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Kenner

Country: United States
State or province: Louisiana

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Jamillah Grant
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It Was All Worth It

May 6, 2024

This blog was reported by Chuck Luquet, an Evangelist and Prayer Warrior for the Kenner, Louisiana Team

Two unforgettable joys from the last Saturday of our First Saturday encounters:

After knocking on doors for a couple of blocks, we knocked on the door of a middle-aged man. Coleen and I introduced ourselves and explained our Evangelization mission. He stated that he is Muslim. We asked if he would allow us to pray with him. He agreed and together we prayed to the Creator, God of all and for the propagation of peace and love to all.
While the prayer went further, the feeling of sharing the love of God was there. It was an unexpected, very good encounter.

Our next encounter, A elderly man answered the door after we were already at the sidewalk heading away from the home. After going back to the door, you could feel the sense of need in the air. At first glance, we could tell that he was ill. He explained slowly that they were Catholic but have been going to a nondenominational church. He went on to explain that he had more than one stroke. His wife joined him at the door. Jamillah and Colleen offered them opportunities for prayer, expressed Savior’s love for them. Then we invited them for a celebration with us at enthronement of the Blessed Virgin Mary happening Tuesday at St. Jerome's Parish. Colleen gave each of them SPSE miraculous metals, as well as contact information for their parish of St. Jerome and its Pastor, Fr. David Dufour. They talked about their love for the Adoration Chapel at Our Lady of Perpetual Help which is several miles away. We offered them information about two other adoration chapels nearer to them; the 24hr Adoration Chapel at Divine Mercy Parish and the daily morning adoration Chapel at St. Jerome Parish. Colleen shared about her joyful relationship and encounters with the Blessed Mother and how Mary can help them, also. They were given the First Saturday devotion and explained that today was the fifth Saturday of the First Saturday Devotion.

Jamillah started us praying with them, and for them with focus on his health and calling on the Lord for healing. When this was finished and I looked up, they were in tears, and seemingly full of grace and gratitude. His wife said, through her emotions, that she has had heart issues. So, we continued to pray to include her health needs. We prayed more. They asked for our contact information just in case they wanted or needed to call us. Colleen and Chuck left their information.
If this couple were the only people, we encountered in all of the many doors that we knocked on such a hot and balmy day, then it was all worth it.

Precious Lord Lead Me Home

April 10, 2024

On our previous tour, we encountered several grieving widows. After praying for them and getting in touch with the pastor about our encounters, the thought of their pain and loss continued to nag at us. The prayer warriors continue to pray that they will be healed. I was a bit overwhelmed by the immense amount of grieving and discussed with my prayer partner whether we should do more.

On the First Saturday of the month, we have a special devotion to Mary. It starts with confession then follows with reciting of the Rosary and attending Mass. This is also the day for our regularly scheduled door to door outing. We met at the Adoration for a moment of silence in the presence of the Lord. The night before an old traditional spiritual kept ringing in my head, “Precious Lord lead me home.” It persisted as I prayed. So, the thought that Betty and I should follow up with each of the grieving persons was put into action.

We checked our visitation roster for the addresses of those who had responded that they wanted to talk to the priest. Then we headed back for a second encounter with those persons. Our first stop was to consult with the woman who had lost so many close relatives. However, no one was home or didn’t answer the door when we knocked. Next on our list was the widow who had recently lost her husband. We were able to speak with her.

At first, she was slightly defensive about a call from the pastor (that she had not answered). After more discussion, we noticed that she softened her replies and begin to accept the follow up. Again, the thought entered my head, guided by the Holy Spirit, I began to ask her questions. Are you a Catholic? She replied, yes. Then I suggested that she read a few of the pamphlets and I read them off slowly. I suggested that she read, the “Ten Reasons Why You Should Return to the Catholic Church”. I realized that I had made an assumption but it had already escaped my lips. Therefore, I hazarded forward with the next question. Have you seen this pamphlet about Confessions? I noticed she was tuned into the title as I read it. So, I pressed onward about the contents. This one gives you a step-by-step explanation on why one should go to confession. While holding the pamphlet in full view, I continued to explain that the pamphlet gives a step-by-step instruction of what to do and say during confession. Next, I introduced that it contained an examination of conscience as valuable tool for those who may not have been to confession for some time. Then it occurred to me that I also use it on a regular basis. So, I gave my “one good reason” why I use it. “Going to confession reminds me of being called to the principal's office which was always something that made me nervous”. She smiled and reached for it. Before leaving for our next household, we gave her some additional readings such as; Praying the Rosary and the First Saturday pamphlets along with a St. Jerome Bulletin. As we left her door, I felt that our visit had given her a way to return home.

