Company Profile
FOCUS- Fellowship of Catholic University Students
Company Overview
www.focus.org
Inviting College Students into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church.
Inspiring and Equipping them for a Lifetime of Christ-centered Evangelization,
Discipleship, and Friendships in which they lead others to do the same.
Rooted in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, FOCUS was born out of a passion and zeal to share how a relationship with Jesus Christ and the Catholic faith can transform the world. Beginning with our nation’s future leaders, FOCUS sends teams of young, trained missionaries to the college campus in order to reach students with the gospel. In partnership with the university parish and/or Newman Center, FOCUS missionaries host large group outreach events, weekly Bible studies and offer one-on-one mentoring with student leaders.
We welcome young adults from all walks of life and religious backgrounds to our events. Through the personal investment and dedication of our missionaries, FOCUS helps to build a joyful, Christ-centered community and support network on each campus where we have a presence. Students are encouraged to join the missionaries at daily Mass and in prayer, the most vital commitment our missionaries make each day.
Company History
Recognizing the dire need for Catholic campus outreach, and inspired by Pope John Paul II’s call to a “new evangelization”, Curtis Martin and his wife, Michaelann founded FOCUS – the Fellowship of Catholic University Students – in 1998 at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.
Later that year, Curtis had the rare opportunity to meet Pope John Paul II and express to him the hope and vision he had for FOCUS. The Pope listened carefully and simply told Curtis, “Be soldiers.” Since then, FOCUS has forged ahead in the battlefield of the United States, impacting the faith lives of tens of thousands of college students through on-campus outreach and large-scale national conferences.
Just over a decade since its launch, FOCUS has grown from four missionaries serving one campus to over 260 missionaries serving nearly 60 campuses in 28 states across the nation. Today, FOCUS continues to encourage young men and women to develop and invest in their relationships with Jesus and to go out and share the Good News, transforming the culture for Christ.