Imagine Cup: an Unlikely But Sure Opportunity to Evangelize

Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending Microsoft's Imagine Cup competition as a Microsoft Student Insider. While I was there, Sunday rolled around and with it, the obligation to go to Mass that day. So you're probably wondering: what does this have to do with evangelizing and spreading the gospel?

It turns out that I was not the only Catholic present there at the competition. There, I found out some of the competitors were Catholic as well. Since I had done research before that to find out where the nearest Catholic church was to where we were staying, I remarked that I knew where the nearest Catholic church was and told them the Mass times, and then I invited them to join me at the Mass time I was going to. I also met a facilitator there that was Catholic as well.

When it came around to Sunday, breakfast was scheduled to be at the Microsoft Store in Bellvue, so I decided to use it as a "checkpoint" to see who was coming with me to Mass. The only one that ended up joining me was the facilitator. We had an interesting talk about computers and Catholicism while we were walking to Mass. Mass went well (it was a "first Communion Mass", where there children there making their first Holy Communion), except for some liturgical abuses I observed. Afterwards, my friend, the facilitator, gave me some helpful tips for acing a Microsoft interview, as I had an interview with Microsoft scheduled after I got back from Mass.

It was interesting to find other Catholics at an event like this that loved the Catholicism and the  Church as much as I did. At a competition where computers and software are the subject matter, you would think that is isn't exactly an opportunity to share our faith and the Gospel with others, but there will always be a way (even though you might not discover it). Next year, I will be sure put this information out ahead of time so that even more Catholics attending will be able to attend Mass while at the Imagine Cup. This all proves one thing: there are always opportunities to evangelize and to share our faith with others, even when it doesn't look like it on the surface.

Do you have any stories where you found opportunities to evangelize and share the faith and the gospel in an unlikely situation? Feel free to share it in the combo box. You can also follow me on twitter (username is @rctechgeek).