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New River Valley

Country: United States
State or province: Virginia

Team Leader
Zach Conger
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Embers on Ember Day

March 14, 2025

em·ber
/ˈembər/
noun
1. a small piece of burning or glowing coal or wood in a dying fire.

I'm not sure what I was thinking scheduling an outing for a Friday afternoon, 1-3pm, during Spring Break in a college town. Blacksburg had very limited pedestrian traffic, but several hundred cars drove through Main St. I suspect our presence, and our "Prayer Station" and "Catholic Truth" signs, performed some evangelization by themselves. A parishioner we know and love said "hi" to us from her car :). We had two comical interactions, wherein one passerby said "no thank you... I'm protestant," and another said "no thank you...", walked about 10 feet, then turned around and said "I'm an atheist!" It is always interesting when people with strong beliefs feel the need to voice them as some sort of counter to our offer. But I suppose that is what we do as evangelists, voicing Jesus to counter the dismal narratives of today, so I guess that makes us interesting too.

Carter and I passed out 4 rosaries in all. Two rosaries to pair of people from Wytheville (another small town in VA); one rosary to a young woman in passing who said she was a Christian; and one rosary to a young man who is or was Hindu, but is interested in Christianity. We were able to share the Kerygma and pray over the last guy! We almost missed him, as we were just about to pack up. It always seems to happen that way...

We were happy to evangelize on an Ember Day (14 March 2025). While the "Ember" in "Ember Day" does not etymologically get its name from the word "ember" as we know it -- (it is actually from the Old English "ymbren", meaning "recurring" and referring to the 12 days of Catholic seasonal prayer, fasting, and abstinence that is at least a 1500-year-old tradition and potentially has apostolic origins) -- we felt like Embers on the street. We were a humble unit in a fairly inactive place, but we were still on fire with love and the desire to share God with others, so like embers, with a little Wind, we had the potential to spread our fire and proliferate.

I pray that, through the intercessions of SS. Dominic and Francis, we may all become embers for Christ. The dry kindling within our neighbors is desperate for a spark, and it only takes one or two to set the world on fire anew.

Street Evangelization is Spontaneous Poetry

February 1, 2025

When you street evangelize, you never know who you will meet or what to expect. In a small town like Blacksburg, you often run into friends and family when you are out and about. One of our dear Catholic friends, Dylan, was among those we encountered, and she spontaneously type-wrote and gifted us the beautiful poem below:

SPSE Team Photo

Street evangelization is a form of spontaneous poetry. Inviting strangers, suffering with them, rejoicing with them... it is raw. It is unstructured. It requires being present and engaging with the ultimate Source material: Jesus and His Creation. We evangelists are children of God, engaging with children of God, by the Spirit of God -- while we are not the Source, we are the medium and the canvas. What a beautiful and grave responsibility it is to hand out Life on the streets.

SPSE Team Photo

SS. Ignatius, Brigid, and Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us: that we try our mightiest to bring Life to others, and that we never waste the grace Our Life and Savior gives us.

Celebrating Our Lady of the Rosary: 2024 Edition

October 7, 2024

7 October: The Feast Day of Our Lady of the Rosary

Every Catholic should evangelize the rosary to at least one person on this blessed day. The Holy Spirit is wholly on board with this concept. After a brief prayer, I almost immediately met two gents for the first time at the Virginia Tech Catholic Newman Center. They were down to spend the next hour passing out rosaries. We traveled across campus, offering rosaries to individuals, pairs, and groups. While we passed out just a handful of rosaries, it was quite the adventure. Some highlights:

After ascertaining a professor was indeed in his office, one of the rosary warriors (who knew the Anglican and his ever-increasing leaningness towards Catholicism) playfully and strategically placed a rosary and pamphlets on a table next to his door.

During our trek, within minutes, we passed Free-Palestine protestors, an Israeli memorial event, and Greek life folk. I suppose it was a typical Monday for a university in 2024. Unfortunately, we did not have an opportunity to evangelize the protestors or any onlookers, as they were mobile and indisposed. The Israeli event was not yet set up, and the police officers in the area rejected all entreaties to accept a rosary. But some fraternity guys took a few!

I can't wait to see what next year has to offer... and how we might better plan to share this beautiful gift with others. Pax et Bonum ✞

Turning Illegal Parking into an Evangelization Opportunity

October 6, 2024

Every football night at Christiansburg High, our conveniently located parish experiences illegal parking. While it is often not an issue, it is frustrating. To make the best of the situation, our parish priest, Fr. Anthony, had a great idea: we should turn game nights into an evangelization opportunity!

We set up a booth on the sidewalk in the middle of our parking lot. It was a Halloween-themed game, so most students dressed up. We were pleasantly surprised that in just one hour, we were able to talk to roughly 25 people! We passed out about 15 rosaries and 5 miraculous medals. We spoke with V, a non-practicing Catholic who feels a calling back to the faith. We also met a girl dressed as a minion... we gave her the only yellow rosary we had, which perfectly matched her outfit. To summarize an observation by Fr. Anthony, wouldn't it be just awesome if her faith journey began in such a ridiculous way?

Neither of us thought we would ever look forward to a high school football night, but now we're excited for the next one. Laudetur Iesus!

Our first outing was a doggone success!

September 2, 2024

In the New River Valley, Protestantism and relativism dominate discussions of spirituality, while Catholicism timidly whispers Truth in the humble one-parish towns. Our three-person group had mild expectations of success evangelizing where Virginia Tech meets Main St. in Blacksburg, VA. We were pleasantly surprised to hand out about 40 rosaries and 20 miraculous medals in the 2.5 hours we were out and about!

Our evangelization started in Christiansburg, before we even arrived at site. We gave $30 and 5 miraculous medals to a Hispanic family asking for donations near a Food Lion, and had a brief conversation in Spanish. In Blacksburg, after a quick prayer in the parking garage, we walked a few blocks and set up on a popular street corner.

SPSE Team Photo

Our first 30 minutes were rather slow, and we were also learning how to evangelize to the demographic: 90% of people were young adults, and most were in a hurry. 5:00-6:30pm went by in a blur. I was surprised to learn that "no one wants prayers" -- a fellow evangelist helped me realize "Do you need any prayers in your life?" was not an effective solicitation! We learned the value and importance of offering a free rosary, and rarely had opportunities to befriend and pray in depth. Luckily, we had some print-outs that invite students to the campus Newman Center, so between the attractiveness of Our Lady's rosary and an easy method to invite others, we trust the Holy Spirit worked -- and will continue to work -- in their lives.

We had two especially notable encounters. First, we met JB and his dog Kali. He placed his rosary around Kali's neck, and she walked around for about 20 minutes while we chatted! It was awesome to see one of God's creatures help us evangelize.

Our second encounter was with Brian. Brian was working at a fast food restaurant on the street corner. Right before we packed up to leave, he came out and asked us what we were doing, and expressed interest in becoming a baptized Christian. He plans to attend a local RCIA class, and we'll be helping him on his journey. God is Good!