The following story is a continued encounter with a woman from the prior week. The paragraph in italics is a recap of what happened last week:

I saw a woman walking by and offered her a rosary I was holding in my hands. She kindly accepted it and stopped to ask more about it. I shared with her about the rosary, and asked if she believed in Jesus. She told me that she used to go to a church but then fell away and once the pandemic hit she felt a bit lost. She admitted that she just wanted some prayers, so I assured her I could pray with her and she sat down beside me. We prayed for spiritual healing, protection, and a desire of faith again in her life. She was relieved and I told her that we could pray again soon and meet at a local coffee shop, so we exchanged contact information and she went on her way.

The next week it was raining since a tropical storm was coming. I doubted going to the park, but the rain stopped an hour before I planned to go and so I headed there again. There wasn’t a lot of people so I walked around the park and Janet whom I met before was sitting on a bench when she recognized me. I sat down with her and got to know her better for another hour. She told me about how she lost her job and was in a homeless shelter. She opened up and told me if I wasn’t there to pray with her the other day she was going to end her life from all her depression. I told her how much God loved her, and how she needed to surrender her life to Jesus and forgive herself because only then could she learn about God’s good plans for her life. We prayed extensively together, and I gave her a gospel of Luke booklet to read through. I also gave her a hotline number and she is going to a mental health counselor in a few days. She felt a lot of peace after praying over her and we were both very happy. I cried in my car afterwards because of how good God is to use me in this way to intercede for her. On my drive home I saw this beautiful rainbow and remembered God’s faithful covenant with Noah and how He keeps his promises.

My small group keeps her in prayers from that day, and the following week she gave me news that she is no longer homeless and back in her old job! Now we keep in touch and continue to pray that she is healed and comes into the Church.

*All names recorded in Orlando stories have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals