We currently serve at the University of Alabama! Jake is a first-year missionary with a special emphasis on leading men involved in fraternities on campus.

Jake’s Story:

“College is going to be the best four years of your life,” we were told. My freshman peers and I heard this adage countless times as we were preparing to join a fraternity. That guarantee turned out to be true for me, but for completely different reasons than we were promised!

When I arrived on campus that fall, I had my priorities mixed up. I told people I cared about my Catholic faith, but the reality was I didn’t even attend Mass on Sundays or pray on my own. Because I put my faith in my social and academic obligations, I left my first year of college feeling lonely and unsatisfied.

Thankfully, a FOCUS missionary got connected with me. Rather than pointing his finger at me for the life I was living, he just kept asking if he could spend time with me. He showed me how to pray and taught me why it’s important to go to Mass and Confession. I joined his Bible Study and began to befriend the men that he led alongside me. His invitations made the Catholic faith seem exciting and approachable, which caused me to dive deeper into the teaching of the Church. Living out my Catholic faith in Jesus is what finally delivered me the love, meaning and fulfillment I was searching for all those years ago. During my last three years of college, I led a Bible study for fraternity men on campus. Since then, my life has never been the same!

I graduated in December of 2023 with a degree in chemical engineering. While I enjoyed my time at various internships and had enticing opportunities post-grad, I couldn’t deny the abundant joy I experienced when I helped men to know Christ Jesus and make disciples of their own. I am so excited to begin my first year of mission at the University of Alabama serving students in Greek Life!

And as if God wasn’t done using this apostolate to bless me, I met my lovely wife at a FOCUS recruitment event in 2022!

Taryn’s Story:

Coming to college, I thought I knew everything there was to know about being Catholic. I went to Mass on Sundays and said The Blessing before each of my meals. This is what it meant to live life as a Catholic…right?

Toward the end of my freshman year, I met and soon became friends with a FOCUS missionary that was serving at Texas A&M University. At first, we simply shared life together and went on many more life-giving adventures which won me over in genuine friendship and built a deep trust in this missionary as one of my spiritual leaders. Upon establishing trust, my missionary began to form me wholly in the Catholic Church’s teachings. She showed me that going to Mass more than just on Sundays was not weird—it just makes sense to receive Jesus in the Eucharist as much as we can on this side of Heaven because without Him, we can do nothing. Among many other gaps she filled in my understanding of my Catholic faith, she ultimately helped deepen my love for the richness of our Church.

By then, Christ had set my heart on fire for Him, and I couldn’t help but share what I had been taught by my missionary with others. I started to lead my own bible study and walk with a few college girls more intentionally. By the grace of God, I was able to partake in an act of spiritual multiplication on the Texas A&M Campus. Where one FOCUS missionary had taken the time to invest in me, I was then able to pass on her wisdom and love for the Catholic Church with many other college students, who would then do the same to even more college students!

This is the model that we as FOCUS missionaries strive to imitate—it was first modeled by Christ in Scripture when He invested in the few (His 12 disciples) who were then able to invest in the many. Jake and I are excited to continue this act of spiritual multiplication, started over 2,000 years ago by Jesus Christ, at the University of Alabama. We are humbled by your consideration to support us in this mission!

Since 2022, over half of all high school graduates in the U.S. are heading to the college campus. The community and culture that surrounds them will help shape who they are for years to come. Pew Research reveals the sad reality that over 50% of college graduates polled don’t consider their faith to be “very important.” Students are being introduced to all the wrong things on campus, and their faith is not on their mind by the time they leave. The university is the foremost cultural and spiritual battleground of our time, and we want to bring as much support as possible into this arena. If you are feeling called to aid this mission in any way, we would be privileged to have a conversation with you! Feel free to email [email protected] and we can set something up! Thank you for visiting this page and please, pray for us!