Boise

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State or province: Idaho

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Lucy Stamm
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Jesus, the Remedy for Confusion - 2026-Mar-01

March 8, 2026

We observed a greater sense of confusion within people last week, but Jesus is still our solid anchor. So, thank you again for your prayers for the Boise Catholic street evangelization effort.

As we were setting up, a tall, perhaps homeless woman came to us. Offered a free Rosary, she accepted, then gave herself permission to rummage through our bag for a color she liked (we didn’t have the table set up yet). She chose one color, then another, then another. We said she could have only one Rosary, which she finally decided upon. Then she happily said something like, “I just became a priest today.” But nothing else really made sense. Soon, she wandered off. Toward the end of the session, she came back past the table. The evangelist who had helped her waved, and she nodded a greeting in return, but didn’t come back over. Lord, please heal her mind and draw her to You, the one true God.

A down-and-out-looking man, perhaps in his 30s, came to the table and stood there. He has stopped before. When e. Chuck turned around and noticed him, the man said “hey” and the evangelist replied, “Good to see you.” But our visitor took immediate offense and asked, loudly and skeptically, “How can you be sure it’s really good to see me?” E. Chuck replied, “Because you’re a child of God.” But the replied loudly about being a “son of man” because his mother had been abused, and then ranted something about the Jews and Massachusetts, etc. Among other things, he spoke sarcastically about every bead on the Rosary having a specific meaning and how difficult it was to learn them all. At that point, e. Lucy stepped in and very quietly pointed out that the beads themselves don’t have individual meanings, they just help you time your meditations on the life of Christ. He made eye contact, grinned, tapped knuckles with the evangelist, and quietly went his way. (He had probably completely misunderstood what she had been trying to communicate, but we were grateful for the return to peace.) Anyway... praying our visitor will find peace of mind and heart by turning to God.

A high school freshman drama student stopped at the table, beardless, fine-boned like a woman, but with a jarringly deep voice. “Leo” asked us what the difference was “between Protestantism and Catholicism”. (She had been raised in a non-Catholic Christian tradition but didn’t mention which one.) E. Nancy fielded the question. Then, e. Lucy asked our visitor if she liked to read, to which she enthusiastically replied yes. So, the evangelist gave her a Catechism and showed her how to look up not only what the Catholic Church teaches on any specific issue, but how it reached that decision. She also encouraged our visitor to read the Catechism through from the beginning in order to experience the Catholic worldview. Our visitor then asked if the Catechism referenced her King James Bible. At that point, e. Chuck handed her a copy of a Catholic Bible, while e. Nancy talked about “the missing books”. Pray that our visitor seeks her identity in God, accepting that she is His beloved child and that she finds Christ in the Catholic Church.

A three-generation family stopped for Rosaries. They were Catholic but hadn’t yet made the Rosary a daily family tradition. Lord, grant them a love for this devotion.

A couple of groups of teenage boys stopped at the table for a free Rosary. Each of them claimed to be Christian. We encouraged them all to use their new Rosary reverently to grow closer to Christ. Lord, you love each of these young men. Protect and save them!

We missed “Uwe” when he went by the first time, but e. Chuck spoke briefly with him on his return trip. Lord, continue to draw Uwe to You.

A group of three teenage girls went by. One of them, noticing the Cross on the Rosaries, made hissing cat noises and raked the air toward us with her fingers bent like claws. She acted as if she thought it (us?) a joke, and they all decidedly declined our offer. We called after them that Jesus loves them. Lord, only You can break through hearts of stone. Please save them!

As a middle-aged couple was going by, the man called out, “I read my Bible. I don’t need a Rosary”. E. Nancy responded that we do, too, and we use the Rosary to help us meditate on the Scriptures about Jesus and what He did for us. Lord, please reunite Christianity!

As a couple passed by, the man replied to our offer of a Rosary that he had grown up with the Rosary and it was “the worst fifteen years of my life.” He repeated this phrase in response to everything we tried to say to him, and they kept walking. Pray for healing from his bad memories and reconciliation with the Catholic Church.

There was a group of three middle-school-aged teenagers with very fancy electric bikes. Two were very outgoing, very pleased to get a Rosary. One said he went to e. Nancy’s parish, and they agreed the church building and music were both beautiful and that, while neither of those should be the focus of Mass, it “sure made things nice”. One boy hung back and didn’t talk. Lord, use the Rosary that each boy chose to draw him into Your Heart.

Several young adults walking alone stopped and were very pleasant to talk with, were not Catholic but were pleased to select their Rosary and get a booklet, and said thank you so nicely.

One young-adult man did the “walk by acting like he didn’t see us” act. But when we asked, “Would you like a Rosary?”, he zipped right over. We can’t remember if he was Catholic or not, but he was very interested in getting a Rosary and its booklet. When e. Nancy complimented his curly hair, he was so pleased. He told her that he had to use a lot of products, that curly hair is a lot of work. It was such a cute little interaction, people love attention. Lord, your attention to our visitor is unwavering. Please draw him ever closer to You!

The sky was gray and heavily overcast during the session, but no rain fell until AFTER the session. Foot traffic, though, was somewhat light. Still, we gave away 25-30 Rosaries and its pamphlet on how to pray it, as well as a map to area parishes.

Please pray for us again today? Ask God to send people to us with hearts prepared to perceive their need for Our Savior Jesus Christ and His Holy Catholic Church, and that much good fruit for His Kingdom comes of today’s efforts.

Jesus, our Unchanging God, is our source of true hope. So, thank you again for your prayers and other support for this apostolate. In turn, may God protect and greatly bless you and all those you love!

“Go with the strength you have” (Judg 6:14).