Encouragement came to our Boise team from a surprising source this week. Boiseans tend to huddle inside in bad weather. And the city had been caught in relatively extreme, below-freezing temperatures for days. Plus, it snowed again just that morning (stopping, praise God, before the team arrived to set up their table).

But two team members showed up as usual to set up a display of Rosaries and pamphlets. However, no one was walking past their table. In fact, no one was out at all. What to do? Pray, of course. The two began a Rosary. They hadn’t made it through even the opening prayers when a STEADY STREAM OF PEOPLE started coming by, many of them stopping to visit.

Then, during a short break in the action (they were not even halfway through the Rosary yet), one of them glanced at the ground and noticed that a PERFECT CIRCLE HAD THAWED where they were standing. When a third evangelist arrived, she even commented that THE AIR WITHIN THAT CIRCLE was noticeably warmer. Another noticed that, although the ground remained frozen all around, snow kicked or tracked into the circle INSTANTLY MELTED. The “circle of warmth” remained throughout the session.

The team has sent in a photograph. If it gets published with the ground around their feet showing, people who’ve lived in the North can instantly tell the frozen ground from thawed, and know that merely standing around would not generate enough warmth to thaw it so completely.

So why would God encourage His SPSE teams? Christ gave the Church a mission, to bring His Gospel “to all nations” (Mt 28:19). SPSE tries to do our part to fulfill that mission. “At every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. … Strengthened by this mission, the apostles ‘went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it’” (CCC 1–2, Mk 16:20).

More of the Lord’s work awaits. Don’t miss out!