Our Big, Audacious Goal
Can you imagine being able to invite an additional 3,000 college students into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church? This is the number of additional students we could reach by expanding to 100 campuses next year, so this year we are placing major emphasis on inviting more men and women to serve as FOCUS missionaries. We recognize that the world we live in is becoming a darker place. Traditional values are declining. Even here in the “land of the free" we are seeing more and more inhibitions to the exercise of our faith. The motto "in God we trust" is being challenged, and some demand that all references to religious faith be removed. More recent government laws and court rulings warn us that freedom of religion is not something to be taken for granted. And so many university professors are immersing students in relativistic thought instead of the pursuit of truth. How do we connect young people to their deepest, most noble purpose? How do we reclaim an emphasis on virtue and character? Since 1998, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) has been sending teams of missionaries onto college campuses to engage students, to be faithful witnesses in the midst of fallen society. These missionaries live out a counter-cultural life, marked by faith, hope, and love, and the radiant joy that comes only from Jesus Christ.
As a steward of these various gifts and resources, FOCUS looks for every opportunity to reach more souls with the life-changing Gospel of Christ. Joe Hensler, Vice President of Collegiate Outreach for FOCUS, says “We have a proven model for campus evangelization and outreach. We are excited to bring that model to more and more campuses in partnership with local chaplains and campus ministers.” He goes on by saying, “the 100 campus initiative speaks to our evangelical imperative. We know the hunger on college campuses has never been greater, and many Catholic campus ministry centers are very positive about having FOCUS present on campus.” Our top goal this year is to hire sufficient missionary staff to enable us to meet the needs of this expansion. We have estimated a need to hire 115 young men and 105 young women to help us accomplish this goal. Hensler says that “Historically, the most important factor in our ability to expand is identifying enough men and women to serve as missionaries. We don’t want to turn down a campus because we don’t have sufficient resources to meet that need. If the campus is a good fit, we’d never want a lack of resources to prevent us from meeting that need.” Please help us by praying that the Lord of the harvest would send out laborers for the mission. If the Lord has placed in your life any young men or women who you think might be fit for this calling, please encourage them to apply at site.focus.org/apply, or connect them personally with a local FOCUS missionary team.
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Missionaries open up the meaning of Sacred Scripture through small group Bible studies with students. They meet one-on-one with students who have accepted the call to go deeper and to serve as a leader on their own campus. And FOCUS missionaries are committed to radical availability, to being present to people and immersing themselves in the students’ world. This is where deep, lasting change can happen – in the day to day, week to week existence of sharing life.
