We encounter God in an intimate relationship through daily prayer, the sacraments and the Scriptures.
Our names are David, Linda, Therese, John Paul, Josef and Michael Hickson.
We are a family of FOCUS missionaries longing to help people encounter the living God and to live mission in the Hope of the Resurrection of Jesus.
God has called me and my family to continue to serve in our 13th year in FOCUS in Europe in Dusseldorf, Germany. I am blessed to be here with my wife, Linda and our three children, Therese, John Paul, Josef, and Michael! This is our fifth year in the Archdiocese of Cologne. We were blessed to serve in Bonn for a bit less than a year, and now we are in Dusseldorf for the fifth year and continuing our mission here as a family. I am the Director of Philanthropy/Mission Development for FOCUS in Europe. We still have much interaction with students, since we live in the same place and the students come over still as well as the team. Please pray for us and our openness to the Holy Spirit to do as we are ought.
My wife, Linda and I and our growing family are FOCUS missionaries (with our three children Therese born on 10 May 2016, John Paul on 17 August 2017, Josef born on 9 May 2021, and Michael born on 6 April 2024). Linda and I met in FOCUS, specifically on a FOCUS mission trip in Mexico City to Our Lady of Guadalupe. We dated in our 3rd year as missionaries, married in our 4th year on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, 15 August 2015. Our story as FOCUS missionaries continues to be a part of our marriage.
I graduated from Franciscan University in 2006 and then I taught for 6 years in the DC area, teaching Spanish to children anywhere from K-12th grade. I loved it so much and never wanted to leave, but God had other plans. I supported two FOCUS missionaries while I was teaching. Their relationships with me changed my perspective on life through changing my perspective on teaching. They saw their students as souls; I learned to do that and eventually felt the call to leave the classroom and become a missionary. I served first at The University of Virginia for one year, then I served two years at The U.S. Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut, and then for one year at the U.S. Naval Academy with my wife. I served then for two years in Denver at our FOCUS Denver Support Center, and then we felt called to serve in the mission in Europe where we still are.
Linda graduated from University of Kentucky in 2010 and then taught math and got her masters in Baltimore with Teach for America. She went on the World Youth Day trip to Spain with FOCUS and felt the call to leave teaching and become a missionary. She served her first three years at Auburn University in Alabama and then her fourth year with me at the Naval Academy.
We have loved every moment of being a missionary with all the challenges included. We two years in Denver at the FOCUS Denver Support Center. I was working behind the scenes to help many students and missionaries and the people we serve encounter Christ on the mission trips that FOCUS has.
In 2018 Linda and I felt called to serve in Europe and go back to campus. We moved our family to Graz, Austria. We loved that and had hoped we’d be there for a while, but then we were invited to go to Bonn, Germany, and so we did. We were in Bonn serving and loved serving there too. We were then 11 months later asked by the same Bishop of Cologne, Cardinal Woelki to move an hour up the Rhein River to Dusseldorf. We are here and are excited to see what God does in an through us.
I serve as Director of Philanthropy for FOCUS in Europe.
Also, we both have some powerful stories about how Jesus encountered us, has changed and continues to change our lives and why we are in this mission here and now. So, one of the times that we talk, I hope we get to share and that we can hear your walk with God too!?
Please pray for us as we keep you in our prayers every day!
When we answered the call to join FOCUS, we made the decision to rely on the spiritual and financial support of mission partners to help us through this mission. We’ve been blessed with the most amazing people who have journeyed with us as we ve served in FOCUS. If you are interested in partnering with our missionary family, please let us know of the best way to reach you and we will schedule an appointment. We’d be honored to share this mission with you.
We encounter God in an intimate relationship through daily prayer, the sacraments and the Scriptures.
By building genuine friendships, we meet students on a deeper level.
We teach students how to share the gospel, who in turn teach other students how to pass it on.