Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a small country with a population of some 35,000 people, approximately 27,000 of whom are Catholic. There are five Catholic parishes in Gibraltar. The middle of the airport is the border between Gibraltar and Spain.

In 1991, Sr. Angeline Bukowiecki was invited by Henry Earle to come to Gibraltar to give an ACTS II Leadership Training to 34 people, 22 of whom were men.

What has been happening in Gibraltar is shared by Henry Earle -- portions of a report given at an ACCSE/2000 Meeting in Europe in May of 1995 that was held in Cracow, Poland.

" . . . Already two Schools of Formation have been held in the last three years, based on the "ACTS II" Process which a total of 40 lay people have completed . . . While the Schools were being held, a number of people from the first School -- our seasoned campaigners -- continued to meet in prayer in their own house groups and . . . continued their door-to-door evangelisation, in the Cathedral Parish with the blessing of Mgr. C. Caruana. An answer to prayer which has been extremely blessed. Every Thursday evening both house groups . . . meet in the Cathedral for a time of prayer and then leave to visit different . . . families.

"Around 140 homes have already been visited, 30 of which have asked for revisits. This initiative has been found to be extremely rewarding for both members of the School and people contacted. A general comment to be heard is:

"It's about time Catholics started doing something like this."

"Towards the end of 1994, it became obvious that we had merely scratched the surface and yet the fruits of our efforts were very evident. Closely working with our brothers in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, a "nationwide" campaign of door-to-door evangelisation was programmed and carried out. Over 9,000 homes were visited and the Word of God was shared in the vast majority of the homes . . . .

"It was then decided that several of our more experienced members would dedicate themselves to consolidating the results of the door-to-door evangelisation. This small team of members continues to work most diligently in their ministry and it is hoped that the fruits will become evident in the not too distant future. Many have done 'Life in the Spirit Seminars', 'Cursillos' and many have returned to the Church.

"A third School started on April 24th, 1995 . . . This School should finish some time in May, 1996.

"Finally, in the name of Our Lord Jesus, we wish to record our thanks to Sisters Angeline Bukowiecki, S.N.C., Brigid Meierotto, S.N.C., and Jan Natterman, S.N.C. for compiling and allowing us to use their materials for our School and our own Rt. Rev. Bishop B. Devlin, Bishop of Gibraltar, Mgr. C. Caruana and the rest of the clergy for all their support."

Thank you, Henry. We continue to pray for you and for all who have been trained in the ACTS II Process. And thank you for continuing to train parishioners in the Acts II Process.