I serve as a missionary for FOCUS benefactors. 

The mission statement of FOCUS is: To know Christ Jesus, and to fulfill His great commission. You’ll notice that the words “college” and “university” are not in FOCUS’s mission statement. That’s because the end goal is not just sharing the gospel to students, but the whole world. 

Because of its mission, FOCUS is diversified. College ministry is our main focus (pun intended), but we also send missionaries to parishes and on mission trips. In fact, the annual SEEK conference is open to people of all ages and backgrounds! You can check it out here: seek.focus.org 

So, in asking ourselves, “How can we share the Gospel to all corners of the world?” it cannot be overlooked that the largest group of people FOCUS reaches is its benefactors. Yep, you read that right. Everyone who has ever given to FOCUS, one dollar or a million, becomes part of our mission. And each one of you needs to hear the saving message of hope in Jesus Christ. 

As a Philanthropy Engagement Officer, it is certainly a major part of my job to fundraise for FOCUS. But as Jesus taught us in John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me.” It is in fulfilling the will of God, the great commission, that sustains us. 

So, as YOUR missionary, I want say thank you. Thank you for your willingness to support, thank you for your openness to the will of Our Lord, and thank you for doing me the honor of being your missionary. 

I got involved with FOCUS after my business got shut down by the fire department.

Don’t worry – I didn’t start any fires. I wanted to find a way to get rich, and I learned of a business: “valet trash.” They take out the trash for apartment residents. They were very successful, and I thought I could do it too. So my senior year of college I attempted to start a valet trash company in Bismarck, ND – the town of my alma mater, the University of Mary. But the summer after I graduated (May 2022), the fire department said that valet trash is against the fire code. I couldn’t find any part of the fire code that I was violating, but when I asked what I was doing wrong they replied, “the fire marshal has unlimited discretion in interpreting the fire code.” So my business was shut down at the end of June 2022.

My girlfriend at the time and I broke up just before this, and many of my friends had just moved away from Bismarck. But I had a couple friends who stuck around. I got to live with them for a couple months while I tried to get back on my feet.

I lost a lot of invested money and time, but I had a back-up plan. A successful entrepreneur friend of mine was looking for a social media manager, and he gave me the position. But I found myself dealing with some personal moral dilemmas in that role, so I quit after a month: July 2022.

I only had a couple weeks left to live my my buddies. I had lost my business, quit my job, broke up with my girlfriend, my friends were gone, and I didn’t know what to do. I was mad at God. I thought He had a plan.

He did. In August, I went back home to Kansas (thanks mom and dad). I didn’t see the point in a lot of things I used to care about. I wanted to get away from everything for a while, and found myself at a retreat house in Nebraska. This is where I encountered God and He turned my life around.

If you want to hear the rest of my story, give me a call or text at (785) 231-9643.