Testimonials

On September 20th 2017, we welcomed Tim Francis of “You Shall Believe Ministries” to Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish . Ours was one of four stops that Tim made in the Diocese of Lansing on four consecutive nights.

His message was clear, faith filled and passionate. He presented compelling video evidence of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. His own conversion story, especially resonated with the younger adults and teens who were in attendance.

His talk on the importance and power of the Sacrament of Reconciliation gave a number of parishioners and others, the courage to come back to the sacrament after a number of years.

We will use some of the materials he made available for some follow-up discussions at the small group level which fits the character of our parish. We are also looking at the possibility of bringing him back to speak to our high school and middle school youth.

His presentation filled our four area churches on each night. Our people are hungry for the truth and beauty of the Catholic faith. Tim’s presentation feeds that hunger and leaves those in attendance asking for more.

Fr. John Byers – November 1st 2017

This morning I have the pictures in my head. What I saw last night at the “Do you believe in Miracles?” presentation at St Ignatius Loyola Church has left me changed. This is yet another time in my life when my faith was rekindled and this presentation was ” the icing on the cake”. I had a period of questioning in the last couple of years. I was on my way fully back in the church and in union with the Lord Jesus. But, I needed that final spiritual nudge.

I can still see the pictures in my head that I saw last night.. I see clearly the vision of the bleeding Jesus statue, and the host suspended in water that produced blood, and the stigmata of Katya. The writings from God to Katya were so clear to me. I will not forget that Jesus suffers still today and that he is alive and fully present for us in the gift of the Eucharist. I could never leave the Catholic Church. With all the “bad press”, rumors and calamities, and no matter what has ever been said, the Eucharist is the reason I am at Mass every Sunday. It is why I stay. For many years, when my children were young, my little family had many hard times financially, and the only thing that kept me going and gave me that peace beyond all understanding was the Eucharist. Once my children were grown and on their own that was what began my period of questioning. Mostly I was questioning myself and where is my meaningful place in the world. I never left the church, but I muddled through my faith for a while. Now I feel stronger than ever in my faith and in my belief that the Lord Jesus is present for me in the Eucharist and that he really is the only one I need to get me through this life of mine. The most beautiful part of the Mass for me is the time I spend with Jesus right after I take communion, kneeling in the pews when I see all the people going up to communion. This makes my heart sing and often I shed tears of Joy. Last night I really heard that one of the greatest sufferings of our Lord is when we take the host without full appreciation of what a gift is it that we are receiving. Now I will go to confession now on a regular basis, and now I will be at adoration and spend time with our suffering Lord. Again, last nights presentation changed me. Thank You Tim and all those from You shall Believe.

