Direct Contact Evangelization and Follow Up

Types of Evangelization:  We seek to be open to old and new methods of personally communicating the Divine Mercy such as through - street, door-to-door, visits to those who have left the Catholic Church, hospital, prison, in the parishes, service projects, conferences etc...  Evangelization will be done in association with those parishes and priests showing an interest in direct contact Evangelization. From the street to the parish to the world. From the parish to the street to the parish to the world. Students will also work with individuals in the parishes who wish to learn how to share their faith in public. This helps facilitate the multiplication of disciples and growth of the parish and transformation of society.

A basic principle of evangelization is that the evangelizer who initially meets someone is the person who personally helps them to grow. (II Timothy 2:2) He or she does not replace the priest. Neither does he or she expect the priest to do all the work of Evangelization. For example, ‘mercy teams’ go out and meet people, sharing, listening and praying for those who want prayer. If the person contacted is interested, then contacts with the person continue in the following days and weeks. Invitations will be given to parish events and evenings of mercy.

The initial contact is about 5% of the Evangelization process and the follow up of the contacts 95%. Usually one out of four people contacted will be open to further personal and parish follow-up. It is the law of the harvest, 25% of the seeds sown produce fruit. (Mark 4:1-9) In the last thirty years of Evangelization we have found this biblical law of the harvest to be true. We personally trained 8 and the 8 harvested 800+. Again, the final objective of Evangelization is that the person Evangelized becomes a faithful Evangelizing member of the local parish, faithful in stewardship and faithful in sharing the irresistible beauty of Jesus, Mary and the Church.

Curriculum

Evangelization is the only work of the Church (John Paul II). Therefore, much of the teaching will be done in the field. Intertwined in everything that is taught is training in incarnational Evangelization. The theory is learned through the practice of evangelization. Therefore, the “classes” are not defined in categories or blocks of subjects but rather truths intertwined by the golden thread of Evangelization. The training is built around doing-knowing-being. Like a hub with Evangelization at the center all subjects flow out of practical evangelization. The different subjects are treated during the year as the questions present themselves.

All teaching and formation flows out of the Catechism of the Catholic Church - the Catechism seen in the light of the New Evangelization. As the year progresses a synthesis develops which forms an interconnecting grid work between: 1. The Word of God the Bible as understood through the Catechism; 2. The teaching of the Church (the Magisterium and the Councils); 3 The theology of the Church; 4. The Tradition of the Church with the witness of the Saints. 5. A major emphasis on the Encyclicals and writings of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

At the moment of Baptism, faith, hope and love are sown as a seed. Through the act of evangelization, faith, hope and love become an experiential reality for the believer. Through the sacraments and the catechism the initial seed becomes an oak of justice resulting in a forest of oaks. Isaiah 61:1-3.

Textbooks and Teaching Materials: The New Heart (Ezekiel 36:25-27), The Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, The writings and encyclicals of John Paul II, The documents of Vatican II and Paul VI, The lives of the Saints...