By Jeanni Ritchie
Jake Scherer was wearing a pair of jeans and his cowboy boots when he opened his assignment letter for FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students). Oklahoma State University! Go Cowboys! It was as if his outfit knew before he did!
I was vaguely familiar with the Stillwater, Oklahoma campus, having lived about two hours away in Muskogee in the late 00’s. What I wasn’t familiar with was FOCUS.
But as Jake began talking, I tracked. It’s like the Catholic version of FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) but for all college and university students, regardless of denomination or faith.
Research indicates that between 45% and 80% of young adults who regularly attended church in high school stop attending or abandon their faith while in college. This phenomenon is often referred to as “church dropouts” or “faith deconstruction” during the college years.
While FOCUS has some high school and parish initiatives, this research is why FOCUS’ main mission is college students.
Their goal is to create authentic friendships and host godly fellowship events. They want to be fully present in the lives of each student through evangelization. Discipleship comes next.
Scherer cites two vital verses. “We want them to KNOW Jesus as in John 17:3. Then we want them to fulfill the Great Commission of Matthew 28:16-20.”
Their plan is simple: Win. Build. Send.
There are Bible studies, mission trips, prayer, sacraments, retreats, discipleship, and conferences. These summer project trips are a lesson in balancing that home-work-faith life once they are out of school. That balancing act can be tricky; even adults struggle with it. But FOCUS is sliding that lesson in under the radar!
Jake, an LSU grad with a degree in math, has the opportunity to play intramural sports with the students, opening the door to invite them to Bible studies or just have conversations about their faith. Many are beginning to question all they’ve blindly believed at this point, courses of philosophy and anthropology seemingly contradicting previously unchallenged beliefs.
I will never forget my LSUA anthropology teacher’s speech on Day 1 of her class.
“I’m not asking you to ditch your faith. I’m not disputing the Creation theory of Adam and Eve. I’m simply teaching you the theory of evolution and asking you to learn it and be tested on it because it is a requirement for your degree.”
I was much older before I realized what a gift that speech had been. Many professors outright denounce Christianity and the story of Adam and Eve as a fable.
It helps to have young Christians, just out of school themselves, serving as that light for students at such a critical juncture in life.
Like Jake.
While FOCUS team members receive support all the way down from the Vatican, they are required to secure their own missionary salaries. Asking for commitments from friends, family, and other believers for monthly support for this crucial endeavor is how they sustain their mission work.
In return, sponsors receive a monthly newsletter, supportive prayer, and an open invite for regular Zoom meetings. Can’t be on the Fundraising team? Join the prayer team in praying for these missionaries as well as the college students they serve.
FOCUS was founded in the late 90’s/early 00’s and now has over 200 4-7 member college and university campus teams across the country. There are even a few in Europe!
Visit focus.org for more information.
Two other Cenla residents will be serving as FOCUS missionaries for the 2025-2026 school year: Emily Duncan and Andrew Armstrong.
To find out more about ways you can support Jake, email jake.scherer@focus.org.
Jeanni Ritchie is a contributing journalist from Central Louisiana and LSU grad who was having babies instead of pledging sororities. She always felt like she missed out on that sisterhood until attending an ACTS retreat last year where Jake’s mother Dana was a retreat leader. Now she belongs to the best sorority ever- SIC (Sisters in Christ)- and was honored to interview her “sorority sister’s” son. She can be reached at jeanniritchie54@gmail.com.