Donna Farley – November 5, 2013

I was born and raised in the Catholic Church. Up until the time I was 30 years old. When I was 29, the Lord spoke very clearly on my life. He had work for me to do and if I was not willing to commit wholly, he would find someone else. I began deep study of the bible, my wife and I attended mass faithfully every Sunday and we began to teach Religious Education at St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Faith Community in Chandler, AZ. Around this time the Church was dealing with the abuse scandal and my issue was not with the sin, it was with the cover up. This was also when we had a presidential candidate in John Kerry, a professed pro-choice, practicing, Catholic. Pope John Paul II clearly stated that pro-choice politicians were not to be given the Sacrament of Communion. A stance that based on the history, tradition and teaching of the Church was correct. Yet the bishop of Boston did not ban priests from administering it to politicians with these views. “Though O’Malley said Catholic elected officials who support abortion shouldn’t receive communion, he did not ban priests in the diocese from administering it.” http://www.lifenews.com/2004/02/02/nat-317/. The Church, to my knowledge at the time, never enforced the mandate. I was not sure about transubstantiation at the time, but if communion truly is the body and blood of my Christ, it was an affront to my Christ to administer communion to those who would publicly fight for cause in direct violation of Church Law. I was upset at what I saw (and still see) as intellectual dishonesty and at that time I felt the time was right to venture into the protestant church. Over the next 6-7 years, I received my Graduate Degree in Biblical Studies from Phoenix Seminary. I was ordained in 2011 and I interviewed for a church planting position as the Senior Pastor with a major Evangelical Church. To make a long story short, our interview process consisted mainly of sharing our testimony, which included for my wife and I, finding Christ as Catholics. I received a call a week later and it started out incredibly promising. I was told that I was in the top 10% of all the people they had ever interviewed (in the hundreds over the years), I was exactly who they wanted. There was only one concern….our take on Catholicism. A short story even shorter, they did not believe that being saved while Catholic was possible, they even pressed me on my opinion as to whether or not I believed the Pope was “saved”. I withdrew my application. This experience sent me on a journey. I no longer wanted to know what the likes of John Macarthur, John Piper, Wayne Grudem, Bill Hybel, or any other well known “theologian” had to say. I needed to know what the Church Fathers had to say. The likes of Clement, Justin Martyr, Ignatius, and Tertullian. Over the next months I studied, I read the Didache. I compared their teaching to my study of the Scripture. I wanted to create as close to a replica of the first century Church as I could. The more I studied the more I became aware, I did not need to recreate the wheel. Through my studies of the Word, I was returning to the place that I had started, my home, the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Not only did the Scriptures not contradict that, they were the road map that took me there. I was realizing that the protestant church was doing communion wrong. I realized that Paul clearly taught in 1 Cor 11 that the body and blood of Christ needed to be taken in a worthy manner, with a clear conscience, after Confession. Even with all of these months of study and evidence, I was not committed to a return to my Catholic roots. It was in this moment that I was invited to attend a presentation by Tim Francis, Science Tests Faith. Always striving for evidence and driven by curiosity, my wife, 10 year old daughter, 7 year old son and I attended. Without hesitation, nor exaggeration, I can say it was this presentation that was the pinnacle of my return to the Catholic Church. Tim’s Spirit filled presentation of scientific fact left no doubt. Our Christ is wholly present in the Holy Eucharist. It is the life blood of the Believer. His call for Adoration, the need to participate in Reconciliation and his authentic and transparent testimony are only a few of the reasons this presentation and program should be welcomed in any and all parishes throughout the world. Tim is forever engrained in the story that is my life and for that I am eternally grateful. Two days after the event, my 10 year old daughter asked if we were going to start going to the Catholic Church. I told her, I think so, but did she understand that the Catholic Church taught something very different about communion. They taught that the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Without hesitation she stated, “Well they do, remember, we saw the video.” Filled with immense joy, I smiled and said, “Yes honey, we did.” In that moment, through the eyes of a child, I was given clarity of purpose and my family and I returned to the Catholic Church. Our Christ has provided the evidence, apparent even to my daughter and my son, we must do all we can to make His gift known. Thank you Tim.

Brett M Petillo – December 12, 2012

I’ve always believed -but have always found the Bible a difficult read. After seeing Tim’s presentation at St. Max’s – I’m reading Catalina’s books -the Lord and Our Lady speak thru her. I find the books moving, profound and life changing. Direct from God information- that is so moving and can easily be read without interpretation. Many who have read the book on ‘the Mass’ have said Mass will never be the same. It’s beautiful. Thank you Tim for deepening my Faith, I am trying to tell as many people as I can about all of this and passing on the books to as many people as possible. Wonderful!!!!

Alice Kennedy – July 30, 2012

Tim and Family: To start off, I want to commend you and thank you for making your missions possible, by answering the Lords call. I’ve been brought up my whole life, in the Catholic faith. My family has always been good pracicing catholics. Continually striving to become holier, and dragging us along. I have forever been taught all these truths of the Church, such as Christs’ presence in the Eucharist. I had knowledge about all these sorts of miracles. Dad, especially, was relentless about teaching us these things. Over and over he kept on. (Now I understand why!) My parents had their lives set on fire by a man by the name of Jesse Romero, aboiut 10-15 years ago. At the time of that occurence, I was not old enough to understandy, but as I grew older my parents continously grew in their faith. So did I, so I thought. When I hit the teen years I started having my own ideals, but figured eh, I’ll please my parents by just going along with their antics. Everything they said I believed, or so I though once again. High school changed everything. Whatever I believed in was swept under the rug and I decided to venture out from mom and dads protective wings. Got involved with this, that, and the other, slowly but surely falling away from my faith. Jesus was cool, but look what happned to him. Why should I want that to happen to me? My parents next choice is what did it. Homeschooling! Holy smokes, I thought they had lost their minds. Band member, tennis player, sophomore student council president, honor student. And I was now supposed to homeschool? Are you kidding me? My answer… Fanatic parents. I really tried everything in my power to rebel and try to get them to put me back into public school. That only seemed to make their decision more mpermanent. I eventually ended up not wanting to attend Mass. Didn’t see any reson to have to go weekly. Good ol’ dad, relentless as ever. He proceeded to go to Mass as usual, and had me in tow. I sat there. Didn’t participate. At all. Eventually Jesus spoke to me through a sermon and got me back to prayer and participating in Mass. At this point I really though that “I Get It!” I got it, dad, I understand what you’ve tried to teach me. So I thought. Tim, your mission this Lent has changed my life forever! I finally do get it!!! Not only have I been brought up with all this stuff, but I thought I actually believed it. Because of your answering our Lords call and saying, yes, my faith is now and always will be my complete and total identity. Your changing lives, including mine. I am ready and looking foward to helping you spread your mission and Christs Truths! God Bless you guys, and thank you again!

