Dear friends,

We have just finished the first North American Alpha Conference for Catholics, here in Maryland, USA. About 580 people were present for the conference, from all over the US and Canada. There was a great mix of clergy, religious and laity. About 2/3's of the delegates were Catholic and 1/3 other Christians. The fact that Christians of a number of traditions were gathered together to learn about a practical way for parishes and congregations to evangelize was a wonderful testimony of Christian unity. Our Archbishop, William Cardinal Keeler, who was in Rome during the conference, had prepared a video greeting for the delegates and it really launched the conference on a very positive note. He encouraged the delegates for gathering to learn practical ways to respond to the call to evangelization, and noted that several of the parishes in the Archdiocese of Baltimore are already finding Alpha quite effective at helping people to personally encounter the Love of God in the context of the church. The level of enthusiasm of the delegates from the outset was very impressive, and now that we have looked at the evaluations of the conference it would seem that most of the delegates felt that the conference had been very helpful in equipping them with a realistic & practical means of evangelizing as parishes and other ministries.

The testimonies of faithful Catholics who had personally encountered the Lords love through Alpha, and those people who were not Christian who came to know the love of God and who have entered the Church, was extremely convincing of the importance of clearly, directly and simply telling others about the Lord Jesus and him crucified! The testimonies brought great joy to those listening. The reality of the Good News was among us! A pastor who shared with the delegates how Alpha was working in his parish, was personally touched hearing the story of a man who had not lived as a Christian who, as a result of attending Alpha, has been transformed, and now attends this pastors parish with his wife( a devout Catholic), who is a very grateful person!

It appears that the conference was successful, and the Lord's grace was very evident. As one example of this grace, close to 100 people volunteered to serve at the conference, which meant taking off a day or two from work since it was held on Monday and Tuesday. Most of the volunteers participated in Alpha courses that have been run their local parishes, and many expressed that they were grateful for the opportunity to serve since they had personally benefited from attending Alpha and wanted others to learn about it. The Holy Spirit was moving and providence was evident. For example, Leo Rudegeair, who works with me in CHRISTLIFE, was sending an e-mail to someone about the conference and the e-mail came back as undeliverable. Well, somehow it was delivered to someone else from Panama City, Panama, who ended up coming to the conference as a result of getting the e-mail. Jesus is Lord of cyberspace!

Please pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to give us opportunities to help equip Catholics and other Christians to share the love of God in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, here in North America and elsewhere. We deeply desire to respond to the call to the new evangelization and mission to the nations!

Other news . . .

Another Visit to the Vatican

David Payne, of the Catholic Alpha Office in England, and I had the opportunity to return to Rome for meetings recently. In January 1998 we met with Cardinal Stafford, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity . He had not only encouraged us in our work of evangelization, but challenged us to develop follow-up resources to help sustain the new life often found in Alpha. He pointed out that it was not only essential to help people to personally encounter God love in an new way, but to help sustain them in vitality of faith in an ongoing way.

We returned to update him about our library of post evangelization Catholic teaching videos (see below) and on the impressive growth of Alpha in the Catholic internationally. Cardinal Stafford was extremely encouraging about the goal (call) of CHRISTLIFE to share the love of God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. He said that he was struck with the personal conviction we have about this and that it is very powerful and that we should keep focused on this calling! From there we went on to have numerous meetings about Alpha for Catholics and our resources (11 meetings in 3 days!) including meetings with Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, the papal preacher, the Emmanuel School of Mission, and ICCRS International Council, and International Catholic Program of Evangelization (ICPE) directors, Mario & Anna Capello. We were very encouraged by the support we received while in Rome, and the opportunities to serve the Church that are occurring. Thanks for all of your prayers for this trip!

CHRISTLIFE RESOURCES:

In partnership with David Payne and the Catholic Alpha Office, we are producing a library of Catholic teaching videos. Our hope is that we will help to equip Catholics in living for Christ, and support evangelizing faith communities in parishes and other Catholic organizations. This last summer we produced our initial version of a series entitled, 'Touching Jesus Through the Church' presented by Marcellino D'Ambrosio, associate professor of theology at University of Dallas. The series is a basic look at the Church and sacraments which is now being used as a pilot program in a number of parishes in North America, as well as in Australia, and South Africa. Audio as well as video tapes are available.

Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M.Cap., will present a weekend retreat on, 'Drinking from the Wells of the Church,' May 29-31 in England. There will be seven talks that will be available in video and audio tapes. Fr. Cantalamessa formerly professor of history of early Christianity and head of the department of religious sciences at the University of Milan, serves as the preacher to the papal household.

In 2000 we hope to expand into areas of practical Christian living and evangelization. We will keep you posted on developments. Please pray for this area of mission, for God's blessing and financial provision.

School of Evangelization. Slovakia August 7-16,1999.

This summer we will return to Eastern Europe to serve at a school of evangelization. Dave Nodar will present a week of teaching on 'Charisms for Evangelization,' the school will host leaders from the Light- Life movement in Slovakia. Over 250 priests, religious and laity will attend. In addition the International School of Evangelization, held at the Redemptorist Monastery in Podilinec, Slovakia during the month of August will also participate. If you would like to join the prayer ministry team to help serve at the school please contact our office ASAP! It is a life changing experience to serve the church in Eastern Europe.

Please Pray! The foundation of all evangelization and mission is prayer (Mt.9:38).
We need more workers! The harvest is huge! As the opportunities grow so do the need for finances! Consider contributing to the work of CHRISTLIFE. Thanks!

Your brother,

Dave Nodar

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