Did you know that when you were baptized, you were anointed to be an evangelist? Yes, you and I, and every Christian are meant to bring others into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. How do we do that?
There are as many ways as there are people to fulfill this commission, from a casual conversation with a new friend to an elaborate video training ministry.
A smile is a good beginning that arouses curiosity about what makes us smile.
Evangelization is as varied as television evangelists defending the faith, missionaries risking their lives to testify to their faith and save the souls of natives, and authors writing their story of how God has changed their lives.
Saint John Paul II teaches us that the most effective way to evangelize is through our personal witness. Everyone has a story but not everyone is ready to share it.
You have a unique story that no one else can tell that appeals to people no one else can reach. St. Paul’s exhorts us to
“Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence.” (1 Peter 3:15, 16)
How do you share your story to those seeking a reason for hope? How do you help the potential convert you work with or the returning Catholic in your neighborhood draw closer to God? Or tell a troubled friend how God ‘s mercy works miracles in the hearts of each of us?
Even with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, evangelization can overwhelm you. You can wing it or you can be ready — that’s where the evangelization workshop Sharing Your Faith Story shines!
Interview of the Week
Personal evangelization was the topic of the Interview of the Week on GRN KATH 910 AM recently. You can listen to the show here:
As Dave Palmer interviews Diane Roe and me, you will hear how the question, “How do I share my faith story?” is answered in evangelization workshops. Sharing Your Faith Story workshops begin with Mass, then a light breakfast and three talks. In two breakout sessions, you will practice the evangelization skills presented in the talks and testimonies.
• I give my Protestant-to-Catholic conversion story. Guest speakers tell their renewal stories. We teach you the skills to share your faith story and help you practice them. Ten Tips for Sharing Your Faith Story concludes the half-day workshop. Now you are ready!
Who benefits?
• Converts, those returning to the Faith and all who experience continuous conversion learn to always be ready to answer the nudge of the Holy Spirit as he draws us into a closer relationship with God by sharing our story. Sharing Your Faith Story is ideal for people like you and me.
• The self-conscious teenager who committed her life to the Lord but couldn’t talk about it to anyone.
• The twenty-something who joined the Church but hesitated to share her joy with her non-Catholic family.
• Converts and returning Catholics of any age or spiritual maturity.
• Those finding a personal dimension of God’s love through a crisis, retreat or joy-filled God-moment of grace.
• Anyone in the teaching and renewal ministries that has opportunities to share their stories as part of their ministry such as RCIA, ACTS, CHRP, Bible Study leaders or youth ministers.
What you learn
Sharing Your Faith Story evangelization workshops help you:
• Experience why Saint John Paul II taught that the most effective way to evangelize is through our personal witness.
• Understand why baptized Christians are meant to be evangelists and why personal witnessing is the most effective way to evangelize.
• Connect, without preaching, what God is doing in your life with how he works miracles in the lives of each of us.
• Discover and practice a three-part structure to know, prepare and deliver your faith story, so you are always ready to share it.
• Know who you are in God so you can join others in leading the 93% of disengaged Catholics to be spiritually dynamic and engaged in your parish community.
• Witness effectively and authentically in many situations and time limitations from a two-minute elevator speech to a 40,000-page biography.
• Learn ten tips for effectively sharing a conversion, reversion or renewal story that also apply to stories of healings, miracles and answered prayers.
• Experience the reality that when you share what God is doing in your life, you see God in others and others see God in you.
• Learn to live the Scripture, “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence.” (1 Peter 3:15, 16)
Four ways to participate:
1. Come to a workshop; hear authentic faith stories and learn to tell your story.
2. Watch the DVD, using the free study guide.
3. Book a workshop for your Catholic organization by contacting [email protected].
4. I invite you to share your story on JOYAlive.net.
(© 2016 Nancy HC Ward)
Nancy Ward
Nancy HC Ward, author of Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story, was once a shy convert. She has spent decades writing about conversion, Christian community, and the Catholic faith. After earning a journalism degree, she worked for many years for the Texas Catholic (newspaper of the Diocese of Dallas) and the Archbishop Sheen Center for Evangelization, and later began her own editing service. An active member of the Catholic Writers Guild and a regular contributor to a number of high-profile Catholic publications online, she also has a busy blog on spirituality called Joy Alive.net. She’s a contributing author to The Catholic Mom’s Prayer Companion. Now, through her Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story workshops, retreats, book, and DVD, she shares her conversion story at Catholic parishes and conferences, equipping others to share their own stories.
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