Those who have attended conferences with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) or encountered their ministry in some way have heard of the win-build-send model of evangelization.
This three-step method of evangelization is the model used by FOCUS missionaries and is the model they pass along to their students. It is a way of walking people through encountering Jesus, transforming their lives to conform to His will, and going out to help others do the same.
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To learn more about this method of evangelization, I highly recommend Making Missionary Disciples by Curtis Martin, the founder of FOCUS.
The Win Build Send Model of Evangelization
The three steps of this model are as follows:
Win
In this step, we lead others to encounter Jesus in a transforming way that helps them commit to being His disciples.
When we walk people through this step, we witness to them through our example the transformation Jesus works. We walk with people in friendship, pray intentionally for them, and eventually share the Gospel.
Build
Once people have committed to being disciples of Jesus, we then build people up in the faith.
Through intentional formation, teaching people how to pray, helping them have fellowship with other disciples, and encouraging reception of the sacraments, we teach people how to deepen their discipleship into an ever-burning flame instead of something that fizzles out.
Send
In this step, we teach people the model of evangelization and guide them into putting it into action in their spheres of influence.
In his book, Curtis Martin notes that Jesus engaged in this model, especially with His Apostles. He spent three years sharing life with them and helping them encounter Him as God’s Son. He taught them how to live as disciples, pray, and the sacraments, and brought them into a community. Ultimately, He sent them out to share the Gospel with others.
When we follow this model of evangelization, we don’t wait for people to come to us. Instead, we go out to meet people, to encounter them in their daily lives, and to share life with them.
And, when we go out into people’s lives, the odds are incredibly high that we will encounter the brokenness of trauma and its impacts. So, integrating trauma-informed principles can help us make our efforts more fruitful and healing. Below, we’ll touch on how to do this.
Overarching Considerations for Implementing Trauma-Informed Principles Into the Win Build Send Model of Evangelization
1: Ask the right questions
When we go out into the world to encounter others, the odds are high that we will discover much brokenness and patterns of sin and behavior that can be hard to explain.
It can be tempting to jump to judgment when we encounter things like addiction, violence, relationship problems, and more.
When we are trauma-informed, however, we can see people who struggle with the eyes of Jesus, who encountered brokenness with compassion and love. We can ask ourselves, “What might have happened to this person to cause this?” instead of assuming something is wrong with them. We can see that these patterns might be an attempt to cope with wounds they have experienced. With the eyes of Jesus, we can then help the person encounter the Lord and His mercy and healing.
2: Improve your knowledge
To be trauma-informed in our evangelization efforts, we need to improve our knowledge in two areas:
- Knowledge about trauma and its effects
- Healing resources
When we have this knowledge, we can better see how patterns of brokenness may be due to trauma and attempts to cope with it. We can see how distorted views of God, difficulties with prayer, relationship difficulties, violence, addiction, mental health difficulties, and more may be due to trauma, and we respond with compassion, love, and mercy.
And, when we know that a person is struggling due to wounds, we can know how to help them find healing, whether it be a helpful book, finding a good Catholic therapist, or a healing retreat.
You can learn more about the effects of trauma here and find Catholic healing resources here.
3: Seek to Avoid Retraumatization
Retraumatization occurs when something in a person’s environment reminds them of past trauma, and they re-experience the trauma as if it is happening again. Retraumatization can hamper the healing process, so avoiding it as much as possible is essential.
Things like betrayal, boundary violations, and environments that feel unsafe are common triggers of retraumatization. Here are some practical considerations for avoiding these:
- If hosting or attending events, ensure the environment is well-lit, avoids blocking exits, is secure, and avoids loud, sudden noises.
- Create welcoming environments. Simple things like learning names, providing food, and ensuring people are not off alone can help create this.
- Respect boundaries. Ensure people can control how much information they disclose to you.
- Keep consistent schedules and rules.
- Keep communication open and respectful.
- Keep promises
Suggestions for the Win Stage
Research has shown numerous times that faith and community are fundamental to healing from trauma. Unfortunately, trauma causes damage to these very healing things, which might keep people away from the Church and Christ’s healing love and grace. Therefore, when we evangelize and seek the lost and hurting, we must remember this.
When we are in the win stage with someone, working to help them encounter the Lord, it may be helpful to share stories of healing as part of your witness. However, be aware that when sharing stories of your wounds, these may bring up traumatic memories of others. If you notice someone is reacting with anxiety or hostility, work to help them re-regulate through listening, compassion, deep breathing, or praying together, without forcing them to tell you what memories were brought up.
Additionally, when inviting people to events and into conversations, allow them to have control over what they attend and talk about, as not doing so can lead to retraumatization if a person feels they lack control or their boundaries have been violated.
Suggestions for the Build Stage
As you walk someone through how to pray, read Scripture, and Church teaching, it is essential to know that difficulties with this step can also be due to trauma. Instead of becoming defensive, listen patiently to a person’s struggles, help them understand, and if things come up that may require professional help, refer them to healing resources. Additionally, as noted in the win stage, continue to ensure they have control over conversations and attendance.
Additionally, an essential aspect of being trauma-informed is seeking to build resilience. Resilience is an important ability that can help people to heal from trauma. By teaching people about faith and instilling in them the habits of disciples, we can help them build resilience. You can learn more here.
Suggestions for the Send Stage
Finally, as we guide people in their evangelization efforts, we should also take the time to help them learn how to be trauma-informed in their own evangelization, as being trauma-informed can help us better serve others and be an image of Christ for them.
Conclusion
The win-build-send model of evangelization has proven to be effective. Additionally, research has demonstrated that trauma-informed principles help people better engage with healing and offerings in various settings, such as education and medicine. Pairing these two models together could be extremely powerful and help us bring Christ’s healing love to those who have struggled to accept Him and His Church because of wounds.
To learn more about trauma-informed principles, visit this page.
To learn more about the win-build-send model of evangelization, see Curtis Martin’s book Making Missionary Disciples.
How will you apply trauma-informed principles in your evangelization?