FOCUS Missionaries Reaching Out To Texas State Students
FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) is a national Catholic outreach program providing missionaries to college campuses all over the country. The missionaries are recent college graduates who have been taught effective methods of evangelization. Their purpose is to expand Catholic campus ministries.
FOCUS missionaries have learned how to connect with students and encourage them to examine the meaning and purpose of their lives. They go through an intense summer training that centers on evangelization, apologetics, small group dynamics, Scripture and fundraising.
Father Brian Eilers, the director of the H.L. Grant Catholic Center, requested FOCUS missionaries for the university campus.
"Today we are the only college campus in Texas with FOCUS missionaries," he said. Because FOCUS is a new ministry, there are not enough missionaries to send to every campus that requests them.
"I felt that Texas State would be a prime location for FOCUS, because of our unique demographics," Father Eilers explained. "We have a large population of Catholics, but only a small percentage participate."
Nationwide, FOCUS missionaries have seen positive results. Since its inception in 1998, the numbers of students participating in campus Bible studies, Mass, the sacrament of confession and campus ministry events have grown substantially. And 236 young people have answered the call to the priesthood or religious life in areas where FOCUS missionaries minister.
The movement was started by husband and wife, Curtis and Michaelann Martin, who were inspired by Pope John Paul VI's call to a "new evangelization" of the Catholic faith. It began with four missionaries serving one college campus and has grown to more than 250 missionaries serving 50 campuses today.