By Olivia Obijiaku
On Ascension Thursday, 9th May 2024, Feast Day of Evangelizers, the Assistant Director of St Pope John Paul II School of Evangelization, Zaria, Revd. Fr. Nehemiah Nkom charged trained and commissioned evangelizers in the diocese to proclaim the Good News of Jesus with the right attitude.
The priest celebrated the Mass in Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish, Ahmadu University, Zaria, on behalf of the director of the school and the Diocesan Chaplain of Association of Catholic Trained Evangelizers in Nigeria (ACTEN), Revd. Fr. Sebastian Vincent.He explained that their call to evangelize comes with proper communication for the purpose of soul winning, reminding them that the Holy Spirit is the Principal Agent of evangelization while they are mere instruments.
He said, “Evangelizers, with His Ascension, we are called to go out and evangelize. Jesus has given us the mandate to go out and preach and proclaim the Gospel.
This is our mission. Do not begin with judgment and condemnation because they bring destruction and not construction. If you begin with condemnation and judgment, you will never make impact to your audience as you go out to preach.
We are sent to preach and not to be judges. As we go out to evangelize, Let us use good manners to approach our fellow brothers and sisters.”“The Holy Spirit is a very important instrument in evangelization. He is always with us. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no conviction about the Truth of God. Without the Holy Spirit, one who preaches will find it difficult to evangelize and one who is evangelized will find it difficult to accept the message.
When you are a witness or a preacher, you have to be filled with the Holy Spirit.”Fr Nkom extended the task to other Christians and affirmed that though Jesus has ascended into heaven, He is still with them in the Eucharist. He assured them that He ascended to bring everything under His foot including sickness, accusation, backwardness, disappointment and every ugly situation in their lives.
