Bloomington, IN. Steve, Mark, and John went out to evangelize at the campus of Indiana University on a Wednesday morning recently. They stood in a public area where students walked by constantly, and offered passersby free rosaries, seeking to break the ice for good conversations on prayer, faith, and eternal life, and to direct people to the campus Catholic Newman Center. There were other groups set up in the same area. One group was giving out pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness, and another seeking signatures to bring a presidential candidate to campus to speak. As Mark later commented, when the students passed by they were hit with both religion and politics – both topics which polite society is not supposed to bring up.

It was John’s first time out, so he asked if he could just stand nearby and watch. But after about five minutes or so of watching, he picked up some rosaries and pamphlets and began to evangelize just as if he were a veteran! Pictured here, we see John enthusiastically sharing the importance of prayer and relationship with God. Later on, as planned, IU student Joseph joined them as well.

The men had a large number of good encounters. Steve spoke for an extended period of time with a Buddhist, who left with pamphlets and CDs, and read one of the pamphlets as he walked away. He also spoke with a number of Protestant Christians who also took materials. Mark explained the rosary in detail to two Protestant Christians, both of which expressed genuine interest in learning it, and encouraged them to consider entering the unity of the Church Christ founded. He also encountered a young man that he had spoken to two weeks previously, who confirmed that he had started going back to Mass. There was also a distressed-looking girl who beelined towards him, saying, “Are you giving out rosaries?!?” She continued by sharing that she was having a bad, stressful day, and therefore she, in her words, needs a rosary.

The men also made plans for future outings, and materials they would have printed so that they could quickly and easily share the Mass, Confession, and event schedule of the Catholic Center.
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