Ministry Update: FOCUS

In the 2014-2015 school year St. Al’s welcomed its first group of students from FOCUS.
 
FOCUS (the Fellowship of Catholic University Students) sends teams of young, trained “missionaries” to college campuses in order to reach students with the gospel.  In partnership with the university parish FOCUS missionaries host large group outreach events, weekly Bible studies, and offers one-on-one discipleship in which we teach students how to share the faith.
 
This is now the second year with FOCUS at Michigan Tech. Last year everything was new and the missionaries were starting new Bible studies. They spent much of the year building these students up in the faith through Bible study and inviting the students who had a desire to share the faith into “discipleship,” where they are committed to daily prayer, meet weekly with their “discipler,” strive to lead a weekly Bible study, and strive to disciple two other students on a weekly basis. Students in discipleship are referred to as student missionaries.

St. Al’s now has 23 student missionaries, 18 Bible studies (11 led by student missionaries), and 113 students active in Bible study. Not only does this help form students in their faith, but it has helped to build up the community of Catholic students around campus.

By the end of the school year we hope to have 30-35 students in discipleship and 150 students in Bible study.

We rest in the words of Christ as we hope for the movement of the Holy Spirit through FOCUS on campus, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” –Luke 10:2