FOCUS broadens missionary outreach with ‘Digital Campus’

Last updated on: September 11, 2014 at 10:41 am by CNA Daily News

FOCUS broadens missionary outreach with ‘Digital Campus’ 2014-09-11T10:41:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Denver, Colo., Sep 11, 2014 / 04:41 am (CNA/EWTN News).- With missionary teams on 100 college campuses across the continental U.S., the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) has reached an impressive number of students in its 16-year history.

But with thousands more institutes of higher learning lacking a missionary presence, many students have yet to be reached.

In response to the growing demand, while also faced with limited resources, FOCUS has launched a Digital Campus where students can engage with missionaries remotely via Skype.

Now in its third year of operations, the FOCUS Digital Campus has seen a massive response from students who desire to have more – or any – Catholic ministry on their campus.

“The students who are willing to do this, the students who are willing to Skype with a missionary they’ve never met for at least an hour a week, are just phenomenal,” Melissa Keating, a missionary team member of the Digital Campus, told CNA.

The staff at headquarters in Genesee, Colo., came up with the idea for a digital campus after they received requests from students through the “Bring FOCUS to your campus” link on the organization’s website. Although the link is intended to capture information from campus chaplains and ministers, many students were using it to request more information about how to bring Catholic missionaries to their campuses.

Rather than waste the contact information of hundreds of college students searching for help in evangelizing their campuses, FOCUS chose to put together a team of missionaries who would reach out to a small number of students each semester through Skype.

While FOCUS missionaries follow a model of “win, build, send” – winning students over through friendship, building up their faith with Bible studies and catechesis, and sending out the students who wish to evangelize – the Digital Campus takes out the first step of winning the student over.

“I don’t have to convince them that evangelization is a good thing. Honestly, my job is mostly to convince them to pray and not just go outside to do everything,” Keating said.

She explained that she is constantly impressed with the caliber of students who seek out FOCUS for their campuses, since they are willing to do the work to become a missionary at their college even without a ministry program in place.

“You have to have faith in the future of the Church when you’re seeing what I’m seeing,” Keating said. “I am so excited for these kids to graduate just to see what they’re going to do in the world.”

While the Digital Campus team is able to reach out to dozens of students all over the country each semester, there are still students on their waiting list.

However, Keating remains hopeful in the students who her team has yet to reach.

“There are just so many students on campuses with nothing to offer them and they aren’t falling away from their faith.”

FOCUS currently has 400 missionaries serving on 99 college campuses around the continental United States, including University of California-Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas, New York University and the U.S. Naval Academy.

Update: After time of publication, FOCUS announced that its missionaries now serve on 100 campuses rather than the previously stated 99 campuses.

Previous Post

September 11, 2014

Sen. Cruz's tense Middle East remarks prompt calls for Christian unity

Next Post

September 11, 2014 Christian life is not navel-gazing – it's self-giving, Pope says

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What year was the Council of Nicea?

Select your answer to see how you score.

1517 AD 500 AD 1054 AD 325 AD