SAR News Apr. 23, 2002 Sadhu Shilanand Pioneers a New Approach in Evangelisation
New Delhi: SAR News A Jesuit Brother, Sadhu Shilanand, calls it "Masihi Satsangh," which literally means Christian fellowship groups. It is a pleasant mixture of charismatic movement and traditional Indian style of katha-kirtan, or story-telling through songs. As a zealous missionary, Sadhu Shilanand is clear about his vision and mission: evangelisation of village folks through proclaiming the life and message of Christ through ways and means in which the people understand and feel at home. Sadhu Shilanand, born Silvester D'Souza at Mangalore, has a team of five lay people who are clued up on his vision and mission of evangelisation, the life and message of Jesus Christ and the catechism of the Catholic Church. Sadhu Shilanand told SAR News that he worked with a veteran Jesuit missionary, Fr. Ed Mann, in the village mission in Bihar and from his method of preaching and catechising the village people, he has learned a lot and developed his present method of evangelisation. "With this new approach, evangelisation has been taking place effectively in Patna Diocese since 1998," says Sadhu Shilanand. He has the whole of the four Gospels and the Acts composed in the form of traditional Ram Katha in local Bhojpuri and Maghi dialects, which even the illiterate villagers can understand. Usually his five-member team consisting of an animator, a singer, a preacher and drum-beater goes to a village or to a hostel in the village. The drum-beating and singing, usually late in the evening, begin to attract villagers. When people gather, the team acts out a real scene from the lives of the local people and then again with the help of the people, the scene is analysed. The animator leads the dialogue with the people. The message of the enacted scene is reinforced through singing and appropriate conclusion leading to repentance, reconciliation, etc. The people also participate actively as the final songs which usually involve dancing to the tune of the songs and drum-beating. "One village in my parish has only one Catholic family. But now after a programme by the Masihi Satsangh team, more and more people are keen to accept Jesus as their Saviour," says Jesuit Father Augustine of the Catholic Church at Basanni Kothi, Bihar. Another Parish Priest, Fr. Mathew Uzhuthal of Catholic Church, Mokama, Bihar wrote to Sadhu Shilanand: "Mr. Arun and Mr. Ajay, your team members, are really talented and hard working. They sing and speak to people convincingly and consistently the Catholic interpretations of the Bible passages in the dialect of the people. This helped even the illiterate people in the village to understand the message which they want to convey." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
