A Successful Model for「Lay Missionaries」From USA
- Formation of Lay Professional Evangelist
- Parish-driven promotion of evangelism
- Action plan clearly detailed towards goal
- Seven evangelists converted 5000 adults in several years
In the history of the Chinese Mission lay catechists and lay evangelists have made a great contribution.
Definition of Evangelism
Broad Definition of Evangelism
All Church activities that are geared towards proclaiming the Gospel, for example, pastoral care, educational institutes, social service, charity work, etc. can be called evangelism.
Strict Definition of Evangelism
- Guiding non-Catholics to begin to know Jesus Christ, trust and love Jesus, convert to Jesus as Lord, Savior and Son of God, explicitly enter the Church through Baptism.
- Welcoming alienated Catholics back to the Church through reconversion to Christ.
Why is there a need for Local Lay Missionaries？
- Local bishops, clergy, and other religious are involved in many ministries and have a limited amount of time, so they need assistance in evangelizing.
- Currently, the Church relies on foreign missionaries to evangelize the Chinese in Taiwan, Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia, etc.
- This dependence will continue in the future.