One of the segments of formation has been weekly evangelization visits to a local college campus every week.
Evangelization was something new for Steven and it was also new for most fellow seminarians. In order to prepare them seminarians first receive training before going out in the field. A street ministry group came to offer them advice and tools. A big tool is to establish the relational aspect with others and keep the conversation positive.
One of the things that Steven likes to do is to offer people free rosaries in the hopes that it can spark a conversation. Steven has received a wide variety of responses, everything from insults to engagement and, unfortunately, indifference.
Evangelization provides a certain Joy. It is a beautiful exercise in trust. You may not know how your engagement ends up in sowing the seed of the Word and how people will eventually respond.
This experience has helped greatly in Steven’s pastoral formation. Being able to evangelize has offered a chance to integrate academics with the Real World. Engaging with evangelization tests what has been learned in school. A resulting benefit has been realizing what you need to work on and need to improve.