Adam Wright never met Michelle Duppong, but he cannot stop telling her story.
Duppong, a former missionary for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) and employee of the Diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota, passed away on Dec. 25, 2015, after battling cancer.
This summer, the Diocese of Bismarck declared Duppong a “servant of God” and opened up her cause for canonization. A new documentary, “Radiating Joy,” produced by FOCUS, which will be aired in theaters across the country on Nov. 12, shows the saintly life that Duppong lived and the impact she had on family and friends.
Wright, a radio host for the Covenant Network Catholic Radio in St. Louis, Missouri, learned about Duppong’s story after interviewing her parents at the FOCUS SEEK conference held in St. Louis this past January.
Her parents invited Wright to see an early screening of the documentary.
When Wright viewed it, he was blown away.
“When Michelle’s parents told her story, the whole time, I thought, ‘Wow, this is such an amazing, inspiring story,'” Wright told Our Sunday Visitor. “Then they had the sneak preview of ‘Radiating Joy’; I saw the documentary, and I was in tears. I was moved by how powerful her testimony is and the impact she made through her suffering and through her life.”
Anderson Art. The OSV News classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association.
(OSV News photo/courtesy FOCUS)
A saintly story
Michelle served as a FOCUS missionary for six years and then as the director of adult faith formation for the Diocese of Bismarck.
During her tenure in FOCUS, Duppong developed lasting relationships that transformed lives. One such friendship was with Stephany Anderson, whom Michelle met while serving as a missionary at South Dakota State University.
“When I became a missionary, I thought a lot about what she did and imitated it,” Anderson told Our Sunday Visitor. “She taught me a lot about Catholic culture. She was the one that taught me how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours; she invited me to pray a Holy Hour every day with the missionaries, which instilled a thirst and a love for the Eucharist.”
Perhaps the most inspiring example Michelle set for Anderson was the way that she called each person toward sainthood, even if that required having difficult conversations.
“She was phenomenal at having difficult conversations with people for the sake of Christ and for their holiness. I was so set on fire by that … I wanted someone to call me on to the heights of holiness and to call me on to what I was made for. And she just dove right in and did that,” Anderson said.
“If she was going to be a patron of anything, I do think it would be a patron of difficult conversation.”
It was during Duppong’s battle with colon cancer that Anderson and others saw the deep trust and faith that Duppong had in God.
“Her family tells this story that when the doctor, who had to tell her, ‘Michelle, there’s nothing we can do about the cancer. We can’t save your life,’ Michelle … just turned to him and [said], ‘And how are you doing today?’ It was a moment of generosity and beauty,” Anderson said. “The doctor said that was not a response he had ever gotten in all of his time of caring for cancer patients, and it was a moment that changed his life.”
Carrying her cross
Duppong battled colon cancer for over a year before eventually passing away at the age of 31. While initially devastated by the diagnosis, Duppong chose to not let her suffering go to waste and began growing deeper in her spiritual life.
Family and friends were inspired by her deep spiritual life during this period. Even those, like Jessica Navin, FOCUS spiritual formation director, who met Duppong once, were touched by her deep love for the Lord and trust in his plan.
“Part of my job for FOCUS is that I run our prayer teams, and so Michelle asked me to pray with her,” Navin told Our Sunday Visitor. “When I was visiting North Dakota, I prayed with her right before her major surgery.”
When Navin entered Michelle’s hospital room to pray with Michelle, she felt a deep sense of peace. Later, she shared this experience with others, and they, too, said that they felt a sense of peace when talking with Michelle.
“There was a religious sister who told me that she visited Michelle in her final days, and this religious sister had seen plenty of people who had cancer,” Navin said. “Yet she said that coming into Michelle’s hospital room, into Michelle’s presence, was like entering into a chapel because she could sense the presence of Jesus within Michelle.”
During that encounter, Navin prayed with Michelle that the surgery would not harm her womb and ability to have children, as Michelle had always desired to have a large family. Tragically, the doctors had to remove Duppong’s womb. Yet, in the years since Michelle’s death in 2015, those prayers have been answered.
“We didn’t pray that the doctors would not have to take Michelle’s womb, but that she would have a lot of children,” Navin said. “While we were making the film, I had a friend who struggled to get pregnant for five years, and I suggested to her, ‘What if we do a little novena to Michelle Duppong,’ and my friend got pregnant during the novena.
“Since then, she’s given that novena to six friends of hers who have all become pregnant, and I’ve given it to an additional three friends of mine who have all become pregnant,” Navin continued. “That shows me that God heard our prayer. Michelle has lots of children, but sometimes God’s yes is even bigger than the yes we could have intended.”
A witness for others
Three months after Wright first heard Duppong’s story, it took on a new meaning for Wright’s spiritual life. In May, Wright was diagnosed with cancer, and immediately he began praying for Duppong’s intercession.
“Right after I was diagnosed with cancer, the first thing my wife and I discussed was that we needed to pray the prayer that they’re asking everyone to pray for Michelle’s cause,” Wright explained.
Knowing Michelle’s story, Wright knew that he wanted to rely on her intercession and receive inspiration from her story during his looming battle with cancer.
“A lot of people are afraid of suffering, and they want to do anything they can to avoid suffering. If there’s one thing I knew from the outset of this diagnosis, it’s that there’s going to be suffering of every type,” Wright said. “I saw the example of how Michelle didn’t suffer with anger. She gracefully accepted her suffering as a way of growing closer to Our Lord and as an invitation to fall deeper in love with him.”
For Anderson, the impact Duppong had on her life almost two decades ago continues to unfold in her day-to-day life.
“When I started in discipleship with FOCUS, it changed everything,” Anderson said. “Michelle’s friendship was transformative. When I think about Michelle, I think about the women that were in my discipleship group with the two of us, and those are my best friends to this day. Michelle gave me the greatest gift because she taught me how to live with friends, and now I have the treasure of their friendship for the rest of my life.”
Navin had few interactions with Duppong. While she served as the film’s producer, she learned a lot about Michelle’s story through countless conversations with Michelle’s family and friends. She walked away from the experience inspired to pursue joy in her daily life.
“I really got to know Michelle in the process of creating this film, and she really inspired me to surrender to God’s will in every detail of my life,” Navin said. “I’ve been very inspired to ask for her intercession because, as a FOCUS missionary, I know that she understands the particular trials that I’m going through, but I also have a lot of people in my life who have cancer, and I know that she understands their struggles.”
With the new documentary set to premiere on Nov. 12, these three hope that others will be just as equally inspired by Michelle’s witness and love for the Lord.
“I hope that people who see the film take away that suffering isn’t the final word in life,” Wright said. “That whether our crosses are small or whether they’re huge, that they are a beautiful thing, and even though they are challenging, it’s okay, because through these crosses, Our Lord will train us, and the Lord can transform the way of the cross into something beautiful. Just look at Easter Sunday.”