After, my prayer partner and I returned to our vehicle we discussed that the follow up should be a regular part of debriefing our door-to-door outings. It seemed to be very valuable to reaching out for a much better result in bringing persons back to the Eucharist. We prayed our parting prayer. The Holy Spirit will lead her home back to the Catholic Church!

I can see clearly now

April 3, 2024

March 23, 2024

We had decided to have a definite day to evangelize. So we chose the first Saturday of each month we would go out door to door. Evangelizing on first Saturday coincided with the First Saturday devotion. Unfortunately, our team had very little chance to evangelize due to the constant rainy weather. Since we live in a suburban area, there are no central business area of the city other than various areas of strip malls. Our first sunny Saturday after several months, Arnoldo, Chuck and Dr. Grant were able to go door to door in one of the working-class neighborhoods. There were three us; two went to the door and one remain on the sidewalk to record the needs of the people. It seemed that God was waiting for us to console three women in the neighborhood.

We encountered one woman who was grieving because she had lost her son, daughter and grandchild. Her son was the manager at a large store and he was shot by a disgruntled customer who asked for his money back but didn’t have the receipt or credit card that he used to buy it. No details were provided but she also lost her daughter and her five-year grandchild. The evangelists spoke words of hope and strength. In an attempt to bring her to more positive communion with God, we suggested that we ask the pastor to counsel with her. She confessed that she had not attended Mass for a while but indicated that she would return to Mass and felt it would benefit her. She asked for a prayer for her health and spiritual wellness.

As we processed further down the street, we encountered a widow whose husband had recently passed away. She also had not attended church in a while. The evangelist spoke of the intention of God for sending us to her, “it is not by accident” that we had knocked on her door. Again, the evangelists gave the Hope to the encountered.
Our final encounter for the day was a young lady who had trouble sleeping the night before and was praying for answers to a particular diagnosis she had just received. She was very happy to see that her prayer appeared to have been answered when we knocked on the door. We offered some consolation. It uplifted her because she now could see a path toward a more spiritual answer to her concern. This brought relief of pain. All three of the those searching for answers to their pain and grief were asked if we could give their phone numbers to the parish priest. Her request was within our directive. Consol and list those needing consolation who would agree to have a priest contact them for further spiritual guidance.

Cook Off and Car Show 2024

March 15, 2024

On our fourth annual attendance in the Divine Mercy Parish Car show, I decided to enter my car and have the Evangelization Ministry be a more integral part of the festival. As soon as we set up our tent and began to display our pamphlets and Miraculous Medals, a crowd gathered at the table. I was a little dismayed and didn’t realize that it was the group of people with their Corvette cars alongside us. By that time Chuck and I had not had a chance to get out our pen and paper to record much about the encounter. Betty and Mel Theriot joined us in the booth which drew more people as we recognized other people at the car show. As we continue to evangelize old friends about returning to the Catholic Church, we gathered a couple of serious requests for prayers for the illness of friends and themselves. We explained our procedure that we record the prayer requests, then at the end of the car show we would visit The Adoration Chapel to present them before the Eucharist.

Occasionally, I would check on my car to see if I needed to make any changes to its presentation. I called my husband to come and help me raise the hood since I had a professional steam clean for display, I thought it should be seen. Each of the SPSE evangelist took turns walk around viewing the cars and making comments about them along with directing their owners to our tent.

Earlier in the week, I got a lead that someone from New Orleans was interested in our group. I had made contact with him and invited him to join our group, if he could possibly do so. It was getting later in the afternoon and I was wondering whether he would find the time to drive to Kenner to join us. I had decided that maybe he would not come; but just as I did, my phone rang and he asked how to find our tent. We had all settled back to the SPSE tent when the call came in and I asked everyone to remain to meet possibly a new member of our team. Just as I saw a red buffer jacket walking briskly toward us, I knew it was him, Peter had arrived. We made our introductions and got acquainted very easily. Pete brought us news that our colleague in New Orleans had passed away. We traded condolences about Phillip who had passed away. We wondered if we had had a chance to talk to him and ask him for advice about his evangelization opportunities what would he have liked for us to continue to do. Just then, we heard the car show announcements were beginning. I took the prayer requests to The Adoration Chapel.

