndrome, they said she would never lift her head up or talk. They said the doctors even suggested, "adopting her out."
"We brought her home," Christina said.
It was Kara who wanted to take altar serving lessons when she was 9-years-old. Her parents said she was focused and attentive the entire time.
"She tells me, 'momma, all I want to be is a saint.'"
Dedicated to serving in different parishes across the U.S., Kara would watch daily Mass on EWTN to learn how to ring the bells. While traveling, she never got sick eating hosts with gluten though she has Celiac disease.
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The family will stop in six more states on this leg of their trip leaving only Arizona, New Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska. Though they would love to complete their journey in the Year of Mercy, they said they would finish "when the money comes in."
Starting in August, Kara will be attending the Project 101 Program for special needs students at Butler Tech University. The family said people have suggested their story be turned into a book or movie. Either way, Kara said she will become an actress and writer one day.