You don’t have to become a biblical scholar or a theologian to be an effective spokesman for the Catholic Faith. In fact, even though you don’t know all the answers and can’t explain every aspect of the Faith, you can begin winning souls to the Church right now . . . using prayer, friendship, and common sense.

It sounds almost too good to be true, but in Search and Rescue Patrick Madrid explains why these are among the most effective, time-tested methods for bringing family and friends into — or back into — the Church. As the publisher of Envoy magazine, author of many apologetics books (including Surprised by Truth 2), and a veteran defender of the Faith, Madrid himself has used these methods successfully for years.

But Madrid doesn’t give you only the benefit of his own considerable experience: in Search and Rescue he also includes simple and genial advice from St. Francis of Assisi, St. Augustine, and other great lovers of God. Get Search and Rescue — the book that shows you how you can start winning souls for Christ today!

In each chapter, Madrid looks in depth at each unique situation, shares his experiences, practical wisdom, suggested reading, and a few spiritual exercises to boot. Each chapter ends with a time of reflection for you, a time of prayer (with specific printed prayers at the end of each chapter), and a list of "next steps," which cover such things as "pray the rosary once a day for a month for the person you're witnessing to," or "spend one hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament, praying for your potential convert." He also provides examples from saints, such as St. Francis DeSales, who were successful in the work of evangelization.

Madrid places the focus where it should be: not on impressing your potential convert with head-knowledge, but on personal holiness that will allow you to exhibit a loving, caring attitude towards this individual, so that your very life, not just your words, will be an invitation to join the Church.

However, Madrid does not forget the intellectual side of the preperation, and he gives a very helpful step-program, with a list of books at the end of his book that you should read for further study. He breaks this up into several phases, reading lighter material in the early phases, moving into heavier theology in the later phases.

All in all, a very practical, very helpful book. All it needs is a support group for people using Madrid's methods... (...)

48 of 49 found the following review helpful:


The How-To of Evangelizing, Not a Theology  Dec 22, 2004 By Tammy L. Schilling "tammyl84"
Search and Rescue is a practical, hands-on style, guide to evangelizing. Patrick Madrid takes the reader into the specific steps that they need in learning how to DO evangelization. He deals with using opportunities to talk to strangers, friends, family, door-to-door evangelists, and especially the bitter ex-Catholic person that most will deal with eventually. Madrid shows you that in order to evangelize you needn't be a theological expert, but that you MUST have a proper mindset towards evangelization and the people that you are trying to evangelize. He warns that our pride and arrogance can get in the way of the best laid arguements. In fact, there are entire chapters of this book dedicated to: making sure that we are doing it for God and not for glory, not treating people like scalps to be won for the faith, making sure that we ARE sincerely friendly and loving to people (and not just trying to come across that way), and recognizing that the Holy Spirit does the true converting and that we are but tools of that conversion.

Useful ideas that will be especially gleaned by the reader of this book: making sure that you talk more to God about the person you are trying to convert than you talk to the person about God, be constantly aware of the tendancy to pride and the subsequent need for consist visits to the sacrament of confession, and being reasonably prepared to deal with common arguements.

Search and Rescue is NOT an apologetic or theological work. It is a how-to manual for APPLYING apologetic and thoelogical studies. The author gives lots of great references for where to find good study guides for the faith and apologetics, including a strong emphasis on person daily prayer and scripture reading.

This is an awesome work that will teach people how to evangelize those around us in the world, as well as how to deal with the painful situation of a close friend or family member who leaves the Church over 'issues' or because of a conversion to protestantism. Those looking to become serious about evangelizing people in the world, or those confused about what to do about the family member being wooed by charismatic protestant church members NEED this book.

37 of 38 found the following review helpful:


Good practical advice.  Jun 19, 2001 By Chris in Maine
In this, Patrick Madrid's newest book, the author gives some practical advice from personal experience, the wisdom of the saints, and the Word of God itself.

Some of the things which are dealt with are preperation, examination of personal motives and conscience, and different situations one will deal with in the field of apologetics. Moreover, Madrid instructs the reader in dealing with frustrations, remind them always that it is the Holy Spirit, not the evangelist, who does the actual conversions, and therefore trust must be put first and foremost not in self, but in Him.

One of the better features of the book is the recommended reading list at the end. Divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced, it should prove to be very useful to budding apologists and those who simply have a desire to learn.

My only gripe is this: the text is poorly formatted. The right-hand columns are not justified, which makes the book look unprofessional, and this is really unheard of from professional publishing houses. Hopefully they will fix this for the next printing.

27 of 27 found the following review helpful:


Excellent Apologetical Starter Guide  Jun 28, 2002
Patrick Madrid takes you step by step, situation by situation, into the nuts and bolts of what it means to witness to others. He teaches with a gentle prodding to stop making excuses and get out there to bring the true faith to others. He systematically breaks down all the requisites one needs in order to be an apologist who is "always ready to make an account of the faith that is within him." If all of that were not enough, at the end of the book he compiles a comprehensive reading list from beginner to advanced so that one may slowly become familiar and acquainted with both theology and the prevailing anti-Catholic, anti-God, and secular humanist arguments that most Catholics are faced with at one time or another in their life.

This book is an excellent introduction to apologetics, and lays out a very clear and concise list of "steps" one should take in learning, re-learing, and witnessing their Catholicism to others. Madrid leaves no stone unturned and definitely prepares the new recruit for a battle unlike any the world has ever seen. However, I would also recommend this for the more advanced apologists as well that they may remind themselves of what they might have forgotten in the midst of their constant battles.

I highly recommend this book and guarantee you will find it quite informative, not to mention, an excellent reference book when you move from beginner to more advanced.

God Bless

28 of 29 found the following review helpful:


The Place to Go for Answers  Jul 23, 2001 By MLL
One night my sister invited a friend for dinner and I beat him over the head with questions about being Lutheran. I was so ashamed of it later...I only wish I would have read Search and Rescue earlier! I love being Catholic, I just did not know how to share my joy with others properly. This book gave advice straight from the Bible and the saints on how to share our faith. The descriptions about fallen-away Catholics were just like MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY. The book not only told me what aspects of a person's background to take into consideration, but it also helped me examine my own motives. Best of all, Search and Rescue outlines a "Reading Plan" for Preliminary and Intermediate sources, which I plan to dive right into, so I can start filling in the information I am missing about my faith.

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