In case you are wondering about my entry, No I didn’t get a recognition for my entry but it was the best car show which we had ever evangelized. We handed out more than a dozen Miraculous Medals; two sincere prayer requests and possibly new member of our team. SPSE Team Photo

2023 Cook off and Car Show

March 18, 2023

Our booth was so popular we ran out of some things to give. One signed up to join the group and wanted to get the newsletter. Thanks to Jennifer, an artist in our team, our canopy is now imprinted on the front. Knowing who we were and what we were about, made a difference in the amount of persons who step up to the canopy and listen to us. We gave away shopping bags for those who inquired about returning to church or how to become Catholic. An explanation about the Rosary prayer was prevalent among non-Catholics seeking answers about the faith. Pamphlets about the Rosary were used to explain what the Rosary was about and how to pray. Some proposed Catholic who had never really taken the time to really understood the prayer were interested in learning more about their faith. Miraculous Medals were distributed to those who needed a prayer and a miracle to survive the trails that they were going through at the time. We prayed for healing of themselves and their loved ones. Our handouts, Rosaries, and Precious Medals were depleted by the end of the Car Show. SPSE Team Photo

Annual Seafood Festival

October 11, 2022

SPSE Team Photo

Photo above from left to right: Martha Venegas, Dr. Grant and Chuck Luquet pose for a snap shot.

The Kenner Team greeted every passer by of our booth with a smile as if they were "old friends" coming to visit. None were disappointed with their free gifts and joyous conversation. Based on the position of the SPSE booth, I wondered if anyone would stop by since the music was very loud and lively. However, over twenty persons stopped by the evangelization booth for prayer and consultation. Nearly eighteen Prayer requests were taken to the Adoration Chapel. It was there that the prayer warrior could escape from the loud band playing all the crowds favorites from bygone years, in order to concentrate on praying for the needs of parishioners as requested.

Our Team handed out hand-knotted rosaries along with the pamphlet "How to Pray the Rosary". A few persons requested pamphlets to help their love ones return to the Catholic Church. Of most interest was the receptiveness of the podcast cards and the prospect of subsequent continuation of their conversation.

At one point, Our three evangelist were simultaneously engaging in conversation, Betty was evangelizing with an interested person; Martha was explaining the precepts of the St. Paul Street Evangelization Ministry with a parishioner and Dr. Grant was actively recruiting a parishioner to join the St Paul Street Evangelization Ministry.

First SPSE outing at Divine Mercy Parish Car Show and Chili-Cook off

April 11, 2022

The Kenner SPSE Team held their first evangelization outing at the Car Show and Chili-Cook held at the Divine Mercy Catholic Church.

Family and friends were excited to see us distributing miraculous medals, blessed rosaries and literature about our faith. Those person who were not familiar with SPSE would approach our booth cautiously. However, our we listened and shown truthful consideration, they were very receptive to us. We met people who needed prayer and consoling. We collected their prayer intentions and went to the Chapel to pray for them. Many were pleased to know that someone cared and listened to them. A few were fallen away Catholics and a few lived several miles from the City of Kenner.

We were surprised to see how many people gravitated toward three pamphlets. The "How to pray the rosary", Confessions and Reasons to return to the Catholic Church.

Introducing the SPSE Kenner Team!

March 21, 2022

SPSE Team Photo

Our group formed as Door to Door Evangelists in 2013. The main purpose was to invite persons to our Parish and to pray for those we encounter. Due to the Pandemic, we were not able to continue knocking on doors. We decided to re-create our evangelization journey with a renewal of Spirit and method. On February 5th the newly formed SPSE Kenner Team met to plan their activities for the year 2022. During this meeting, we confirmed our commitment to evangelizing not only in our local Parish but in our zip code. Kenner is a suburban community and there are few places that have sidewalks. We plan to be regulars at Community and Parish events. Therefore, our first outing will be at a Car Show on April 9th which will be held in our Parish Parking Lot. We are excited to have the resources available to us via SPSE.

Photo: Top Left to right; Evangelists Martha, Arnoldo, Team Leader, Dr Jamillah; bottom Left-right Pray Warrior, Robert (deceased), Evangelist, Chuck; Not shown: Betty , our Communication Manager.