Prairie Messenger Catholic Journal
October 2, 2011
Local Alpha Course Goes Global
By Frank Flegel
REGINA — Ten years ago when the Alpha course was first offered at Holy Child Parish, there was no thought of the people involved going anywhere else. The concentration was to get the course up and running at their own parish, but a funny thing happened on the way: Holy Child became a resource church for Alpha Canada and it now has a global training team that will go to Buenos Aires in October.
The Alpha course began in the late 1970s in London, England through the efforts of Anglican Priest Nicky Gumbel. It teaches the basic principles and beliefs of Christianity and what is common to all Christian denominations. It quickly spread to other nations, mostly through word of mouth.
Four years ago, the London organization decided to establish global training teams to train trainers in nations that requested help. Two years ago that opportunity came to the team at Holy Child Parish.
“We made an application to Alpha International to tell them we’re prepared to go. They check us out and they place us,” said Ramona Rodych, who along with Carole Chobot is an Alpha coach.
“Alpha is offered in more than 50 languages in over 150 countries, but there are still corners of the world who don’t have the resources or can’t afford to bring Alpha in, so we teach them how to run a course on a minimum of resources. We teach them how to give the talks rather than use the DVD.” said Rodych.
Last year the team travelled to Arica and Santiago, Chile. There are five members of the team: Rodych and Chobot, Dave Chobot, Therese Nemeth and Dennis Ziegler. Rodych said there from 12-15 on the parish team who help in fund-raising. The team is voluntary, receives no financial support from London and raises its own funds to make the trip. This year that cost is between $12-13,000.
The team will be at the Heart of Jesus Parish in Buenos Aires Oct. 25-Nov. 2 for a three-day training session.
“We teach the hows and the whys and philosophy of the course,” said Rodych. “After the weekend we hope to be involved in some type of outreach before heading home.”
This year they’re examining a visit to a food bank and an orphanage and they’ve also been offered an invitation to a prison. Rodych said they didn’t have time for any outreach service in Santiago or Arica so they donated about $400 to ministries in each location, money in excess of what the trip required.
If there is time, the team also tries to get in some sightseeing.
October 2, 2011
Local Alpha Course Goes Global
By Frank Flegel
REGINA — Ten years ago when the Alpha course was first offered at Holy Child Parish, there was no thought of the people involved going anywhere else. The concentration was to get the course up and running at their own parish, but a funny thing happened on the way: Holy Child became a resource church for Alpha Canada and it now has a global training team that will go to Buenos Aires in October.
The Alpha course began in the late 1970s in London, England through the efforts of Anglican Priest Nicky Gumbel. It teaches the basic principles and beliefs of Christianity and what is common to all Christian denominations. It quickly spread to other nations, mostly through word of mouth.
Four years ago, the London organization decided to establish global training teams to train trainers in nations that requested help. Two years ago that opportunity came to the team at Holy Child Parish.
“We made an application to Alpha International to tell them we’re prepared to go. They check us out and they place us,” said Ramona Rodych, who along with Carole Chobot is an Alpha coach.
“Alpha is offered in more than 50 languages in over 150 countries, but there are still corners of the world who don’t have the resources or can’t afford to bring Alpha in, so we teach them how to run a course on a minimum of resources. We teach them how to give the talks rather than use the DVD.” said Rodych.
Last year the team travelled to Arica and Santiago, Chile. There are five members of the team: Rodych and Chobot, Dave Chobot, Therese Nemeth and Dennis Ziegler. Rodych said there from 12-15 on the parish team who help in fund-raising. The team is voluntary, receives no financial support from London and raises its own funds to make the trip. This year that cost is between $12-13,000.
The team will be at the Heart of Jesus Parish in Buenos Aires Oct. 25-Nov. 2 for a three-day training session.
“We teach the hows and the whys and philosophy of the course,” said Rodych. “After the weekend we hope to be involved in some type of outreach before heading home.”
This year they’re examining a visit to a food bank and an orphanage and they’ve also been offered an invitation to a prison. Rodych said they didn’t have time for any outreach service in Santiago or Arica so they donated about $400 to ministries in each location, money in excess of what the trip required.
If there is time, the team also tries to get in some sightseeing.