Salina Avila – April 19, 2012

Hey Tim and Family: I wanted to thank you for changing my life. My mom went to day one of the 3 day mission at St. James here in Phx, AZ and knew I had to meet you. I wont say how, but she got me to attend the second day. I used to want to be just like you. I was so on fire with my faith and understood the fullness of faith that the Catholic Church has. I had a great relationship with the Eucharist but somewhere along the way life happened and I started putting good things before the Great things. I lost my passion but never the knowlege. I began to question (probably out of guilt) faith, religion and God in general. Seeinig you and your passion brought me right back. I was an occasional mass attendee, mostly holidays. After your talk I made a good confession and now attend Mass DAILY as much as I can. I long for it when I cannot go and I look forward to it every day. I plan my schedule to include mass first as much as I can. I cant understand why some great Christians don’t want to believe that we actually have the opportunity to have GOD enter us and work within us every day. It is the greatest form of LOVE that there is in this world. It brings me to tears each time I take Communion. I know that I am united in that moment with every believer over the past 2000 years. It’s my belief that God did not intend for there to be 30,000 different forms of Christianity. I believe that he revealed the Truth to us and it is up to true believers to be an instrument of God’s grace and to plant seeds and enlighten others to the One Truth. Catholics have the deepest form of faith and are misunderstood because of it. We understand that it is not how “church” services make you feel but it is what you put into it to glorify God. When you give it your all you will get the greatest reward. That is, the opportunity to be in the upper room with Him each day for that one hour and re-live the promise he gave us in fullfillment of his New Covenant. His Body and Blood are our reward and our strength. I look forward to working with you to bring the Truth to Complacent Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

Kenny Wharton – April 16, 2012

A friend lent me the book Reason to Believe and little did I know that it would change my life. I began talking about it to my husband, and eventually he would roll his eyes when I mentioned it. By an act of God, my husband came with me to Tim’s presentation in Niagara Falls, NY. In the car on the way home, my husband says to me, “That just changed my life.” Tears came to my eyes, and I was filled with such happiness that my husband could feel what I felt now. It has been over a week since the presentation, and my husband has been reading The Passion and the Bible almost every night before going to bed. We were always connected by our faith, but now we are even closer because of what we have learned together. It is mind-boggling to me that we, as Catholics, are not taught about our faith in the proper way! Such things as the true meaning of the Eucharist and the importance of Confession. Thank you Tim for not being afraid to call us out on our “indifferences” as Catholics. God has given you an important job, just as He has given Katya and Ron. I am so proud to be a Catholic and I will pray that others continue to hear your essential message.

