Dear Friend of CHRISTLIFE,

As we move towards the celebration of the Great Jubilee, we are preparing for our fourth annual conference in support of the Holy Father's themes of preparation. This years theme is: Touching The Father's Heart: Preparing for the Great Jubilee. The conference will be held on November 5 & 6 in Columbia, Maryland. Speakers include Fr. John Delclos, Leo Rudegeair and Dave Nodar
This month, we would like to focus on our work with Schools of Evangelization in central and eastern Europe over the last year. Members of CHRISTLIFE had the privilege of training and speaking to over 12,000 people. To see the great outpouring of God's grace and mercy for the Church in these nations is truly life changing! In October '98, we served in a school of evangelization in Presov, Slovakia for 250 priests, religious, and laity. We also spoke at a conference on the theme of preparation for the Great Jubilee, with the focus on the Holy Spirit. 7,000 people attended the conference.
In August, our team from CHRISTLIFE presented a week long School of Evangelization in Slovakia for 220 priests, religious, and laity on the topic, Charisms for Evangelization. At the end of the school students had 2 opportunities to practice what we had been learning. On Friday, teams went either to a military base, a hospital, or to the streets to proclaim the Good News. On Saturday, the students served as prayer teams at the conference we held on The Father's Healing Love. 3,500 people came to hear the good news that God our Father loves us and wants us to come to him through his son, Jesus! It was a wonderful day filled with many wonderful testimonies of God's goodness.
During this summer there were also schools of evangelization in Poland, Ukraine and in Slovakia sponsored by friends that we help support financially and with personnel. The men and women from these countries who sponsor these schools are pioneers of the 'New Evangelization and mission ad gentes. Catholics are being trained to evangelize in parishes, town centers, and to the nations! Priests, religious, and lay people are caught up in a Catholic evangelical lifestyle that burns with fervor for Christ. It is a tremendous witness to the love of Christ to see these teams composed of men and women from countries that frequently express great historical hatred and resentments, loving one another and proclaiming, "Jesus is Lord." It is bearing good fruit and, I believe, is what Pope John Paul refers to as "signs of a new springtime of Christianity!"
Below are 2 testimonies from those who attended the school and the conference. They sum up the love of God and the reality of how he is mobilizing Catholics for the work of evangelization! May he be praised!

From Fr. Dusan Lukac, a diocesan priest in Slovakia:
The time in Presov has made a change in my life so I would like to share my experience with you. Before coming to the School I had lots of questions and not many answers as to how I can live my life as a Catholic priest in the power of the Holy Spirit. I knew this power in the sacraments but was not sure how this was to be in the area of evangelization. I understood theoretically how this should happen, but I had never experienced the power of God's grace for evangelization at my parish. When I came to the school in Presov, I wanted to stay only for a day to learn and hear some new things. When I heard that we would actually go out and evangelize, I felt aversion and fear! But the Lord was changing my life in those days. I saw that before this time many people seemed unpleasant to me because of their faults. Suddenly I began to feel the need of forgiveness. My heart grieved for my sins - criticizing others. Then I experienced how the people I had criticized before were serving me. I was full of joy from the fellowship with others! I saw that the Lord was showing me that he was not able to work when I was not willing to share him with everyone, including those in the streets. He showed me that I boxed him into our parish church only and so I was producing everything myself - my work. I began to feel a strong desire to see him working and to take part in HIS WORK! I actually had a desire to go out and preach although I did not know how to do it! I did not care what I would look like, what people would say about me. I felt the hunger to help people to know his love!
The culmination happened during the Conference on the Father's Healing Love held on Saturday. Never before had I known in this way the great joy that the Lord is still alive! I was pleased I could serve in the prayer teams, I was not alone but part of the beautiful body of Jesus Christ. I had never before experienced people's hearts opening and the Lord talking to them through us. Many of them received grace from the Lord for their pains and grief. Many of them were liberated from their chains. One lady said: "I need to experience the Love of God." I smiled at her and told her: "This is very simple." She asked me: "How can you be so sure?" I answered: "Today is a wonderful day when the Father is celebrated and He is allowing us to know His Love. I know you will experience it." Then we laid our hands upon her. We had never prayed such a simple prayer. We prayed, "More of your Love, Lord. More Love." In a few seconds she started laughing and praying in a new language, as she said she was filled with the Father's love! When I looked through the hall, I saw lots of my friends who were priests and laity, doing the same, people were coming and my friends were praying and people were experiencing the Father's Love. God was touching them. Never before had I known the joy that I encountered in the privilege to kneel down before sinners feet and to serve them. It was magnificent! I think, we have entered into the new experience of our lives with the Holy Spirit. Thank God, He gives it to us gratis!

From a young man:
My name is Peter, I am 24 and I am a good example of a prodigal son. I was brought up with big love of my parents. They gave me everything that they had, including traditional Catholic faith. But when I was 13, I decided to go my own way. I began with heavy metal music, alcohol, later when I was seventeen, I began using pills, when 18, marijuana. When I turned 19, I had my first experience with heroin and later on with other drugs. By the time I was 23 I had already gone through 3 anti-drugs treatments centers, but unsuccessfully. I couldn't help myself. I was in such bad physical shape, that my hands were shaking and I was sick every day because of the damage done to my stomach. When I saw myself in a mirror, I had the temptation to break it and to cut myself with it. While in this condition, one my friends who had converted to Christ at the evangelization program in the Franciscan church in Presov, 2 months earlier, invited me to come to the conference in the sports arena. I accepted his invitation. As soon as I entered the hall, something started happening in me, after half an hour I was experiencing a sense of melting, I was very hardened and I was becoming soft, for no apparent reason, without convincing or preaching. I did not know what it was, but I knew I wanted it. Somehow I knew the whole place was filled with God's glory and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Dave Nodar spoke about God's love and it went straight to my heart. After the teaching, I went to a place where people could pray and ask Jesus to be the center of their lives, I felt something unbelievable - a living person standing in front of me. I knew it was Jesus. Before that I had taken him as one the gurus. But that very moment I was given grace to know he was the Lord, the Son of God. I experienced a strong light, burning love, total acceptance, absolute love. I felt myself like wax and that love was melting me. I began to sweat, cry, and shake. There is a saying, that a drug addict is healed the moment his coffin is closed. I didn't wait to close a coffin. Jesus did that for me. I was accepted to the home of my Father, to the Catholic Church. I live now in the fellowship of the people who love me and I love them. My whole view of life was changed. The Gospel is truth. God is alive and personal, and everybody can meet Him personally. Glory and praise for everything to our loving God! [Since Peter's encounter with the love of God a year ago, he has been completely drug free!]

Other news . . .
By the time you receive this newsletter we will be distributing our new video production, 'Drink From The Wells of The Church!' by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM.Cap, the Papal preacher. It is seven life transforming teachings on living for Christ as Catholics.

This November 1-3, in England, Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio will be redoing 'Touching Jesus Through The Church.' It will be a more basic introduction to the Church, sacraments, and Catholic life to follow the Alpha course. Please keep this project in your prayers! Video projects of this type are very expensive to produce so we continue to ask for your financial support as we attempt to develop practical ways to help serve the Church with these resources.

With sincere appreciation for your loving partnership in prayer, service, and financial gifts!
your brother,

Dave Nodar
Director

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