Who is involved in the apostolate of accompaniment? 55
relationship of accompaniment. Spirit-filled evangelization of the one ac-
companied occurs also because of the mentor's example and witness. In
accompaniment, a mentor must also testify to their own love and experience
of Jesus Christ both explicitly by sharing their own experiences of faith, but
also implicitly through their friendship with the one they accompany. In fa-
cilitating accompaniment, the mentor strives to invite the one accompanied
more closely into the community of the Church in order to empower them
to be a missionary disciple:
This missionary vision cannot be accomplished with-
out shared effort by the whole church community.
(Living as Missionary Disciples, 2)
In evangelizing the one they accompany, the mentor assists in strength-
ening their bond to the Church; to strengthen this bond, the mentor en-
courages them to participate in the sacramental life, use their gifts to build
up the Church in unique ways, share the intentions and responsibilities of
the mission of the Church, and take an active role in their identity as an
evangelizer.
Though accompaniment has varied applications and several objectives,
Spirit-filled evangelization is its core component. If the mentor properly ac-
companies by first evangelizing them, those accompanied will be formed to
take an active role in the mission of evangelization. As Living as Missionary
Disciples details, the one accompanied who experiences life-giving forma-
tion and transformation in Christ through accompaniment is formed to be
an evangelizer:
After reflecting, praying, and experiencing a deep conversion and
renewed confidence in the gospel message, a follower of Christ
goes outward to evangelize others. The evangelized becomes the
evangelizer. This involves outreach to those inactive in their faith,
as well as embracing the mission ad gentes (to the nations). A
community of renewed believers continues to go outward, ul-
timately leading to the evangelization of society and culture.
Evangelizing the culture furthermore involves bringing the gift of
communio (communion) to secularism, relativism, materialism, and
individualism. (Living As Missionary Disciples, 8)