Detroit, MI
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This report comes from team leader Mark with the Eastern Market SPSE team in Detroit, Michigan:
Bill, Eric, and I returned to Eastern Market on the last Saturday of October. While the market is partially open year-round, there are far fewer customers, fewer vendors, and much less foot traffic so we take a break November–March.
Bill was very proactive and offered free Rosaries to nearly everyone he saw. Eric and I were more reserved but still had several good conversations. Many people declined the offer of a Rosary, saying that they had multiple at home. We then encouraged them to pray the Rosary often, for their own intentions and for the world.
I remember two different conversations, both we were with a middle-aged mother and her young daughter. The first was with a Lutheran family. Bill is a Catholic convert from Lutheranism and was able to sympathize with them. He gave his testimony and talked about his conversion. He also talked about how Martin Luther had great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and even respected the Catholic Church for almost all of his life. We also had a conversation with an Armenian Orthodox family talking about sacraments, apostolic succession, and the importance of prayer.
A few Protestants were surprised to see Catholics evangelizing. I said that evangelization is a mission for all believers, to which they all agreed. They declined our offers of sacramentals and literature but they were happy to show their support.
Praised be Jesus Christ!