“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” Mt 28:19

Jesus gave His disciples this commission just before ascending into heaven. Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC, nos. 849-852) teach that we are the living perpetuation of this original commission as ambassadors and evangelists. In this article, I discuss how we’ve been equipped to be great evangelists, some reasons why we’re not as effective as we could be, and an antidote.

Should we all be enthusiastic and effective evangelists?

Yes! Jesus cast the mold for us in Luke 3:21-22: “Jesus had also been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form, as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’”

Four key things happened in this Gospel; Jesus was baptized, heaven was opened, the Holy Spirit descended with power, and Jesus received His identity statement. Immediately after His baptism, Jesus began His public ministry empowered by the Holy Spirit.

What happened on the day of our baptism? We were baptized, emerged from the font under the same open heaven Jesus did, were empowered by the Holy Spirit, and received our identity statement. You and I are beloved, chosen, empowered, and adopted children of the Father. In baptism, we received the same gifts from the Father that Jesus did, so we could go forth and make disciples of all the nations just as Jesus did! We have what it takes.

Why are some of us not enthusiastic or effective evangelists?

I’ll narrow the many reasons to two key obstacles: many of us don’t know who we are, and we are reluctant or unable to tap into the power the Holy Spirit gave us at baptism and confirmation.

First, the Father loves us, and not because of what we do but because of who we are as His children. Once we live from that perspective, we shift from operating out of a slave mentality to operating out of a family relationship rooted in gratitude. Personally, I became much more resilient and effective in every area of life once I began to live as a son of God the Father.

Second, most of us have a limited engagement with the Holy Spirit and don’t actively seek opportunities for the responsible use of the Holy Spirit’s gifts for evangelization—and I’m talking about the spiritual gifts in 1 Cor 12 that are specifically bestowed for the building up of the Church. Our efforts to evangelize and make disciples would benefit greatly from effective mentoring in how to access the spiritual gifts given to us at baptism.

The Antidote: Making disciple-makers

In 2018, Encounter Ministries USA, a global teaching apostolate headquartered in Brighton, Michigan, invited a small team I was part of to open their first satellite campus.  Our mission was and is to “teach, equip and activate disciples to demonstrate the love of God through the power of the Holy Spirit in their spheres of influence.” The Cincinnati campus opened in 2019. Our primary work is the Encounter School of Ministry, an eight-quarter school of evangelization. We also run weekend conferences on Identity, Physical Healing and on Hearing the Voice of God (prophecy).  And we offer free public events like our Transformation Nights and praise nights to bring the power of the Gospel into our community.

Jesus is alive and active in His Church, and what the  students in our school and participants in our events experience is the Lord’s  continuing desire to bring healing, restoration, and renewal.

One graduate shared what happened when he partnered with Jesus in prayer at an Encounter event:

“Growing up Catholic, I believed, in theory, [that] God hears all my prayers and, in theory, will occasionally answer prayers for healing. At the very first Encounter Ministries event I attended, I prayed with a woman on crutches in severe pain who had broken her foot and was in a walking boot. Without crutches or a boot, she left the event walking under her own power and pain free. At that moment, I heard Jesus speak right to my heart: ‘So Chris, do you still think this is all just theory?’” —Chris Stier

Our ministry is not focused on miracles, though we know their value in breaking through doubt and making the Gospel come alive for believers. It is about preparing normal, relatable Christians to experience a full life in Christ and exercise all the ministry they were baptized into. It’s about preparing disciples to make disciples, starting in our own homes:

“Encounter School of Ministry deeply impacted my life, but the greatest fruit has been my family. What I learned created a ripple effect in our home, especially for our daughter. At six years old, she began learning how to hear the Father’s voice and pray for others with me every day. Now at nine, she boldly shares Jesus with her friends. Watching her faith grow has been beautiful and reminds me how powerful it is when children are formed in Christ.” —Jessica Pellingra

Our flagship “come and see” event is our four-night Summer Intensive, where each night covers one quarter of the first year of “our school”: Identity as a Child of God, Prophecy, Physical Healing, and Inner Healing. Even if this isn’t the right season for you to consider the school, come to the Intensive from 6–9 p.m., July 20–23 at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center in Norwood. I’m confident you’ll have a life-changing encounter with the Lord and leave with powerful tools for sharing the Gospel.