Letters to the Chapter

Fellowship of Catholic University Students

Recently, a FOCUS missionary named Thomas Shaw spoke after Mass at St. Paul in Fenton. Tom occasionally goes outside our country with the FOCUS organization to minister to college students on campuses around the world.

To quote Tom, “God has called me to serve college students. I hang around the Newman centers, recreation areas, student unions, Greek life, and anywhere I can reach a college student to tell them about Jesus. Jesus changed my life in college, and I’d love to share my story with you. 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. During college I gave my life fully to Christ and noticed that a lot of college students have lost their faith in Jesus due to the college culture or never had a relationship with Jesus. I am excited to bring the joys of Jesus into students’ lives so they can personally know Jesus and carry the mission of bringing their relationship of Christ to others to fulfill the great commission. 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 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.”

Tom stated that approximately 70-75% of college students stray away from their faith and Christ and he works to bring them back through his campus ministry. And then those he brings back go out and minister to others, and those minister to others, and so on.

He and his fellow missionaries love their work. He is currently working in Ohio at the University of Akron. This work, however, incurs real costs and his salary relies on donations. That is where our impact comes in. I have brought this to our KofC Council 2440 at St Paul and we plan to donate. And I challenge other councils to do the same so we can bring our young college-aged students back to their faith.

To quote Tom once again, “When I answered the call to join FOCUS, I made the decision to rely on the spiritual and financial support of mission partners to help me through this mission. I’ve been blessed with the most amazing people who have journeyed with me as I serve on campus. If you are interested in partnering with me, please go to my donation link to donate to my mission and that of other missionaries in FOCUS.”

The FOCUS website is https://www.focus.org

Fundraising page for Tom is https://focus.org/missionaries/thomas-shaw

Submitted by Fred Wolfmeyer, Council # 2440

October 2024