Philadelphia, PA. Joy. It is a short little word that brings big a great big punch! For a Christian, it has everything to do with complete trust in God’s love and promises for His children. When we as evangelists are told that we bring joy, it is a great blessing.
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The following report comes to us from evangelist Nancy and our Philadelphia (Lower Bucks), PA team:
Joyce and I were downtown on the feast of All Soul’s Day for SPSE near Logan Circle. Joyce is leading up a new team in Tamaqua, PA. Many people who passed gladly accepted rosaries and blessed medals and we prayed with many faith-filled people. There was a mix of tourists, suburban visitors to the city, and the poor. A man named DJ, who had emigrated from Africa years before, and was living on the street, happily accepted a blessed Miraculous Medal. He was so pleased and asked us to pray with him. We prayed for his finances and his shelter. DJ was beaming with joy ~ it was absolutely contagious! He told us that he was so happy that he met us. We talked about his faith life and he said that he was raised having to go to church with his father daily and that it made him not like church at all for many years. But he said that he would like to start trying to go back to church and that he thought it was a good idea to try and get closer to Christ. He told us how much he wanted to go out and help people too and he wanted to be more like Jesus. Having emailed him after the weekend, his response was: “Yo, I’m so happy I have tears in my eyes I have been touching my chain that you put on my neck and I miss you. I miss joy! That’s what you brought me in speaking to you.” God-willing, DJ will stay safe and get his life on track and will grow closer to Christ in His great joy and hope. We plan to keep in touch.
Laura who is in remission from her stage 4 cancer came up with her two daughters. They tearfully asked for us to pray for their uncle Carlos who had it worse, with esophageal cancer, and also to pray for Laura’s permanent healing from her cancer. They gratefully accepted Miraculous Medals and one daughter planned to take hers to her Uncle Carlos when they were back home. The thought of being part of helping this young woman share her love of our sweet Blessed Mother with her very sick uncle is so humbling.
After meeting many others, we packed up and were heading to our cars. There was a lady walking up the cathedral steps. She turned and looked at us and we said, “Hi, would you like a blessed medal?” She told us that her name was Joanne and that she met our little team downtown some time ago and that we prayed with her for her sick mother, Mary, and gave her a medal. She said that her mom wore that medal to her last day and that our prayers with Joanne and that medal gave her mom great peace. She said that she wanted us to know that what we were doing down there, with our prayer station and offering to speak with people about God, was a good thing and that she knew that we were volunteers taking our free time to do it and that it meant so much to her and her mom. We thanked Joanne for her sweet encouragement and praised God for His blessing of letting us know this lovely fruit of our ministry. Joanne is now caring for her father Ed, and we are keeping them in our prayers too now.
Praised be Jesus Christ! We thank God for all the blessings and joy He’s bestowed on us and all the people we encounter. As scripture tells us, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh 8:10 RSV)