Somerville, NJ
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The following report comes to us from team leader Alpa with our Immaculate Conception parish team in Somerville, NJ:
We recently had a group training session for new evangelists on Saturday afternoon hosted by SPSE. After the training, two newly trained evangelists went out with three more experienced evangelists and hit Main Street in Somerville for a mini street evangelization session (30 minutes), wanting to put into practice all that we learned with Bob and Brian from SPSE.
The weather was mild for February and we had a very fruitful time. As we were setting up our table, signs and medals, a couple was passing by and said that they loved that we were offering prayers. When I spoke to them and asked them about their faith, the young woman said she was a Christian and the young man was a Catholic. She said she would pray for us. Another family also approached us in the midst of the set up and said that they were from a local parish and gave us a thumbs up sign. Then, we were officially ready, having said our protection and evangelist prayers and we had a steady stream of people stopping by.
First, a couple came and took a rosary but did not really want to engage with us. I asked if they were Catholic, and they both said yes. I asked how their faith life and mass attendance was going, and the woman already was walking away, but the man said that, truthfully, they were both on their second marriage with each other and disagreed with the church’s stance on marriage and Holy Communion. While we tried to dialogue with them a little bit more, they walked away saying that they can still pray to God on their own. Lord, please help them find their way back to you.
We spoke to a woman who took a rosary and said she was going to give it to her mom, who was 97. We asked if she was Catholic and she said yes. When prompted about her faith, she said she used to be a daily Mass goer, but then after Covid, she just stopped attending Mass altogether. We spoke to her about different things she could do to protect herself and still assist at Mass. We then offered to pray for her mom, which she gratefully accepted. Afterwards, she said that she was very moved and would always remember this encounter. Please pray that she moves closer to you, Lord.
Praised be Jesus Christ!