FOCUS missionaries spark growth in campus ministry

By Emily Chaffins -

MIAMI | When Fernando Lavieri arrived as a freshman at Florida International University in the Fall 2023 semester, faith was the last thing on his mind. 

Originally from Venezuela, Lavieri’s family were not practicing Catholics. “After my first Communion, my parents’ faith – and consequentially mine – sort of died down,” he said. “Coming to college, I wasn’t even thinking of having a reversion to Catholicism.” 

A year earlier, Lavieri had moved from Venezuela to Orlando to finish high school and was still struggling to adjust. 

“My last year of high school was hard. The culture was different. Coming to FIU, I was scared that I wasn’t going to be able to find my crowd, make friends,” he said. “But if I did, I wanted to make sure I made friends with wholesome, quality people.” 

Lavieri said he “hit a home run” by becoming friends with Catholics such as his dorm roommate, Samuel Rojas, a fellow freshman majoring in international business who invited him to Catholic Campus Ministry events. 

Rojas, originally from New Jersey, similarly grew up in a “culturally Catholic” Cuban American household. However, Rojas had come to FIU specifically because St. Agatha Parish was readily accessible, “just across the street.” 

Rojas chuckled while recalling a time in high school when a classmate noticed him searching Google Maps for Catholic churches near potential universities. “She looked at me and asked, ‘You’re church shopping right now?’ I just wanted to make sure my school had a parish nearby so I could go to Mass on Sunday,” he said. 

“I kind of had a process of reversion in high school, and I wanted to make sure that I went to a university where I could grow in faith,” Rojas explained. “I started going to Mass at St. Agatha every Sunday, and became acquainted with the campus ministry chaplain, Father Luis Pavon, who told me about some activities they do with students, like game night.” 

When Rojas invited Lavieri to campus ministry events, he agreed – and the decision changed Lavieri’s life. “I got to meet a lot of cool people and learn a lot about faith, things I didn’t even know before,” said the international business and supply chain demand major. “Now I’m doing RCIA getting prepared for my confirmation, and I’m a die-hard Catholic. A lot of good people led me to rediscover my faith.” 

Rojas and Lavieri became even more enthusiastic participants in Catholic Campus Ministry events after the arrival of two FOCUS missionaries this fall 2024, resulting in the ministry’s exponential growth. FOCUS forms missionaries to inspire Catholic college students nationwide to live out their faith on campus. 

“The arrival of the FOCUS missionaries has been a game-changer,” said Father Pavon, parochial vicar at St. Agatha and campus ministry chaplain. “A kind of new life has been given to the ministry.” 

The two missionaries leading campus ministry at FIU are overseen by a team leader from the nearby UCatholic Campus Ministry at the University of Miami. Since the two FOCUS missionaries came to FIU, the numbers have been staggering. Over 200 students were registered for small group Bible studies before the end of the first month of the fall 2024 semester – with about 80 of those consistently attending the sessions – despite having only two FOCUS missionaries to the usual four. 

“To put these numbers in perspective, I recently spoke with John Merkle, the regional director for FOCUS, who explained to me that in a normal team of four FOCUS missionaries on a university campus, having [around] 80 students participating in Bible studies throughout the week would be considered a decent number,” explained Father Pavon in a Sept. 16 email to Archbishop Thomas Wenski. “The fact that we have only two missionaries and yet we are nevertheless drawing this same number of students that a team of four would draw is impressive.” 

As Father Pavon noted, it’s clear there is a great thirst for Catholic community at FIU. Catholic Campus Ministry offers weekly on-campus Mass and confession, socials, and faith formation, along with monthly service opportunities, such as serving the homeless with the Missionaries of Charity. 

Father Pavon believes the fact that students see the FOCUS missionaries as peers makes all the difference. “The missionaries accompany them on their journey of faith, helping them to encounter God. They support students’ relationship with God primarily through Bible studies, events like playing Guy’s Flickerball [a cross between basketball, football, and ultimate frisbee] and Women’s Movie Nights, engaging with students and meeting them where they’re at as peers.” 

“Catholic Campus ministry makes it easier to make time for God,” noted Lavieri. “It doesn’t feel like a repetitive and forceful task – you want to hang out with these people. That’s the purpose of the gathering: bringing you closer to God.” 

In order to better facilitate this encounter, Father Pavon hopes that FOCUS' presence on campus will expand. 

“We are having more of an on-campus culture at FIU, and FIU is growing,” Father Pavon noted. According to a Sept. 2023 article in The Palm Beach Post, FIU has the seventh largest student population in the nation. 

“When you see what a team of only two missionaries is doing, you see the vast potential that FIU offers in engaging students in faith,” said Father Pavon. “Our hope is that we could have a full team of four missionaries to serve the ever-growing FIU student community.” 

For Lavieri, being part of the Catholic community on campus has gone from something he “was not expecting or looking for” to an essential part of his life as a student. 

His advice to fellow college students: “Just make sure you’re surrounded by people who are Christians and they can help you grow in your faith. When surrounded by people striving to become better Catholics, you’re pushed to do the same.”