We encounter God in an intimate relationship through daily prayer, the sacraments and the Scriptures.
SEE MORESEE LESS 
Jon Brakenhoff
“For if we have received the love which restores meaning to our lives, how can we fail to share that love with others?”-Pope Francis The Joy of the Gospel
Where We serve
God has called us to serve in Denver, Colorado at the Auraria Campus missionary formation house. Jon is in his fifth year with FOCUS and serves as manager which allows him to form and invest in the missionaries, who in turn pour into the male students on campus in a radical way. We serve the students attending one of the three commuter schools that make up the Auraria Campus: Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and the University of Colorado-Denver. Our house of missionaries serves the campus ministry through St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church which sits on the edge of campus in the shadow of downtown Denver. We believe God desires to build up some of His new FOCUS missionaries through living in our community and spending six months to one year with the specific intention of allowing our Lord to develop them into the sons, brothers, missionaries, and future spouses and fathers that the Lord is calling them to be.
After finishing her third year as a missionary to the schools in Birmingham, Madeleine has left full-time college mission with FOCUS to be an architectural designer with Populous in Denver. Madeleine plays an essential part-time role in our mission at the Auraria Campus by providing a witness to the feminine genius to a house full of young men. Additionally, she leads the female students in whatever capacity she can outside of her full-time job!
Our Story
We are both tremendously blessed to take on these new roles in Denver! Jon is especially grateful to use his degree in nutrition, exercise, and health sciences; his experience as a Nebraska football strength and conditioning intern; and his time as a missionary at Auburn to form the Auraria campus men in the virtuous life of a disciple of Jesus. In addition to the rigorous FOCUS spiritual and intellectual formation, Jon provides enhanced training and formation for the 8-10 male missionaries so they can transition to a more traditional FOCUS campus after six months to one year serve at the Auraria Campus. This experience helps them to thrive in the face of difficulties and allows them to have a more significant impact on the students they go on to serve. The long-term plan is to collaborate with the Archdiocesan seminary discernment process and expand to open formation houses across our apostolate and the country!
Your Impact
We have said yes to following Jesus Christ in a radical way by being full time missionaries. Part of this call is that we rely on the spiritual and financial support of mission partners to sponsor us as we share the Gospel in Denver. So far in our time as missionaries support raising has been one of the most tangible ways God has shown his faithfulness to us.
If this mission or our family inspires you in any way, we want to talk to you! Please reach out to us personally either by phone (402)-310-5972 or email me at [email protected]. We’d be honored to have you join this adventure with us!
God bless,
Madeleine & Jon
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