I have been recently evangelizing every week, but there have been a few obstacles for it to be fruitful. It has been empty around local campuses in the beginning of this month, and there has been a lot of rain in the second half of the month. This past week, I decided I would change things up a bit and visit the local park even though it was during business hours. I encountered a light rain and traffic on the way there that made me late, but I didn’t let that discourage me. As soon as I got to the park there was quite a few people walking around! It wasn’t long before I met a woman named Darcy who was sitting next to a sketch along the sidewalk. I complimented her sketch, and she talked about herself and her work. She told me she was from California and that she picked it up near the end of college. I also shared with her about choosing music as a degree and that my local campus ministry was also supportive of my musical talents. She asked me what kind of ministry, and I told her a catholic ministry and that God helped me focus on music in college. She said she grew up catholic, and there wasn’t a catholic ministry but she attended a non-denominational christian ministry in college. Now she still attends non-denominational churches in the area. I asked why she didn’t go to a catholic church? As she began to respond that she didn’t see certain things align with scripture, a family interrupted our conversation to ask for her to sketch a picture. I reached for my phone, only to realize that it was missing! Not letting it annoy me, I instead pulled out my contact card and asked if I could follow-up with her. Darcy was the only person I was able to meet that day as I left the park in search of my phone.
We met again at a coffee shop to have a better conversation the following week. She has grown in a personal relationship with Jesus, and is trying to hold onto that in her life. She mentioned in her testimony that she ‘wanted to surrender everything and anything in order to have a close relationship with Jesus.’ I asked her if that is a conviction she would still hold today and she said yes. I shared a bit of my own encounter with Jesus within the Church, and we talked about the Holy Spirit. She was happy to have someone to talk with, and I know that we will have many more conversations on the faith. Please pray that she may have an open heart to consider the Church again as her home.
*All names recorded in Orlando stories have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals