May Street Evangelization Bloomsburg

Last Friday, May 2nd, I met my friend CJ in Bloomsburg for street evangelization. Being the first Friday of the month, the businesses were open late for shoppers, and there was also a fireman’s parade. On top of that, the weather was phenomenal, so lots of people were out and about.

Once again, we made coin rings. As soon as we started, we had regular visitors most of the evening. We started at 5:30 and went till 10:00.

Two Chinese exchange students stopped and were very excited about the coin rings. I asked if they were Christians and they kind of laughed but quickly realized it was a serious question, and the one said they were Marxists. I got to tell them a little about Christianity and we had a pleasant exchange of conversation.

Several times, parents stopped by with their young children, and the children made rings while the parents snapped pictures and graciously accepted prayer cards. I’ve found this to be a common occurrence other times too.

I had a rather lengthy conversation with a student who seemed not just interested in the ring but in the Christian message. I told her that what I really like about being a Christian is the worldview it offers me–that I can look at the world and see it’s good but that it’s also very broken, and that in hard times I can have hope in the redemption offered to us by Christ. I forget exactly how the conversation went, but I mentioned the resurrection of the body and she was shocked. I sometimes think regular people know more about what Christianity teaches than they do. Before parting she said, “I’m going to have to look into this more,” and I think she really meant it. I also suggested she try to start praying and gave her some prayer cards.

There were a few people who stopped who really seemed like they had been on hard times. One fellow with holes in his clothes and an unshaved face stayed for over an hour and told us about a lot of the things that he had been going through. It was hard to follow but I kept listening and at one point he said, “It feels really good to get this out. I’m just so used to people not even giving me the decency of treating me like a human being.” He had been attending a Church in the area but felt like all they cared about money. Before parting he took prayer cards and asked again what Church we go to, and CJ, who attends St. Columba in Bloomsburg, invited him there.