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| New and Veteran FOCUS Staff for 2012-2013 |
Since May 21st I have been in Champaign, IL at
FOCUS New Staff Training. I have been amazed and encouraged at the growth of
FOCUS and the energy from all of the new and veteran staff in the past three
weeks. It has been so interesting to learn about new missionaries and to hear
about the path they have taken to becoming a missionary.
I am very excited to
be returning for my 3rd as a FOCUS missionary and excited for the
opportunity to serve Seton Hall University as the Team Director. During my
first two New Staff Trainings the new staff here was, I guess you could say, “traditional”.
Meaning that most of the new staff being hired were less than a month removed
from their college graduation and were single at the time they joined staff. But this year there are more new missionaries
than just the “traditional” missionaries, although there are plenty of those as
well.
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| Seton Hall FOCUS team for 2012-2013, new team members are in their brand new SHU shirts! Welcome Caitlyn, Tim, Megan, and Terry!! |
I’m sure there are more stories than 3 I will mention but
these are 3 that I think are pretty interesting. 1 man has decided to become a
FOCUS missionary along with his wife and 2 children after spending a few years
working in Colorado. He and his wife were involved with FOCUS as students at
Colorado State. I asked him why he didn’t join staff out of college and he just
said “we were scared” to fundraise their salary. Obviously that fear has faded
as he will now be serving as a missionary this fall.
The 2nd story I want to share is another married
man who has 2 children and 1 on the way. This guy previously served on FOCUS
staff 4 years ago. After spending a few years at “real” job, he decided that he
wanted to return to ministry and that he wanted to return to FOCUS. He, his
wife, and children will be on a college campus this fall where he will be a missionary.
Finally, a neat story about a man who went to college with
someone who has served as a missionary for the past several years and has
financially supported his friend’s missionary work. I asked him about why he
joined FOCUS staff and he said “the newsletters got me”. At least 4 times a
year FOCUS missionaries send out a newsletter highlighting some stories with
pictures from their work on campus to share with our mission partners (those
financially or prayerfully supporting us). This guy went on to say that he went
to a FOCUS Conference as a donor and the Lord was continually asking him to
give more, so he did. He said finally that the Lord made it clear to him that
He was asking for even more. This man too, who is leaving a teaching job, will
be serving next fall on campus as a FOCUS missionary.
A powerful and neat moment I experienced this last Thursday
night, it was just such an odd scene as far as the secular world is concerned.
The St. John’s Newman Center at the University of Illinois hosts all summer. We
live in a dorm and use different rooms and spaces around campus for our
training. Last Thursday was the first day that the new missionaries made phone
calls asking to meet with people in a few weeks. They’re calling to ask to meet
with them to share the mission and vision of FOCUS and to invite them to become
a mission partner, a financial supporter of our work on campus. Last Thursday
everywhere I went I saw several missionaries all making phone calls, some
sitting, some pacing, some praying, some laughing, but it was beautiful to see.
I thought, how bad do these people want to serve our Lord and be missionaries! Again
and again I have been encouraged in the work FOCUS is doing for the Church in
the name of our Lord and I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve in this
way. God bless you.
Check out #focusislegit on Twitter for daily updates on the FOCUS world at New Staff Training.
