FOCUS

FOCUS is a Catholic collegiate outreach whose mission is to share the hope and joy of the gospel with college and university students.

Meet our missionaries below:

Marta Stangl
As a college student, I was opened to new opportunities, new people, and a new location. After two years of searching, I met Jesus when I joined a Bible study, and formed a relationship with Him when I went on a spring break mission trip. As a missionary, I want to lead students to Christ, to fill that hole in their hearts that so many search for without realizing it is God alone that fills our hearts and satisfies us. I hope to lead students into a relationship with Christ, where they will finding lasting happiness and true joy. By spending time with students, investing in them, and sharing the Gospel, I hope to invite them into a lifelong relationship with God.


Tim Barham
During my undergraduate career at the University of Colorado at Boulder, I was quite sure that God was not calling me to be a FOCUS missionary. As many of us find at varying points in our lives, however, I was doing everything I could to run away from God's call. I wanted to follow the path that I was laying out for myself, law school, job security, importance, etc; making evangelization a priority was not part of my agenda. 

During my senior year of college my faith was deeply impacted through the investment of FOCUS missionaries in my life. These men shared their very selves with me and allowed me to share my story with them. This relationship forever changed my life, providing the catalyst for my calling into mission work.

Postponing law school and joining FOCUS has been the greatest decision of my life thus far, as it allows me to truly live in the present and focus on the greatest work that I could do, to bring others to know the faith that has so deeply and irreversibly transformed me. 


 Mackenzie Jardell
I went looking for joy when I walked into the Catholic center at the University of North Texas. The first person I met radiated this unique joy and I knew I wanted whatever she had. She was a FOCUS missionary and invited me to her bible study. Throughout my time in college, I grew in virtuous friendships, a deepened prayer life, and found authentic joy. I started living a life for Christ and His Church and falling in love with Jesus in a whole new way. I realized what was missing in my life was a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I found my true identity in Christ thanks to a simple “yes” to God's invitation to share His love. It was this first yes that sparked a fire in me to say “yes” to sharing this joy with as many people as possible. In answering God's call to become a missionary, I have never felt more of who God has made me to be. 

 Ben Horn
As a missionary, my greatest desire is to lead all students to Christ. My life has been transformed by Jesus and I want nothing more than to bring this joy to others and introduce them to the life-changing message of the Gospel. In His ministry on earth, Jesus humbled Himself to meet us on our level, taking on our humanity, and spent most of His time investing deeply in a few. I look to Jesus’ own example to find the best method of reaching the world. I've been constantly amazed by the different souls I've encountered on campus.


Christie Parvin
As a missionary, my greatest desire is to bring the joy of Christ onto the college campus and to invite students to encounter the infinite love of our Father. Before having a relationship with Christ, my heart was restlessly searching for a sense of true love and joy, but there was nothing that could completely satisfy this void within my heart.  It wasn't until I encountered Christ in his Church and saying yes to a relationship with him that this void was filled and my life completely changed. The Lord then led me to a great community in the Catholic Student Center on campus where I encountered authentic friendships with the students and FOCUS missionaries. These relationships not only challenged me to be the best version of myself, but showed me the importance of growing in my relationship with Christ and what it meant to truly pick up my cross and follow Him. I said yes to being a FOCUS missionary to bring the joy of Christ to college students and to walk with them in this same way to the Cross and toward sainthood.