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Parent FAQs

If you are reading this, your son or daughter has probably recently shared with you that they want to become a missionary. Understandably, you have questions. We hope you will peruse our website to learn about our organization. This page was developed to answer specific questions brought to us each year by the parents of young adult missionaries. If you have a question that is not answered here, or you would like more information, please contact the FOCUS National Headquarters in Denver, CO. Inquiries may be submitted by emailing us at info@focusonline.org, by writing us at FOCUS Headquarters, Human Resources, P.O. Box 33656, Denver, CO 80233, or by calling us at (303) 962-5750.

1) Will my child’s college education be used in his or her work with FOCUS?

2) How are missionaries assigned to campuses? Can my child choose a campus?

3) Does FOCUS provide a health insurance plan?

4) I hear that FOCUS missionaries raise their own salaries. Why? How?

5) What if my son or daughter has student debt?

6) What is this I hear about a “no-dating commitment” for FOCUS staff?

7) Will my child have adequate living accommodations?

8) Is being a missionary a full-time job?

9) Why are FOCUS missionaries asked to make a two-year commitment?

10) What do people do after serving as FOCUS missionaries?

11) If I would like more information or have additional questions about FOCUS, who can I contact?

1) Will my child’s college education be used in his or her work with FOCUS?

FOCUS missionaries join staff with a wide range of undergraduate and graduate degrees – from creative and performing arts to engineering and applied sciences. We believe our organization is strengthened by such a breadth of skills and knowledge, and that the light of Christ needs to shine in all fields of study.

Each missionary brings his or her educational and social background – the whole person – to his or her missionary work. While we do not restrict the type of student our staff members reach out to on campus, a staff member with, for example, an engineering background will more easily be able to reach out to engineering students. Someone who was a college athlete will be able to better understand and relate to athletes on campus. We encourage this type of mentoring from our staff to the students we serve. The world has great need for holy and moral young leaders in every facet of human life, thus we hope to bring the good news of Christ to every college major on campus.

In addition to educational background, our missionaries bring their experience of college life to their work on campusFOCUS staff members possess increased credibility and a source of common ground with students because of their own college experiences. Having first-hand knowledge of the pressures and temptations of student life, our missionaries are better equipped to bring Christ to college men and women in a way that “meets them where they are” and affects change in their lives.

You may wonder how serving a few years with FOCUS can help your son or daughter advance professionally. We believe in building leaders for the future. A young adult from any educational background will benefit from the hands-on leadership training they will receive as a FOCUS missionary. Reaching out to college students and leading Bible studies builds confidence, group interaction skills, and conflict mediation. Planning on-campus events and service projects builds organizational and marketing skills. Staff members are also called upon to help coordinate hiring weekends for new missionaries, take a role in the planning of our successful student conferences, and network with their local parish and community.

2) How are missionaries assigned to campuses? Can my child choose a campus?

A staff member’s campus placement is based on a variety of factors including: strengths, interests, abilities, background, and personal preference. Through prayerful discernment, FOCUS strives to build teams of missionaries that are well-rounded and can meet the needs of a given campus ministry program. In addition, we desire to place an individual with teammates who will help him or her grow spiritually and professionally and execute greater heights of successful Christian leadership.

3) Does FOCUS provide a health insurance plan?

We provide an excellent health insurance plan for our missionary staff through Great West Insurance Company. In addition to the coverage provided through Great West, FOCUS offers a reimbursement plan for certain health, dental, and vision care needs.

4) I hear that FOCUS missionaries raise their own salaries. Why? How?

We understand that our mission to fulfill the Great Commission by bringing Jesus Christ to college students and the world is indeed an undertaking too large for us. We turn to God in prayer to give us all that we need in this mission. Beyond our need for financial support, we rely on the prayers and relational support of our Mission Partners.

Missionaries are not only trained to build personal support teams comprised of Mission Partners who make monthly financial contributions toward their work with FOCUS, but missionaries are also prepared to develop strong relationships with these Mission Partners. These relationships allow Mission Partners to be involved with FOCUS’ work on campus in a deep and real way. While some are called to give by going (missionaries), others are called to go by giving (Mission Partners). By joining a missionary’s support team, a Mission Partner becomes active in the New Evangelization – a Mission Partner is brought onto the mission field and is able to impact the lives of college students through the missionary they support. Since each missionary has a team of 40-50 Mission Partners, FOCUS is blessed to be held in prayer by thousands of individuals who are involved with our mission.

5) What if my son or daughter has student debt?

Our missionaries are trained to raise a liveable wage – one on which they can afford to pay usual living expenses such as rent, utilities, transportation costs, groceries, leisure, etc., but also a salary on which they can pay back student loans. In a few cases, staff members have been able to defer loan repayment due to the missionary nature of FOCUS. We train our staff in budgeting and financial responsibility, and we encourage them to tithe, repay debt, and save for the future on their missionary salary.

6) What is this I hear about a “no-dating commitment” for FOCUS staff?

