Ottawa Lake teen's essay wins state award

OTTAWA LAKE — Mia Shinaver, a 10th-grader from Ottawa Lake, was a state winner in this year's Catholic Citizenship Essay Contest offered by the Knights of Columbus. This year's essat theme was "How can the church evangelize in the digital age?" More than 40 essays were submitted by students in eighth through 12th grades. They were judged by high school teachers on content, grammar and style. Mia will now compete for the national award.

Mia is the daughter of Joshua and Sarah Shinaver. Her dad has been a knight with Our Lady of Mount Carmel Council 8902 of Temperance for about two years. Mia and her younger brother, Greyson, are altar servers at church.

Here is Mia’s essay, "Evangelization in the Digital Age"

Present-day technology has many uses, and while some uses are better than others, the devices of today can be used to help share the word of Christ. Modern uses of technology, such as social media (the most well-known example), can be used to evangelize Christ and share God with those who need Him. There are many more ways to do this now than ever before, especially compared to during times like the 1800-30s (the Revival movement) or during Jesus’ time, when news had to be delivered by hand (and on foot!).

One way you can share and evangelize Christ using modern technology is by sharing your testimony on social media. According to Shane Pruitt, a Christian social media influencer, “There is a chance that hundreds, if not thousands, of people could watch it.” Social media has a way of reaching out to people you wouldn’t usually talk to, and your followers could share it with other people. When you post something online, it will be there forever, no matter what you do. While this is a negative component of social platforms, but it is also a positive; any words you say can be searched from and found over and over and shared many times as well. There is really no limit to how many people can see your story, especially if it is impacting or memorable.

Another way to proclaim God’s word is to share the gospel weekly (or to post daily Bible quotes!) on various forms of social media. “A resource you can draw from is the Bible. This one may seem obvious, but in looking for the most relevant and impactful things to share, we can sometimes forget to go straight to the source. When you share Scripture verses, you could be getting God’s Word in front of someone who otherwise would not read the Bible on their own,” states Deacon Rick, who is not only a deacon in the church, but a Catholic online journalist. Deacon Rick also states that “you can help spread the Gospel by sharing the words of others. There is so much great content out there for you to share. It might be a Christian blog post you read, the story of a saint, a quote from the Pope, (or) a personal testimony … When you read something impactful, look for the share button.” Quoting things from the Bible, the direct source for what we follow and worship, is a great way to share and worship with others. For those that aren’t religious, or doubting their faith, a well-timed biblical verse can lead to eternal love and health with God. Sharing impacting quotes or verses can also lead people to God (sparking curiosity or renewing interest).

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A further way of evangelization using digital resources is to start a podcast or a YouTube channel. I know many good Catholic or Christian podcasts, such as The Bible in a Year (run by Fr. Mark Schmitz) or Ave Explores(created by Catholic speaker Katie McGrady). Both of these podcasts have made a major impact on me, and others like me, and will continue to do this in the future. Stories like McGrady’s help people have the confidence to speak their minds and help bring others closer to Christ, as well as sharing Jesus and God with others.

Because many of today’s Catholics — and future Catholics — are active on various forms of technology, we should be using innovations of the modern-day to share Jesus and the Lord with others. Because of the easy access to technology, there are many ways to evangelize the Lord, which make it faster, easier and more effective.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Ottawa Lake teen's essay wins state award