Ignorance of God’s Word Presents Opportunity to Deepen Evangelization: Laity in Nigeria Told

“As lay leaders, we must be creative to find solutions to some of these challenges, especially in addressing issues of poverty and the needs of our brothers and sisters,” Sir Ufuoma Okene said during the Friday, August 9 event that was organized under the theme, “Evangelii Gaudium and the challenge of living as missionary disciples.”

He added in his presentation that was titled, “Empowering Lay Apostolate For Missionary Discipleship In A Pluralistic Society”, “We will not achieve our mission as lay persons by just talking. We are called to   take the centre stage not merely by words but by our actions.”

The one-day event that was organized by the Evangelization Commission of Benin City ecclesiastical Province brought together the people of God from Benin City Archdiocese and the Dioceses of Auchi, Bomadi, Uromi, Warri, and Issele-Uku.

In his presentation, Sir Ufuoma Okene highlighted some of the initiatives in the Diocese of Port Harcourt which he said focuses on improving the knowledge of Catholic teachings and catechesis among the Lay as part of the efforts to foster evangelization.

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“The idea is to create incentives for learning the faith through catechism competitions, where prizes are won after families would have competed amongst themselves across parishes and deaneries,” he said.

He said that the project was successful because it helped to deepen the faith and improve family prayers.

Sir Ufuoma Okene said that the laypeople should continue to evangelize by not only living the Catholic faith but also learning it.

He said the Laity should also continue to evangelize by sharing the Catholic faith with others. “But for us to do that, we must then go back to our basic catholic roots of Catechesis,” he said.

“I dare argue that if we all take our catechesis seriously, evangelization becomes easier and it will help in spreading the faith, it will stem poaching from other denominations,” he said, adding “All these can only be possible if we expose our catechists to continuous training, reward system, and attract quality hands, as well as encourage volunteers.”

In his presentation Sir Ufuoma Okene appealed to the collective consciences of the laypeople, emphasizing the need to begin the work of God and fulfill the mission of Christ and the Church.

He said that Jesus also looks to the Laity as His hands in helping and healing the world, and to be His feet, reaching out to the poor, the oppressed, the prisoners, the lonely, and the sick.

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The KSJI official said that the Lord wants the Laity to be His mouth, speaking the truth and confronting the lies and deception of the evil one.

Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.