Settling in in Champaign

St. John's Catholic Newman Center

After a long day of travel I arrived in Chicago to find that it waas 45 degrees, a stark contrast from the 90 degree weather at home.  I had the joy of meeting one of my fellow missionaries on the two hour bus ride from Chicago to Champaign.  It was nice to already know someone before arriving at St. John's Catholic Newman Center (SJCNC) on the University of Illinois.  SJCNC is amazing!  The picture above is just the student center.  The chapel is on the back side of the student center and it is gorgeous!  SJCNC has it's own dorms and cafeteria (the food is great!) and lots of meeting spaces. 
On Friday only new missionaries from "non-FOCUS campuses" were here to learn more about the basics of FOCUS so we are on the same page with the new missionaries who have been a part of FOCUS on their campuses.  The day ended with some great fellowship out on the sand volleyball courts followed by an ice cream social!  I have already met so many wonderful people and today an avalanche of more people will be arriving!  Classes begin Monday and I can't wait!

God was calling me to FOCUS

Last May I spent a week with the Wisdom Leadership Team at St. Malo retreat center in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.  We attended a College Student Summit where we learned about virtues, prayer, and the Catholic Worldview.  These professors and classes were amazing, but God had something greater hidden there for me.  While at the summit we met students from all over the United States.  They all had one thing in common that our students did not have.  They were all from campuses where the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) missionaries were present.  I even had the opportunity to meet some of these missionaries.  As we shared stories about our campus ministries I realized that FOCUS was doing some great things for these campuses.  I remember one student in particular telling me that they had over 50 Bible studies on campus and were steadily growing.  By the time we came back to Lafayette we knew that FOCUS was something we had to have!  In January I attended the FOCUS National Conference in Baltimore with other students from Wisdom and again God was placing FOCUS on my heart.  I was able to attend a missionary recruitment social and  learn more about what FOCUS missionaries do.  As I left the conference I had every intention of applying to be a missionary, but as I began praying about it I felt uneasy.  (Looking back I think this was really just fear.)  A couple of weeks ago Steve Pries, a "recruiter" for FOCUS, came to visit UL and again FOCUS was on my heart.  This time I knew that God was pushing me to really look into it.  Steve convinced me that it would not hurt to apply so I filled out an application and 4 days later found myself on a plane to Denver, CO for interview weekend!  Throughout the weekend I met dozens of missionaries and had the opportunity to learn more about the missionary lifestyle and the mission of FOCUS.  It was clear as I traveled home that if they offered me a position God was calling me to FOCUS. Yesterday I accepted the offer to be a missionary with FOCUS.  I have committed to two years of serving college students and inviting them to a relationship with Jesus Christ!  I hope to use this blog to share my journey with you!