During their first year of service on campus, FOCUS missionaries dedicate themselves to a fast from romantic involvement. The intention for the fast is two-fold. First, the fast allows our staff members to be radically available to the college students they serve. Our missionaries deeply impact lives not only through sharing Scripture and Church teaching with students but also by living daily life alongside them, revealing to them the art of living. By fasting from romantic relationships during their first year, missionaries are able to be fully present and invested in the young men and women they serve.

Secondly, we desire to prepare missionaries to embrace their God-given vocations. The fast gives missionaries the opportunity to focus on their relationship with Christ and to discern His will for their lives, which may be a call to marriage, the single life, or religious life. FOCUS offers formation in Christian dating and courtship principles and encourages staff members to learn more about priestly and religious vocations.

For single missionaries, the fast means a complete fast from dating and romantic relationships. For those already in dating relationships, the fast calls for a scaling back of involvement. The fast looks different depending upon the seriousness of each relationship. While some enter into the fast with a little uneasiness, virtually all find themselves grateful once they have experienced its benefits. After a missionary’s first year, the fast is no longer in effect.

7) Will my child have adequate living accommodations?

Absolutely. Each campus’ Team Director works with his or her fellow missionaries to find housing that is both affordable and located within a reasonable distance from campus. Typically, single female missionaries live with one another and single male missionaries live together in order to foster a greater sense of team unity, support, and common purpose.

8) Is being a missionary a full-time job?

A missionary work week is essentially a 50 hour week, or 10 hours per day. Our staff’s first priority in their work is to tithe 1.5 to 2 hours of their daily time to God through Mass and prayer. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life. We need silence to be able to touch souls.” Knowing that the fruit of our apostolate flows from our prayer and the sacraments, we give them primacy in our schedules.

Beyond prayer, a missionary’s day is filled with outreach on campus and relationship-building. While no two days are the same, staff members spend their time mentoring students one-on-one, leading Bible studies, executing large-group outreach events, and being present on campus to meet new students. Missionaries also meet with their teammates regularly to discuss their progress on campus and to plan for the future. Additionally, a portion of each week is devoted to staying up-to-date with necessary administrative tasks and maintaining relationships with financial Mission Partners. Given the fullness of such a schedule and FOCUS’ desire for staff to lead ordered, healthy lives, it is not possible for missionaries to take on outside work.

To read about a day in the life of a missionary, please visit our website at www.focusonline.org( http://www.focusonline.org/staffopportunities/life_as_a_missionary.html).

9) Why are FOCUS missionaries asked to make a two-year commitment?

FOCUS desires that missionaries thrive during their tenure with the organization and grow toward their full potential as Christian leaders. Thus, FOCUS missionary staff members are asked to make an initial two-year commitment starting in late May with New Staff Training.

We realize that the transition into missionary work involves a change in lifestyle for most individuals. Not only does effective missionary work call for staff members to share their Catholic faith with college students but it also requires them to share their very lives. We place a great emphasis on intensely training our staff so that they step onto campus prepared to be leaders in evangelization, catechesis, Scripture study, and the practicals of ministry as well as equipped in the areas of time management and ordered living.

While we make a tremendous investment in our missionaries through our outstanding training program, much of what they learn cannot be fully appropriated until they have faced a variety of campus experiences. Staff members often find that the first four to six months on campus are an extended training period and that it is during their second year that they acquire greater confidence and comfort in their position such that they are able to fully embrace their role.

To ensure that our staff reach their potential as missionaries and have the best possible experience, we ask for an initial two-year commitment. On average, missionaries choose to stay on staff longer before going on to explore religious life, get married, take another job, or enter graduate school.

10) What do people do after serving as FOCUS missionaries?

Retiring missionaries leave FOCUS with resumes that have been broadened and strengthened by their experiences on staff. Due to the professional, intellectual, and spiritual formation they have received not only from some of the country’s most dynamic Catholic leaders but also from their work on campus, missionaries depart from FOCUS as well-rounded individuals, better equipped to serve successfully in the next role to which Christ calls them.

Missionaries leave staff to pursue a vast range of interests. Some seek higher education through medical school, law school, or doctoral programs in areas such as psychology or philosophy. Others move into career fields directly related to their undergraduate studies ranging from occupations as educators, youth ministers, and diocesan administrators to leadership positions in the corporate world, engineering and construction, and college administration. Many also go on to give their lives fully to a religious vocation, entering seminaries and religious orders.

Regardless of what missionaries choose to do following their time in FOCUS, we consistently receive feedback from alumni who are grateful for how FOCUS has given them “vision for life” and has guided them into deeper relationships with Jesus Christ. For more information and specific stories, please visit our alumni webpage on our website at www.focusonline.org( http://www.focusonline.org/alumni/featured_alumni.html).

11) If I would like more information or have additional questions about FOCUS, who can I contact?

For more information about FOCUS, please contact our Human Resources department or request to meet with a FOCUS missionary in your region. Inquiries may be submitted by emailing us at info@focusonline.org, by writing us at FOCUS Headquarters, Human Resources, P.O. Box 33656, Denver, CO 80233, or by calling us at (303) 962-5750. Upon request, we would be happy to provide you with a copy of our annual report or materials further detailing the mission and vision of our organization.