Boise

Country: United States
State or province: Idaho

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Lucy Stamm
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Enemies of Christ? - 2022-05-01

May 9, 2022

[Enemies of Christ?] Our being visibly Christian seems to bother some people, but we still invite people to grow closer to Christ through praying the Rosary. So thank you again for your prayers for the Boise Catholic street evangelization effort.

Employees of the business park where we set up approached e. Lucy to ask if she “had a permit”. She noted that this is the same wording the “stocky man with angry eyes” used the previous week when he confronted her. She answered no, but added that we’d been there for 10 years. “We’ve been here for 30,” was the response of the man who later gave his name as “Tyler”. Another security-dressed employee showed up, and Tyler excused himself to consult with someone on the phone. E. Lucy sent up a quick prayer to St. Joseph, whose Feast Day it also happened to be. The two men came back, and e. Lucy awaited their decision, ready to pack up and move elsewhere, if necessary. Tyler told her he’d “made an executive decision” and it was okay if we stayed. He also gave her his name, in case someone else comes and asks, “Who gave you permission to be here?” Thank you, God! Thank you, St Joseph! May God bless Tyler and the business park! (BTW, as we headed to our cars after the session, a woman followed us and then stood listening to us debrief. She held her phone facing us. Please pray that God’s will is done today and, if we have to move to another venue, it’ll be even more productive for His Kingdom. Again, may God bless the business park and all of our benefactors!)

In other news, perhaps related, a Catholic adult education group had for years been meeting monthly at a pizza restaurant that carries our state’s name. Although the group of 50-80 quiet, paying customers had always been welcomed, they were met at the door last Wednesday and told they could “no longer meet there” because they were “a religious group”. Please pray for the conversion of all enemies of Christ!

Meanwhile, back at street evangelization, three women stopped. They all currently stay at the relatively safe downtown women’s shelter. Two asked for prayer and took Rosaries, while the third one wandered away until the first two were ready to go. E. Lucy prayed for “Dylan’s mom”, who is Catholic and attends Mass regularly. After the prayer, the woman showed the evangelist her son’s name tattooed on her arm. He was in jail, she said, and she was trying to get him to start praying. She was going to send him a Rosary and its pamphlet. The woman that e. Chuck prayed with was “Dawn”, who has been sober for a few months, is now back to an active faith, and doesn’t want to slip back into her old life. After the group had reassembled and before they left, the third woman happily volunteered that she was now two weeks sober. May God grant all three salvation, safety, and healing! And may He grant them the grace to continue to cooperate with His grace!

“John”, the parking lot attendant, came and spent quite a bit of time with e. Chuck, repeatedly asserting that all translations of the Bible are unreliable, that all Christian churches are untrustworthy and, for that matter, so are all the world’s religions. He vehemently rejected all arguments countering his beliefs, citing as evidence stories from his highly broken and dysfunctional past experiences. Please continue to pray that John’s heart may be softened and that the seeds of Truth may take root there.

Another passerby, a man, paused briefly and exclaimed, “I hate to be the one to break it to you, but there is no god.” Evidence, happily, proclaims otherwise. May God soften his heart and show him the Truth that not only is there a God, but also that He loves him beyond imagining!

“Kyle” a young man looking for a certain store also chose a Rosary and stayed to listen to the blessings of praying it. He said he “tries” to attend a non-Catholic church but that his parents want him to attend a more liturgical church. We extolled the benefits of the Catholic Mass and the necessary access it gives to the Sacraments. He accepted a map to area parishes. Pray that he will answer Christ’s call to worship him in Spirit and Truth.

The sky was gray and the weather threatened to turn ugly, so there was not very much happy foot traffic. Still, we may have given away 7-10 Rosaries and its pamphlet, and one map of 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.

In the End, God wins! 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).