The role of basic Christian communities in Evangelization in Rubindi Parish in light of Redemptoris Missio

Abstract

The Mission of Christ the Redeemer, which is entrusted to the church, is still very far from completion. As the second millennium after Christ‟s coming draws to an end, an overall view of the human race shows that this mission is still only beginning and that we must commit ourselves wholeheartedly to its service (John Paul II, 1990, no. 1). The universality of salvation means that it is granted not only to those who explicitly believe in Christ and have entered the church but must also be made concretely available to all and for all (John Paul, 1990, no. 10) with the missionary mandate of Christ (Mt 28:18- 20) and the Holy Spirit as the principle animator. The Church as a means has found it necessary first and foremost to strive to establish Christian communities everywhere, communities which are a sign of the presence of God in the world and which grow until they become Churches (John Paul II, 1990, no. 49). These small communities however, are faced with many challenges; majority of them are oriented to collective mobilization of church funds instead of spiritual orientation, poor parish policies, low reception of sacraments, no or less gospel sharing and under empowerment to perform their duties. Such state of affairs shows that there is a loophole in their efficiency and effectiveness. It creates a gap and urgent need for a solution, which the researcher sought to arrive at through finding out The Role of Basic Christian Communities in evangelization. This was done under the guidance of three specific objectives: to explore on the meaning of evangelization; to find out the challenges facing the SCCs on evangelization and investigate ways through which SCCs can effectively participate in evangelization. The research employed a survey and case study designs, and through questionnaires, interviews, observation and focused group discussions of several groups of people, information was attained. The researcher found out that: materialism, absence of exemplary leaders, insignificant participation of the youth, lack of sensitization and evangelization programmes, the big gap between the rich and the poor are some of the challenges. The researcher recommended that the above problems can be solved by: training workshops on SCCs, bible reading and sharing in SCCs, children and youth programmes, economic empowerment, formation of SCC Leaders, implementation of relevant pastoral activities for SCCs among many other solutions.