Parkersburg, WV

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The following comes to us from team leader Sunny with our team in Parkersburg, West Virginia:

Kathy and I set up our table at the weekly soup kitchen in the parish hall of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church. Kathy first spoke to a man who’s a double amputee in a wheelchair who requested a St. Christopher medal. He said he’s Catholic but unable to get to church. Kathy offered him a prayer, but he declined. She helped him get free clothing at the soup kitchen. He found it helpful when she mentioned the possibility of watching Mass on YouTube. He left, thanking Kathy. Next, I spoke with a woman who declined prayer, reconsidered, and said she’d like a prayer to forgive. She had feelings of unforgiveness and revenge toward those who’d hurt her, mentioning the police and the court system. We spoke of the feelings of revenge and the choice to forgive. We also talked of Jesus saying God will not forgive us if we don’t forgive others. We prayed for the ability to forgive, and she left, thanking us.

A formerly homeless woman with a little dog in her handbag wanted a prayer of thankfulness for finding a home. She wanted to talk to a preacher, and Sunny told her we had a priest at our parish. Sunny gave her the bulletin with contact info and showed her our church, mentioning that it was open for prayer all day. We prayed together in a prayer of thankfulness. Later, we asked a seminarian working at the soup kitchen that day if he’d like to know about SPSE. He’d stopped by our table at the rosary rally last autumn and taken a St. Christopher medal, but didn’t know what the ministry was about. We explained the ministry and the non-confrontational method with the rosary, Miraculous Medal, or a request for a prayer. He thanked us for the ministry and The Good News and The Existence of God Astrophysics pamphlets.

Please pray for an increase in the number of our team members. We have many opportunities to evangelize weekly, but we do not always have two members of the team available. May God bless everyone in the SPSE ministry.