Junipero Serra: Founder of the California Missions

In 18th-century Spain, daring stories of missionaries spreading the good news of the Gospel in the New World ignited the imagination of a devout young boy. Miguel Serra's dream soon became a reality. As Franciscan friar Junípero Serra, he traveled to the New World and tirelessly preached the love of Christ to the natives living in the unchartered wilderness of California. His motto was, "Always forward, never back."