The Joy of Helping Someone in Ministry

Back in 2018, when I left my executive career in corporate America to become an Evangelist for the Catholic Faith, I was never so clueless in my life. Who did I think I was? I didn’t even know my own pastor! I had no Catholic network, and I had no idea how to write, design, and publish a book or build a website or even who to contact to speak. The dread of this decision was quite apparent at the beginning of my ministry – I was all alone. How do you know you are doing God’s Will? The doors keep opening and God puts people in your way to help like He did Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. God sent me a lot of Philips!

Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” So, he invited Philip to get in and sit with him (Acts 8:30-31).

I distinctly recall God putting secular, Catholic, and religious people in my way at different times at the beginning of my ministry, based on the talents I needed. Sometimes it was at the eleventh hour after many tears, but those were moments where I now know I was being tested with my trust in His plan and to fall back on prayer, which was not so much a part of my daily life in the beginning.

This is where God put a priest/Spiritual Director in my life and others who helped me navigate the “Catholic world” who were more than happy to talk to me and help me share the Catholic Faith as only I can. One person I have to thank is a columnist here with Catholic Stand, Pete Socks, who introduced me to Melanie Juneau, who is the Editor in Chief of Catholic Stand. My first “interview” for your reading pleasure with Melanie. Shortly thereafter, I started writing my own column. It is fun to see how I have grown in how I have shared the Glory of God in my life because in the beginning, it was more about me.

But as it is, God placed the parts, each one of them, in the body as he intended. If they were all one part, where would the body be? But as it is, there are many parts, yet one body (1 Corinthians 12:18-20).

It was hard for me not to put the entire 1 Corinthians 12 chapter in this article, please read it. I stress this because we all have different talents. One thing that struck my heart was how kind and helpful people were to me on this new journey and, continue to be! As I reflect on how many people have had a part in my ministry, it truly blows me away. I come from the cut-throat corporate world where that is hard to find outside of a close network. I would like to thank anyone who happens to read this who spent some of your precious time giving me advice, praying, lending me your talents, making introductions, helping me spiritually grow and just plain loving me. We are Jesus’ hands, feet, and voice here to help bring the Gospel truth to this Anti-Christ society and many of us are working our ministries alone. Whenever I felt alone, God put someone there to be with me, what a journey of new friendships.

Over the past few days, I spent a lot of time talking to a couple of people in the Catholic world about THEIR ministries! Kevin and Mary O’Neill are speakers, authors, and parents of nine beautiful children. Nicole Abisinio is a former Hollywood Actress/Producer who when converted, became a Catholic Producer/Actress.  I felt called to share these two ministries with as many people as I can because they are in such need in today’s society. Thank you, God, for this moment to be a Philip to others and recall that we need to lift each other up – like Iron sharpens Iron.

Iron is sharpened by iron; one person sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17).

Would you say you are equipped to pass on the true Catholic Faith and all its theological correctness and T/tradition according to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and the Catechism? My personal answer would be a categorical, “No!” You don’t have to worry, Kevin and Mary did it for you.

As parents of nine children, who initially relied on books to help them pass on the faith, they realized how the true faith was NOT accurately or biblically portrayed correctly. A passion was lit in these parents and ‘The Building Blocks of Faith’ series was birthed. They cleverly use Lego characters as entertaining illustrations that will keep your children engaged and BONUS – you and your children will learn the faith together. I was amazed at how much I learned.

The key is handing down the true Catholic Faith to people in our lives, many of us have outsourced this to our parish and teachers for too long. It’s time to learn more about our faith ourselves, I highly recommend you get these books even if you don’t have children.  And remember, the key to the faith walk is to learn like a child, which will happen with these books.

Speaking of children, it is a very scary world we live in today and technology makes it easier to abduct, abuse, and traffic the most vulnerable in our society. The evil ruler of this world likes to downplay the prevalence of this horrific crisis in the media and yet we can see it growing exponentially worldwide and with the open borders in America. Nicole Abisinio is a warrior in the fight against the evil people and forces that set out to destroy our children. She stars in and produces, “The Advocate”, an Original PureFlix Series that begins streaming episodes on December 24, 2022. The narrative drama series will help you and those you love to identify and arm yourself for these kinds of attacks.

The first episode is Nicole’s true childhood story of protecting her classmates and helping to take down a predator at nine years old. This series not only educates on the pervasiveness but also the tactics and defenses we need to keep safe in the wicked world in which we live. Nicole has had numerous first-hand experiences with this evil, praise God, who put her in a home with a mother who was a Child Abuse Detective and in situations where she could call on God’s grace and her critical thinking skills. God has prepared her for this fight her whole life. He has armed her spiritually and with talents to bring the horror of child abuse and trafficking into the light for its destruction.

Certainly, sons are a gift from the LORD, the fruit of the womb, a reward (Psalm 127:3).

I am more than happy to promote both ministries to help us protect our children from the grips of Satan in the world. www.uponthisblock.com  The Advocate If you would like any advice with starting, promoting, or building your ministry I am more than happy to have a chat! Just send me an email to kendra@kendravonesh.com and may we all do our part as The Body of The Church to protect and teach our children what they need to know to fight the spiritual battle each day.