We finally passed out our first batch of ~200 rosaries!

College Ave & N Main — Blacksburg, VA

We achieved this wonderful accolade on 17 April 2026. A convergence of many local events (mainly, Virginia Tech parent visitation weekend and sportsball) provided coincidentally great foot traffic and conversations.

How it went...

We had a decent mix of good and interesting interactions. Good interactions included lots of prayers for students approaching finals week and discerning if Virginia Tech was the right school for them. We ran into an Egyptian Melkite Catholic whom we lauded. A Virginia Tech band bake sale also set up across from us. One of the organizers was Catholic, and she asked for a miraculous medal. Through her witness, other band members (who probably haven't been exposed to Christianity in such a way) at least osmotically encountered our beautiful faith. One evangelist was recognized by multiple people he works with, so he is well set-up for encountering blessed gossip and questions when he returns to work next week!

Quite possibly the funniest connection we made was with a young couple. A ~10-person group of well-dressed young adults were walking past our A-frames, and an attractive young lady accepted our free rosary offer. It was a very brave act for someone so young, as the rest of the group waited for her about 10ft away. Her date was definitely planning to ignore us, but as soon as he saw her take the rosary, he asked for one too. We said a quick prayer with them before they went on their way.

We had about two interesting (i.e., challenging) interactions. We ran into many Muslims, including a group of men who asked us if we were Christian. We said yes, and we asked about their faith as they started to walk away. They hollered back something like, "We are f***ing Muslim!" to which we probably said something like, "Well, God bless y'all!" It made us wonder how to better connect with Muslims at first encounter -- it is definitely an area to improve, especially given our diverse campus. The second interesting experience we had was with a guy wearing ripped pink jeans and a shirt that said "Kill All Pedophiles." He began setting up exactly where we were set up, so we moved to another corner of the sidewalk to avoid association. He spoke to us with a raised voice in a bit of a rambling way which seemed anti-Catholic, but as we were leaving and he was finishing his set-up, he said "Christ is King!" and we said "Amen!"

Key takeaways...

1. In an age of social media gossip and "hardcore" religious people being seen as crazy, many young folk risk smirks, incredulity, and ostracization to draw closer to Jesus. It is simply incredible, and they testify to the need for Catholic street evangelists.
2. Do not underestimate nor look down upon physical attraction as a vehicle for encountering God's Love and Mercy. As Fr. Ignatius Schweitzer reminds us, God Himself woos us like a shy lover. I'd argue if Love is God's first language, then Beauty is His second. These facts perfuse the Old and New Testament, and can be intuited by single, clerical, religious, and married people.
3. Offering a free rosary may not be the best approach to engaging with Muslims. Perhaps opening with, "Oh, you're Muslim? Allah al-Wahid" (God is One) is the way to go. According to the Quran, the Christian Triune God is incorrectly composed of the persons Allah, Mother Mary, and Jesus -- it might open up conversation if you say "God is One" in Arabic!