“The love of Christ impels us” to proclaim Christ. (2 Cor 5:14, NABRE)
“You must have the courage to speak about Christ, to bear witness to your faith through a lifestyle inspired by the Gospel.” (St. Pope John Paul II at World Youth Day 1989)
Diocese of Cape Palmas
Fr. Prince Sieh kicked off Renewal Ministries’ recent mission to Liberia by celebrating Mass for our team and the St. Theresa Cathedral community. He welcomed our team and the sixty-five participants taking part in the evangelization training, which included daily Mass, prayer times, and teachings.
Later, the team met with Bishop Andrew Karnley, of the Cape Palmas Diocese. He expressed his excitement as he welcomed us and expressed the need for his people to be equipped to reach more souls with the Gospel message.
The program concluded with a parish revival at the cathedral.
Participants share that they were greatly inspired by our teachings on evangelization:
“Even though I am a devout Catholic, going out to evangelize is not something that has been encouraged. Now, I have been challenged to step out and share the Gospel.”
“I wish I had known this at the beginning of my ministry. After this training, there is so much more that I can do and accomplish for the Lord.”
“How I wish this could be extended to every Catholic, because most of us don’t know there is a place for lay faithful in evangelization. If this training is organized for all Catholics, we would understand that we have a collective responsibility of going out to evangelize.”
“Not everyone we see in our parishes knows Jesus. I have been encouraged to start doing door-to-door evangelization, especially to members of our parishes and lapsed Catholics who have stopped coming to church.”
Dioceses of Gbanga and Monrovia
In the Gbanga Diocese, we visited Bishop Anthony Richard Bowah. We spent hours with him speaking about many things, especially the challenges within the diocese.
He expressed his commitment to collaborating with us to ensure our annual mission to Liberia becomes very fruitful. He appreciates our help addressing various challenges and misconceptions about the Catholic faith within the diocese.
Ninety-five participants from the two dioceses took part in our evangelization training program, which included Masses, prayer times, teachings, and practical outreach.
Bishop Bowah encouraged participants to take all the teachings seriously and thanked the two priests for their willingness to learn. He openly expressed his joy in Renewal Ministries’ presence and support.
One participant remarked, “I hardly see Catholics going out to preach. The closest I have seen is my priest going to visit sick parishioners. No one has ever taught us to go out and preach the Gospel.”
Another participant shared, “These documents give me proof that evangelization is indeed our Catholic identity.”
Evangelization & Pilgrimage
We sent participants out in groups to proclaim the Gospel—and the response was very positive! One group met a middle-aged woman who had never been to church. After speaking with her, she accepted Jesus and promised to come to Sunday Mass. Another group met a shopkeeper who agreed to let them share the Gospel with her. While they were speaking, she sent away people who wanted to buy things from her, because she didn’t want to be distracted from their message. She accepted the Lord Jesus and asked the group to pray for her.
After the training, our team joined in the annual diocesan pilgrimage and led a night of prayer after the pilgrimage’s opening Mass. We started with praise and worship, followed by a short-yet-powerful exhortation that examined God’s readiness to turn the situations of men around, regardless of how far we have gone from Him.
The following morning, we did a nearly ten-mile prayer walk and Stations of the Cross. The pilgrimage continued with a penitential service followed by adoration and prayer for inner healing. Priests heard individual confessions, and then there was the celebration of the Eucharist, a candlelight procession, and the rosary.
Closing Mass and Commissioning of Participants
At the end of the pilgrimage, Bishop Borwah reiterated his appreciation to the team. He also re-emphasized his commitment to support our work and the growth of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal within his diocese.
The bishop encouraged all who were present, including his priests, to be open to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, as he believes this is a movement established by the Holy Spirit to revive the Church. He shared that his fellow bishops from other parts of the continent testify to the positive influence of the renewal in strengthening the spirituality of their dioceses and assisting their growth.
We thank God for his faithfulness throughout this mission and for the privilege of being vessels through which the message of the Gospel could reach the people of Liberia!
This article originally appeared in Renewal Ministries’ September 2025 newsletter.
Emmanuel Tamakloe began sharing the Good News with the youth in schools and parishes in Ghana after discipleship training in 1996. The Lord continued to open doors for him during the next three years through parish missions, rallies, retreats, conferences, and a school of evangelization. He first worked with Renewal Ministries in 1999, at the school of evangelization in Akim Swedru, Ghana. He currently works full time with the National Office of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Ghana as coordinator for missions, formation, and praise and worship ministries. He has traveled to Liberia, Europe, and parts of the United States, sharing the Gospel in parishes and among Ghanaian communities in the diaspora. Emmanuel, his wife, and their daughter live in Kumasi, Ghana. He is now serving as the Renewal Ministries’ country coordinator in Ghana, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Liberia.
rmartin@renewalministries.net
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I am in awe reading about the work of the Renewal Ministry in liberia and other West African countries and some East African countries.
At my Parish St Thoma the Apostle Catholic in Smyrna in Atlanta GA we have a charismatic Prayer group. Its awesome as we read the Bible and pray. W also have an Evangelization ministry . Our activities are within the Parish among members. Its huge and so groups are created within the ministry who meet weekly and pray and discuss the word of God and its impact on our lives and the lives of our neighbors. We encourage Parishioners to attend our activities such as preparing blessing bags for the homeless during the month of October and beyond. Its tough having an outreach that goes to the neighborhoods due to the spate of violence in the states. The culture is different from what obtains in Africa.
Thank you for all you do bringing more souls to the Catholic Church in Africa and demystifying false beliefs of people about the Catholic faith.