Sarah Ambrosia – April 5, 2012

Hello, My name is Christine and I wanted to say thank you for this ministry. I saw the original Fox show about Catalina, which ultmately lead to my conversion back to the Faith. I was raised Catholic, but through a serious of events ( due to one of these events, my grandmother told me later on that she had started a daily rosary ), decided to leave the church at age 15 when I heard the words,”Lord I am not worthy to recieve you, but only say the words and I shall be healed.” The rebel in me had been set free, and I was determined to find the “truth” . So I began to explore other faiths and spiritual practices. I followed psychology like it was a religion. I met someone who told me they were a pagan and my curiosity was peeked, although I was wary at first. But then, I discovered books in a new store at the mall that carried some of the subjects that this person told me about Wicca. Then I met a bunch of people who had practiced it and I was considering the same. Around the same time, I met my future husband Doug. One of the reasons I fell in love with him was because he, like me, enjoyed staying up late and talking about life. During one of our conversations, the subject of religion came up and he soon found out where I was at. He told me he was catholic and I guess you can say I thought I was going to convert him. When I said to him, in not so many words, how can you be Catholic, it’s so uncool, he just looked at me and said,” Because Jesus Christ Is the son of God, and Mary is His Mother. ” This hit me in a way that spoke to my soul, because then I admitted something that I couldn’t say to my Wiccan aquaintences, “Yeah, you know, I could never understand the idea of praying to Venus for a love spell, so I would just put in Jesus and Mary in the place of god and goddess so I could understand it better. ” But that was only the beginning. Doug asked me to marry him after a year, and naturally, the subject of where came up. I was against being married in the church but was willing to do so at the request of my husband and soon to be mother in-law. I called a lifetime friend, who was a deacon and told me he would marry me when the day came. When he asked me what church I belonged to, I told him none, and asked for guidance about which one we should join. For whatever reason, he didn’t give the advice, and told me he couldn’t marry us . This rejection reminded me of earlier rejection that I had faced from the church, and broke my heart, esspecially since I was willing to come back. But, I was upset, and we planned to be officially married at towm hall, and have a mock wedding at the beach where we would meet for our dates, all the while my mother inlaw sharing her disappointment. Two months before the wedding, Doug and I were watching TV, searching for a show that sparked those deep converstions we enjoyed having. We happened to fall upon the Fox show, with Catalina. I had never heard of the supernatural events that we associated with the Cathoic church. This interview struck my heart and filled in the missing pieces that were gone for so long that I experienced such a deep conversion that I turned to Doug and said, “Now I wish we could be married in the church” and was deeply saddened that we wouldn’t be. As the Lord would would have it in His great mercy, my father happened to say to me the week following my conversion, not knowing I had one, ” you know, you could still get married in the church if you wanted to, just let me know and I could talk to Vincent( my stepbrother, who was active in the church) I couldn’t believe my ears! Praise the Lord, we went to pre-cana in that amount of time and were able to be married at the church on the day we origially planned for. I never left the church again, and was esspecially grateful when God gave us children. I met many people who were active in the church.I went through a life in the spirit seminar and made a cursillo. I run a weekly rosary group, and have met such wonderful people with Christ in their heart. I loved to share my conversion story, always referencing the Fox show that we saw, but could never find information about it. Until I saw an advertisement in the archdiocese newspaper, about Love and Mercy publications, with a reference saying that it had to do with the Fox show that we saw. I ordered a copy of the booklet, “the Holy Mass” and a book mark came with it with the picture of the crystals tha had grown on the picture of Mary. I knew it was the same and was very excited. Someone let me borrow the dvd,Science vs.Faith, and I showed it to my husband. Shortly after that, we recived the mailing for the Lenten retreat where we heard Tim speak. We were both very moved, and I had it put on my heart that I should say thank you to him ( and his daughter) and to Catalina for their yes to the Lord. After speaking to him, we were encouraged to send our testimonial. Please keep doing what you are doing, and let us know if what .we could to to help

Christine – April 2, 2012

Tim and all those at You Shall Believe: I thank you from my heart for the 3 days of “Science Tests Faith”, that I view as a touch of Heaven. I knew of many miracles that still occur here on this Earth, but what you presented affected me deeply. I was brought up at a time when reading the bible was not promoted, and the Holy Eucharist was not emphasized as to what it actually is. Even today many believe, but more than we could imagine still do not. The Holy Eucharist is Jesus in person, here with us, just as He was when He walked with the Apostles 2000 years ago. After our brief stay here, the next place we’ll see Him will be at the right hand of God in Heaven. This became very clear to me during the 3 days, even more clear than ever before. There were things that I was doing and not doing, that I have now changed. Because of ignorance, I was bringing pain to Jesus just as those who beat and crucified Him. No more!! After over 40 years I received the Sacrament of Confession again, and will continue from now on. What I now realize is that confession is also needed to gain strength to resist temptation, and the more I go, the stronger I get. Adoration should be looked at as a privilage to be in the presence of GOD, to adore, and for us to gain in strength also. I am so fired up to do as much as I can for Jesus and to spread what I’ve experienced. Now in case someone is thinking that they go to church, have faith and don’t need more, I challenge you to take part and see this for yourself. I have lots of faith and have been very active in the church, studying, reading the bible, and constantly professing the word, however this has intensified that and given me new insight. I thank God for opening my eyes wider than ever before and pray that everyone, no matter what your level of belief is, seek to learn more. This is an outstanding program, take advantage of it.

