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Levi Baus: God called

Nebraska native felt called to become teacher at Ozark Catholic Academy

Published: September 9, 2019   

By Alesia Schaefer
Rogers Correspondent

Courtesy Levi Baus

Levi Baus followed God’s call to move to Arkansas to join the faculty of the new Ozark Catholic Academy in Tontitown.

Courtesy Levi Baus

Levi Baus followed God’s call to move to Arkansas to join the faculty of the new Ozark Catholic Academy in Tontitown.

What will it take to keep or bring young people back to the Church?

“I think there needs to be a renewal of a sense of community in parishes to attract young people to the church. Growth in community will happen when there is a willingness for young people to be led by the more experienced, but also to be given opportunities to lead.”

Whether you believe it is by divine intervention or being at the right place at the right time, Levi Baus, 27, believes God had his hand in bringing him to Northwest Arkansas.

By way of Lincoln, Neb., Baus came to the state to become one of the founding teachers at the new Catholic high school, Ozark Catholic Academy in Tontitown.

Baus, and his bride-to-be, Amanda, first visited Northwest Arkansas in 2017 looking for a small church to celebrate their marriage. They settled on St. Elizabeth Church in Eureka Springs and married in June 2017. Later in October, vacationing in the area, they decided to attend Mass at St. Stephen Church in Bentonville. There he heard OCA’s headmaster John Rocha share his vision. Baus felt called to know more and to listen to where the Lord was leading them.

While he loved teaching Latin to preschoolers through high school students at Sacred Heart School and Pius X High School in Lincoln, he also felt the Lord was asking him for more. Several prayerful months later, Baus and his wife decided to move to northwest Arkansas.

Now beginning its second year, Baus sees the fruit of his decision to take on the daunting task of helping start a school. He has taught Latin, chaperoned trips to Washington, D.C., for the March for Life, directed an all-school Shakespeare play and worked as an advisor for young men at the school.

“There are little moments and bigger moments that help resonate that we have made the right decision,” Baus said. “When we drive home and come back to Arkansas, we feel like this area is becoming our home. I see the good fruit and the struggles together, and I know the Lord brought me here to grow.”

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