Tampa, FL.

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The following report comes to us from team leader Bill with our team in Tampa, FL:

Look who joined the Tampa Chapter of SPSE, Pope Francis! (You have to admit, our cardboard cut-out looks like it could actually be him!) At a very busy intersection in Brandon, “the Pope” waved and smiled to the passersby along with Reuben and myself. This was our go-to outing during the dark days of COVID, but we repeated it because it has proved to be a wonderfully successful way to evangelize to a lot of people. I bet thousands of cars passed us in those 4 hours. We received many horn toots, thumbs up, waves, and blessings from the motorists.

We even had a few pedestrians visit us:
Shirley rode past me on her wheelchair scooter. After she passed me she said, “I know you think you are doing good, but Jesus wasn’t God. He never said he was God. Jehovah is God.” Then she quoted a couple NT scripture verses. I told her I would pray for all Jehovah’s Witnesses. She said she didn’t want my prayers. Out came a few more scripture verses. So I asked her where those scripture verses came from. She answered, “the Bible”, and that’s when I told her the Catholic Church decided on the canon of the scriptures. She sighed in frustration, and rode off to Reuben’s corner. She told him the same thing she’d told me. He asked if she was a JW, and after her affirmative response asked her when her religion was founded. She proudly said “1919”. Reuben asked what happened between 33 and 1919. Exasperated, Shirley moved on.

Jack stopped by and said, “I love what you’re doing, man.” He asked me my favorite scripture verse, and I referred to Psalm 20:4, but I admit, as a typical Catholic, I couldn’t quote the chapter & verse. We continued having a wonderful conversation and he left me with a unique penny with a cross carved out of the center!

Praised be Jesus Christ!