FOCUS at WAZZU

The Fellowship of Catholic University Students, or FOCUS, is increasingly well known as one of the bright stars of the new evangelization. Recent college graduates trained to be evangelists partner with campus ministers to go out on campus and make disciples. The process from FOCUS arriving on campus to a veritable army of Christian disciples is not a short path. FOCUS doesn’t seek to fill seats for an event; the missionaries take time to lead students toward a moment of conversion and commitment. Carter Hawkins, the associate regional director for the Western United States, spoke about the fruitful and simple three-part FOCUS model of evangelization:  win-build-send. This model is not unique. It is based upon what FOCUS founder Curtis Martin noticed Jesus did with His own disciples in the Gospels. Missionaries go out first onto campus to make friends. At the beginning of their missionary efforts, FOCUS team members seek   authentic friendships. They seek personal investments in these relationships. As they work with students, they invite them to Bible studies and other activities that foster conversion. As students get involved in Catholic Student Center activities, they help create opportunities for the students to have an encounter with Christ. Even if a student does not have a conversion experience, missionaries will continue to invest in these new relationships. Students who express a desire to grow deeper in their faith are built up with training in how to disciple others. They are encouraged to seek out other students to invest time with and build friendships. This process of disciples becoming disciple-makers is part of FOCUS’ idea of spiritual multiplication. That is, one discipling three, who hopefully will each go on to disciple three more, and each of them three more. Over a few short years, the work of one becomes the work of 27, then 81, and then 243. It is through the principal of spiritual multiplication we evangelize and bring others closer to Christ. Two Washington State University seniors recently spoke to the Inland Catholic about their experience with FOCUS. 

 
Lucy Eggleston, who is majoring in Viticulture and Enology, shared the transformation she saw in the few years she has spent with FOCUS missionaries. Lucy already was involved at the Catholic Student Center in Pullman. During her sophomore year, FOCUS missionaries invited her to Bible studies and to explore her Catholic faith deeper. “I take my studies very seriously,” said Lucy. “So when sophomore Lucy had something big coming up, she would isolate herself from her friends and stay up late cramming — trying to achieve a level of perfection that was self-serving.” In comparison, she said she recently had one of the hardest weeks as a college student. While enrolled in many important classes for her major, Lucy had three exams, a paper, and a major project all due within 18 hours. This schedule would intimidate many into hunkering down or possibly giving up. However, Lucy  had  a different  perspective. “It  was in this week where I was very, very stressed out, but I saw the Lord absolutely working. He was asking me to still invest in the women who were in my Bible studies. It is not like I could stop caring about them or stop working with them either one-on-one or in Bible study,” she said. Lucy credits the change the missionaries helped her make in her own prayer life. Going from praying a few minutes each day, to beginning to spend time with Jesus made all the difference. “The missionaries have been there walking beside me as I learned that Jesus was my best friend. Just as much as I love to spend even a few minutes with my regular friend, I couldn’t stay away from prayer. A holy hour is the cornerstone of my week. Every day, I was able to be there in the chapel for adoration, which was not something we had before the missionaries came. We have daily adoration now at St. Thomas More. I get to sit there in Christ’s presence offering him this gift of myself. Saying Lord I don’t desire perfection, I desire to serve you.” Lucy speaks of the path of moving from faith in Jesus to desire a deep friendship with Him. This divine intimacy is one of the three habits FOCUS emphasizes. The other two being authentic friendship and conviction about spiritual multiplication.
 
 
Ben Garrison, a Criminal Justice and Psychology major at WSU, has been involved at the St. Thomas More Student Center. Like Lucy, his faith life has grown while in college. While attending Sunday Mass, Ben was encouraged by his best friend and one of the FOCUS missionaries, to become more involved in the Church. More importantly, the missionary sought out opportunities to build his friendship with Ben. A trip to Haiti with FOCUS opened up a new growth in faith for Ben. He shared, “my best friend Terran, who is very involved with the Church and with St. Thomas More at WSU, convinced me to go to Haiti and there essentially I came to realize that God was calling to this faith in a much greater way, and that the life I was living wasn’t in line with God’s will for me.” Ben’s conversion came about through the encouragement of friends who were willing to walk with him and look for opportunities to expose him to the love of Christ. Ben credits Carter and Terran with his conversion. They were “really pursuing me through these first three years and leading me to go to Haiti and leading me to have an experience where I was able to convert in a much deeper way to my faith.” Ben spoke over and over about the value this faith community has for him. “The best part of being a Catholic at WSU is having the resources to grow in faith. Those resources include having a great community of like-minded people who truly care about one another and are able to grow as friends and in the Faith. And to have the foundation of FOCUS being there to facilitate Bible studies, to facilitate discipleship, and to truly be that leadership corps that drives and helps the students develop in their faith both individually and on a larger scale,” he said.
 
Both Lucy and Ben talked about the value of Bible studies as an important part of FOCUS’ method on campus. Ben shared that, “Bible studies have been great in two ways. First being able to really take apart Scripture and gaining a better knowledge of God and of Jesus’ life. That has been great, but also growing in community.” Ben points out that during Bible studies he was able to hear many different opinions on the Scripture that was studied. He emphasized that, “getting a different opinion is great, but also growing in faith with brothers there at Bible study,” is important. As a result of the work of the St. Thomas More Catholic Student Center and FOCUS, both students are considering joining  FOCUS as missionaries after graduation. They now share a heart for evangelization. Asking Lucy and Ben if they could share one thing about Jesus, both spoke about Him with profound earnestness and trust. “One thing I would want somebody to know about Jesus is that He truly desires you,” Ben said. “He is there and He is knocking at the door and He is calling at the door for you to answer and all you have to do is answer.” FOCUS seeks to form three habits in disciples  —  divine intimacy, authentic friendship and conviction about spiritual multiplication. Knowing this, it is clear through the community and faith life at St. Thomas More that some students are reaping the fruits of intimacy with God. They are forging deep friendships with others. From this they naturally want to go out and share the love offered by Jesus. Lucy shared, “In the Eucharist, when you go to Adoration, just as much as we are there to adore Him, He gets to sit there and adore and love us, and gets to transform us. I want everyone to know how deeply beloved they are.”