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There is something endlessly compelling about a “prodigal son” story, and the story of Steve Dawson, founder of St. Paul Street Evangelization, recalls unforgettable converts like St. Augustine or St. Paul.
After chasing all the glittering promises the world has to offer, Dawson found them to be empty show. His pursuit of pleasure led him to the life-changing moment he shares in his recent call-to-arms memoir, Catholic Evangelization: Stories of Conversion and Witness:
I hit rock bottom. I was sick of my empty life… I couldn’t go on living like this. It was then that I made a challenge to an unknown God, the last-ditch effort of a man whose self-styled life was not working.
I remember kneeling in my parents’ backyard, letting the wetness of the grass seep through my jeans. I set down my bottle of Jack Daniel's, looked up at the sky, and prayed the first real prayer I had ever prayed: God, if You’re real, You’ll have to show me.
This first honest prayer led him on an intense journey of discovery, until, he writes, “Much to my chagrin, the religion I didn’t want to be true, the one my mom always seemed to be pushing on me, turned out to be the goal of my intellectual search.”
Against all odds, Dawson not only became Catholic but also founded a street evangelization ministry that spread like wildfire around the globe.
Awe-inspiring stories
Today St. Paul Street Evangelization is an international apostolate that has grown to hundreds of teams in seven countries in just a few years.
How did Dawson go from a lifestyle of drinking, drugs, and hedonism to founding his hugely successful street evangelization ministry? This dramatic story forms the first part of Dawson’s can’t-put-it-down book.
And then, after his own story, we get to enjoy and wonder at powerful stories of conversion and witness from other street evangelists.
The storytellers are ordinary Catholics who have come to love Christ so much that now they talk about Him with total strangers in public places—street corners, parks, and shopping areas. They aren't theologians or highly trained apologists, yet their simple missionary efforts have yielded amazing results.
The joy of sharing Good News
The book's easy conversational style shows how all of us baptized Christians are called to be missionaries. And their stories reveal the joy and fulfillment that come from sharing the good news of God's mercy.
Some of these stories can hardly be believed, like that of the inner-city Chicago gang leader who survived nine gunshots, then turned his life around to serve as street evangelist to the men who shot him. The witness of his life and many others in the world of St. Paul Street Evangelization reveal the wild power of God’s grace and mercy.
Why would anyone do street evangelization, sharing the Gospel with complete strangers in the public square? How do street evangelists even pull off this ministry, and with such amazing success? You’ll understand after reading this book.
Catholic Evangelization: Stories of Conversion and Witness leaves the reader simply in awe at the miracle of God’s grace, active and alive in the world today.
