The Charism of Evangelism

Description: To share the faith in a way that draws others, baptised or not, to become Jesus’ disciples and responsible members of his Church.

Testimony for the Charism of Evangelism

So it came as quiet a surprise to me when evangelism scored highly for me in the Called and Gifted Questionnaire and I started to receive frequent and powerful feedback from others that God is working through me to evangelise, just not in the way I would have expected.

“There were also times when someone would say that a particular Facebook post came at exactly the right time and was just what they needed to hear in that moment.”

Some of the feedback arrived from my work in rebuilding my local Church’s website, Sacred Heart, as well as their Facebook page. People who I’d never met would find out who I was, approach me after Mass and tell me how much they loved the website. There were also times when someone would say that a particular Facebook post came at exactly the right time and was just what they needed to hear in that moment.

The website has been doing incredibly well, and we’ve been blessed to reach people beyond the physical Church and draw them to our online Mass. In fact, we have more people following us on Facebook than our total congregation put together now which is a real blessing.

The Lord’s work is never complete though and since building the website, I have been approached by other Catholic groups to help build their websites too, including the regional website for the Order of Discalced Carmelites, as well as this very website for Called and Gifted.

Often when I’m updating a website or creating social media posts, I feel a real sense of purpose and joy, as well as a privileged opportunity to shine the Lord’s light via these online channels. In the past, I’ve seen so much negativity on the web that it’s been wonderful to share a little light.

“When they approach me, I often feel the Holy Spirit powering my responses and allowing me to become part of their spiritual journey towards Jesus..”

Outside of digital channels, what I’ve also found, is that people often feel very comfortable talking about God with me, even if they are atheist or from another religions. When people approach me, I often feel the Holy Spirit powering my responses and allowing me to become part of their spiritual journey towards Jesus..

At other times, I feel called to share something about God, in a gentle way with that person that perhaps gives them a new insight or perspective that they hadn’t considered.

I truly praise God for this gift, because as someone quite shy by nature, it’s truly empowering to communicate in ways that can have such far reaching effects.