We encounter God in an intimate relationship through daily prayer, the sacraments and the Scriptures.
God has called us to serve in Denver, Colorado, where Jon manages the Bosco Project in his 8th year with FOCUS!
After serving two years as a FOCUS missionary in Birmingham, Alabama, Madeleine left FOCUS and works as an architectural designer with Populous in Denver. Madeleine plays an essential role in Bosco Project’s mission by providing a witness to the feminine genius to houses full of young men!
Inspired by St. John Bosco’s profound love for helping young men realize their God-given potential, the Bosco Project is an opportunity for men who have the heart to serve as a FOCUS missionary but would benefit from additional formation before stepping into a full-time role on campus. Some men are invited into the Bosco Project to grow in leadership, virtue, and mission effectiveness. Over the course of a semester or two, these men receive personalized mentorship, spiritual formation, and the support of a dedicated community while living in a Bosco formation house and working as a FOCUS missionary on campus. This experience equips men to serve with clarity, confidence, and purpose on campus and beyond!
The Bosco Project is named after St. John Bosco who dedicated his priesthood in the late 19th century to working with young men who were orphaned by society in northern Italy. St. John Bosco opened numerous homes called oratories for young men to grow in their faith, virtue, and learn skills that would help them become holy, mature, men able to discern their vocations. Through St. John Bosco’s holiness, simplicity, and deep love, he started many group homes for young men across Italy, and at the end of his life, over 3,000 men identified a personal relationship with Don Bosco as a major influence in their call to the priesthood. A bishop once commented on St. John Bosco’s oratories that:
“Sanctity was in the air you breathed. You did not notice its presence so much as its absence the moment you left. ”
The Lord immensely blessed the Bosco Formation house here in Denver this past year and has opened the doors to a new formation house serving Doane University in Crete, Nebraska! Bishop Conley, the Vocations office, FOCUS leadership, several generous benefactors, and the Church in Crete have all been receptive to expanding the Bosco Project to the Lincoln area! Between our two locations, we will have 17 new FOCUS missionaries in the Bosco Project this Fall with two new formators for the Doane house and one new formator here in Denver. We’re ecstatic to bring FOCUS to Doane’s students and to continue to the Lord’s work in forming young men to be who God has created them to be so that more souls can be brought to Christ! Please pray for the Bosco men in formation, the formators, and our efforts to expand and grow!
“I’ve wrestled with a selfish attitude, a ‘perfect’ relationship with God, expectations of ‘perfect’ mission, and the life of virtue for many years, and I have never made as much headway in growing closer to God in all of those things than the months I spent in the Bosco Project.”
– Bosco Project Alumni
If this mission or our family inspires you, we want to talk to you! Please reach out to us either by phone (402)-310-5972 or email at [email protected].
We’d be honored to have you join this adventure with us!
God bless,
Jon & Madeleine
If you have any questions or need help setting up your gift, please contact us at [email protected].
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.