From 24 July to 3 August 2023, the Koinonia John the Baptist’s School of Evangelisation held an international Paul Course at ‘Taddeide’ Ecumenical Citadel at Riano in Rome (Italy).
It is a course that aims to offer the tools needed to evangelise, and to form an evangeliser’s mentality, laying the foundation for them to become formers of other evangelisers.
The course was held over ten intense days, with 42 participants who gathered from different parts of the world to learn a method for effective evangelisation. These were days spent living together, with activities giving participants a truly immersive experience, discovering the kerygma and how to spread it, through both theoretical and practical formation. The active/participative teaching was engaging and effective. From the beginning the participants, divided into smaller communities of 7-9 people, had to juggle the organisation of a variety of activities, like animation or leading community prayer, in innovative and out-of-the-ordinary ways, while always being Christ-centred and Kerygmatic in approach. The central rule? Creativity! Days spent in preparation led to true and actual street evangelisation. With their Bible in hand, participants were sent out in couples on to the streets of Rome to spread the Good News, that God loves you today!
There were moments of discouragement and difficulty that took participants out of their ‘comfort zone’ but, like everything new, it takes practice. We learn to swim by swimming, we learn to play by playing, and we learn to evangelise by evangelising!
“A course designed to leave a mark, renewing our experience with the Lord and giving you the tools – not only to live in His joy but also to share it”.
(Claudia – Rome, Italy)
This course let me enter into a profound connection with the Lord and allowed me to experience the power and strength of the Holy Spirit as the essential seal of the community, reawakening and nourishing our hearts with the desire to carry the proclamation of joy and salvation to everyone!
(Cecilia – Padua, Italy)
“I found a new perspective and vision of how to unleash the Gospel to others, without fear or hesitation because the Word of God is alive today and continues to touch the hearts of individuals all around the world! I am now inspired to strive even more to be a light in the world, and with the help of my brothers and sisters to proclaim that Jesus truly lives amongst us and is Savior and Lord! The greatest gift anyone can receive is the gift of community, to be accepted and to be loved, this is what God offers to all whom accept Him”.
(Kristjana – Albania)
“The course gave me absolutely everything that I was looking for. Thanks to the great team and the whole course, I was able to learn to evangelise. Thanks to you all, for the enthusiasm you transmitted through the course, and for the effective methodology that I will put in to practice”.
(Lucia – Košice, Slovakia)
“I gained a new way of listening to the brother or sister in front of me, and to accept them in the situations they are living through, so that I am able to communicate the love of Christ Jesus who desires salvation for every person and all humankind”.
(Maurizio – Rome, Italy)
“The formative value of the course fully met my expectations. It was easy to grasp, thanks to extraordinary communicative capacity and work of the course leaders, as well as the tools and essential methodologies they gave for active, innovative and effective evangelisation”.
(Othello – Caltanissetta, Italy)
