Stories from the Street

Detroit, MI
Click here to find a team or start one of your own!
This report comes from evangelist Mark with the National SPSE team:
Five evangelists (Beth, Bob, Lexa, Mark and Michael) went to downtown Detroit to evangelize football fans during the NFL draft. We got there shortly after the event opened to the public and setup a table at a major intersection. There was a constant stream of pedestrians walking by so it was difficult for many people to stay and talk. However, with so many people, there were bound to be some people who were interested.
Two Baptist evangelists were there near the same intersection—one of them handed out pamphlets without speaking while the other preached from Scripture. A journalist from Detroit Catholic, a publication of the Archdiocese of Detroit, later came to observe us and write about the experience.
Beth, Mark, and Michael did the usual street evangelization routine while Bob and Lexa focused on recording interviews to use in our St. Paul School of Evangelization. I made sure to bring a lot of blue, white, and silver rosaries for the “Honolulu blue” fans of the Detroit Lions.
Beth had lengthy conversations with the two Protestant evangelists and few others who sat and rested on a nearby wall. Michael and Mark offered Rosaries to fans, most of whom were too busy to stop. But some, including a lot teenagers, were happy to stop. One man approached the table smiling. I told him that everything on the table was free but he took me words too literally and proceeded to grab at 20+ chains with Miraculous Medals. Beth and I tried to stop and reason with him but he resisted and we simply let him go.
The Portland team was joined by a Catholic evangelist named Rico who was visiting from Jamaica. Rico originally went to Jamaica as a Protestant missionary but had a conversion experience (back) to…
Read the story →
StoryWith COVID winding down it's almost as if the people have missed us. It seems like we are getting more people stopping by, deeper conversations and less snide comments. At least that's…
Read the story →
StoryWe had nine evangelists at the Indoor Flea Market on Saturday and a steady flow of people coming to our table for rosaries, Miraculous Medals, other medals and prayer. One of the…
Read the story →