Smyrna, GA. There are number of important points to learn about street evangelization. Can you pick out the important one in the following story? Peggy reports on a recent outing at the Jonquil Fall Festival:

“It was a fruitful weekend in Smyrna. Families, individuals and couples stopped by to speak to us. Some recalled our table from the Spring Festival and specifically came by to see us. We offered many rosaries with pamphlets and taught numerous people how to pray the rosary. Several expressed a need for prayer, so we prayed with them. To those who said they were Catholic, we offered them a Miraculous Medal and told them the story. Of course, this story is all about Jesus, His Mother, and God’s grace. The Divine Mercy card was also very attractive to many who stopped by.

Clarence engaged a minister of a small church. They shared the faith with each other. The minister asked for Clarence’s phone number so that they could meet and talk more later.

A woman who is running for a city office, had a table next to us. At the end of the second day while we were putting the table away, she came over to inquire about the rosary. So Clarence taught her how to pray the Rosary. Then he asked her if she ever thought about becoming a Catholic and she said ‘yes.’ So Clarence then shared his story about how he became Catholic. Clarence gave her our parish bulletin and his phone number. She will likely call him so they can attend Mass together.”

Did you notice how Clarence gave his contact information to two people he connected with? This is the critical point. Why? Christianity is a way of life. It is not a label, or a club. Clearly, then, it usually takes more than a brief encounter to make a Christian. It takes time to fully orient someone on the Way of Christ, the “Narrow Way.” Therefore it can be very helpful, when street evangelizing, to have some way to follow up with the individuals encountered. Great job, Clarence!