Due to geographical distances not allowing many people to access a Shalom Evangelization Center in their country, the online initiative for vocational training and awakening was born, it is called the INTERNET-ional Prayer Meeting. It is basically a monthly meeting in English with moments of prayer, preaching and sharing on how to make a vocational discernment.
Last Sunday, Shalom Catholic Community organized the first INTERNET-ional Prayer Meeting with the participation of young adults from different parts of the world, such as: Poland, Congo, Malaysia, Philippines, France, Italy, and Jamaica. Some of them joined through hangouts and others were connected through youtube.
Francesco Barlocco, a Shalom Community missionary from Italy presented the meeting with Justine Laferriere from France and Sebastian from Colombia. They started by inviting the participants to pray together, praising God and invoking the Holy Spirit, then Francesco talked about the history of the Community and to conclude Sebastian shared about how he has been called to be a missionary, followed by a moment for questions.
The INTERNET-ional Prayer Meeting is supported by Shalom Community’s Vocations Office, the idea of this online prayer meeting arose after having listened to some young people who had the wish to join a Shalom prayer group to deepen their experience with God and have a personal encounter with him, as well as to discover their vocation in the Church, but could not to do so because they live in places where there is no Shalom Community members.
God sends His disciples to the ends of the earth and, as a Church, He makes his children one, one family, one community and in that way He makes himself present in our lives. The internet can open many doors to approach us and to strengthen our bonds of faith. Especially for countries where faith is forbidden or inaccessible, an online prayer meeting can be a way to bring us closer to God and to the Church.
For more information about these international prayer meetings, please contact us at: vocations@comshalom.org
Revision: Gabriela Gois