Tom Cremona – March 16, 2012

Science Tests Faith and Tim Francis has lit a fire in me and family to become better Catholics. We have only gone to the first presentation and cannot wait until this evening for the second part. Thank you for putting passion into our family to put Christ first and to really understand how important the Holy Eucharist is in Mass and our daily lives. We have three children, been married for almost 19 years, and I work and go to school full time. I am going to find an hour, at least, in my week to go to church for Eucharistic Adoration!

Becky Drabik – February 7, 2012

Dear Tim and You Shall Believe Team: Words cannot express the impact of the 3 evenings we shared with you in Lewiston, Maine at Holy Family Church. This presentation and message is so critical to the Catholic Church and its members. Through the tools you have given us, I am sure we will be bringing people back to the Catholic Church and converting others. I have always felt God’s presence in my life. I am a Cradle Catholic and do not know where I would be without my faith. God has blessed me so much with my husband, Tom and our son Rich. I attened Catholic Schools and our son has, as well. He is now a sophomore at Ave Maria University and we could not be more proud of him and his convictions as a Catholic. During the presentation, we were amazed that we had not heard of many of these miracles and we could feel the Holy Spirit moving with each progressive day. Through your presentation and materials, you have blessed us with more tools to utilize to make people understand that the Catholic Church is the only church with the real body and blood of Christ. We have seen it through the Eucharistic Miracles and combined with all of your info, we are armed to spread the word. Through the message of our Lord’s Secretary, my husband felt convicted to go back to confession after 40+ years. Prayers answered!!!!!!!!!! He feels so much better. We are now going to get together with some of our friends to bounce ideas off of and prepare a plan of action. We have also committed to going to confession and adoration together weekly. We look so forward to being Soldiers for Christ!!!!!!!!!!! The Holy Spirit is really moving in the Lewiston/Auburn, Maine area. I encourage all to dive into all the materials you offer and share with others. I truly believe this will aid in filling our churches back the way they were when I was a child. Thank you and may God continue to bless and guide you with your efforts and I look forward to being able to assist in any way I can.!

Louise B Cremona – March 15, 2012

Hello, Tim! Hope all is going well for you!

My name is Bryan Burger and I recently attended your two (2) night speaking event at St. Vincent’s Parish in Cape Girardeau, MO. God Bless You and the ministry that you perform!

My wife, Janice, and I attended the first evening and were very inspired by your message. You made such an impact in that brief presentation that I made it my personal mission to get at least one person to attend the second night. After inviting a list of friends and family, I succeeded in getting two (2) of my friends, including their families, and my son, Caleb, to attend. You may or may not remember the brief meeting that my son and I had with you prior to the start of the engagement on the second night. I was able to introduce myself and Caleb to you at the back of church and you invited us to come sit on the front row. Needless to say, my son didn’t think this would be very cool – he is a 16 year old sophomore – because I had to practically drag him there in the first place.

Throughout your talk, I could not tell if he was getting much out of what you were saying. At some times he seemed interested and at other times, not so much. On the drive home, we talked about what we had just heard and he believes that if you were to return to the area that he would probably attend again and may even invite some of his friends. I thought this was great; however, the real surprise came this past Saturday. Out of the clear blue, he stated that he would like to go to church Saturday evening – we go to mass regularly so this was not the shock – and he wanted to get their early enough to go to confession. This really made me realize that you had reached him because this was the first time he has been to confession in almost three (3) years

In November 2018, my wife and I attended Cursillo at separate times and these events have proved to be very inspiring on a personal level but it is also becoming more present on a family level as well and Caleb’s confession is proof of that. Janice and I now go to adoration 1-2 times per week, daily mass between 2-5 times per week, pray the rosary daily, and have recently started a family rosary on Sundays. We are a long way from “sainthood” but, together, we are making strides towards our Lord and Savior. Your message has helped play a big part in this spiritual journey and I can’t say “Thank You” enough!

God’s peace and blessing be with you,

Bryan