South Windsor, CT. On a recent Thursday, Donna, Martha, and John set up at the “Summer Concert Series” on the town green in Windsor, Connecticut. Though they had a very fruitful outing, they first had to deal with some pushback.

When they first arrived, as they were setting up, a woman from the chamber of commerce approached and demanded that they leave or she was going to call the police! The team calmly told her that they would move to the sidewalk. The woman seemed argumentative, accusing them of arguing with her about it. So they moved to the sidewalk, but there was not enough room to be on the sidewalk without the table resting at least partly on the grass.

The woman came back, this time with another person for backup! “You’re still on the grass and you need to move!”, she said. So, again, the team moved – this time, literally into the street. (Well, it is “Street Evangelization” after all!) The table had to be set up in between an ice cream truck and a parked car.
Perhaps it was the ice cream truck that did it, but the team ended up having a great time, with over a dozen kids approaching the table and asking questions about the rosary and the holy medals, etc. One boy told Donna that he wants to go to church every Sunday, but his mom said their schedule is too busy to go. Donna told him that God wants to have a close relationship with him and that going to Mass is important for maintaining that relationship. He thanked her and said he was going to tell that to his mom!

Another adolescent came over and wanted to know about the Catholic faith. He said he grew up Methodist and wanted to know the difference between Methodism and Catholicism. Donna explained how Jesus is alive and present in the Eucharist, and gave him literature on reasons why to be Catholic.

The visitors were not exclusively kids, however. A woman named Betsy (here pictured, with Marie) who spoke only broken English, approached the table. Luckily, Marie could speak Spanish. Betsy was so glad to see the team there. She had been looking for a church for the past few months and couldn’t find one. She was Catholic but hadn’t been to Mass in a few months. Marie gave her a medal, a rosary, and information on local mass times.

Clearly, persistence pays off! Our street evangelists sometimes get resistance or pushback when they get out there. Don’t get discouraged when this happens! God blesses us for perseverance. Have you joined a team yet? Have you become a supporting member? Respond to Christ’s call to support the New Evangelization, bringing Him to a culture dying for lack of God!