Clarence Burkholder, our Smyrna, GA team leader, recently received encouragement from “Carina”, a woman the team recently encountered. Carina and her mother have been the only active Catholics in their family for nearly 20 years. But they’ve kept praying. On Divine Mercy Sunday, two months ago, Carina wrote out a prayer request that her family would return to the Catholic Faith.
Then, a week or so ago, she encountered Smyrna’s SPSE team during one of their outings. She writes, “I was delighted to see you and Peggy yesterday. Know that your evangelization time was highly fruitful yesterday. Being at the right time, at the right moment!”
Carina mentions changes in her brother and his family. “So Regis, my brother, has dropped the Church for about 20 years now (no religion but belief in God). … Yesterday, I noticed how Regis was interested in your evangelization stand, picking a chaplet, medal, etc… He was not interested in going to church yesterday morning. But I took my niece anyway. I am hoping and praying that he continues on that path and eventually goes to church with me. … His daughter doesn’t know much either. I have noticed that she really likes the Virgin Mary, Jesus and God. I took her to Mass yesterday morning with me and she really enjoyed it.”
She also mentioned her father’s faith. First, “My dad has never fully been in any religion.” And then, later, “My dad recently spoken about prayers with me over the phone and via email. I think he is changing as well.”
Thank you, Team Smyrna! SPSE evangelists spend a lot of time “planting seeds”, but we’re not often granted knowledge of the growth. Without Carina’s letter, the team’s encounter with her brother might have seemed simply ordinary instead of the earth-shattering breakthrough that it was. Please, add your prayers to Carina’s for her family’s journey to/back to the Catholic Church? How about you? When you go to Mass, who’s missing from the Table? SPSE teams are out reaching for the lost. Have you become a member yet? If so, thank you! If not, please prayerfully consider becoming one today.