Sarina Stokes

Sarina has been on a life-long journey marked by an ever-deepening trust in God’s plan. Sarina grew up and went to college in Arizona, where she abundantly encountered the Lord’s mercy.

Sarina served with FOCUS from 2019-2021 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After her missionary years, she followed the Lord’s call to book a one-way ticket to Europe and become a pilgrim.

She came back to the US and returned to Lincoln, which had been such “a well” for her during her time as a missionary. It was there in 2022 that she made a private vow consecrating her heart, mind, body and soul to Jesus.

Sarina then took a pioneering position at Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House, serving in a new position as its Outreach and Ministry Coordinator, working as the retreat house’s marketing specialist, planning youth retreats, offering spiritual direction and prayerfully discerning what formation is most needed.

The “Back to the Garden” retreat is about allowing women to encounter Jesus’ mercy in that place of woundedness, like Mary Magdalen did in the garden after the Resurrection. Sarina hopes women will walk away with a newfound sense of Jesus as bridegroom and beloved.

“Your heart is the garden, it’s the indwelling of God,” Sarina explained. “This is what you’ve been made for, but there’s a place of woundedness in the feminine heart that really ruptures our relationship with Jesus.”