Tim Staples - "What Made Me Catholic"

Tim Staples is Director of Apologetics & Evangelization at Catholic Answers and an absolute fireball of information about the faith. As he speaks, people naturally get excited about a being catholic! 

Tim was not always Catholic. Raised a Southern Baptist, he later fell away from the faith of his child-hood but, came back to faith during his late teen years watching Christian televangelists. 

Soon after, Tim joined the Marine Corps. During his four-year tour, he became involved in ministry with various Assemblies of God communities. Immediately after his tour of duty, Tim enrolled in Jimmy Swaggart Bible College and became a youth minister in an Assembly of God community. During his final year in the Marines, however, Tim met a Marine who really knew his faith and challenged Tim to study Catholicism from Catholic and historical sources. He ended up studying his way to the Catholic Church! 

He converted to Catholicism in 1988 and spent the following six years in formation for the priesthood. Realizing that his calling was not to the priesthood, Tim left the seminary in 1994 and has been working in Catholic apologetics and evan-gelization ever since.

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Deby Schlapprizzi - "The Splendor of You"

Deby believes that God, the Architect of our soul, knows every nook and cranny of our being. He gave us our giftedness, our splendor. We are called to live it.

Deby Schlapprizzi is host of Splendor of You®, a radio program addressing varied topics on faith in contemporary living. Deby delivers a message of purpose and hope. She has also been a guest on national talk radio and inspires women and men of all ages to recognize the handprint of God within and to let His splen-dor shine! She is a national and local lecturer on matters of faith and morals. Deby's presentations are met with standing ovations and excellent reviews. 

Today, in harmony with the principles that drove her at a young age, she delivers a dynamic faith-based message with the
theme of discovering the splendor within.

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Leah Darrow - "From Top Mdel to Role Model, Leah's Witness Talk"

Leah Darrow appeared on the reality TV Show America’s Next Top Model, Season 3. Suddenly a life changing moment made everything different and nothing has been the same since. 

Although raised Catholic, her life was full of confusion, especially in this pop culture we live in. Leah experienced what she calls a slow fade to spiritual lethargy for approx 10 years until a life changing moment or spiritual conversion took place in her life. She’s now gone from top model to role model and travels everywhere and anywhere to spread God’s message of authentic love, mercy, conver-sion, human dignity, & modesty. 

She is now a speaker for Catholic Answers and often asks her audiences, “What is love defined to you?” She inspires and challenges us to accept the mercy of Christ, embrace true love and welcome conversion.

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Tony Melendez - Concert

Tony is an incredibly gifted performer and known around the world for playing the guitar with his feet. He may have been born without arms, but that didn't stop him from dancing, dating, playing the guitar and enjoying life to the fullest. Tony was born without arms as a result of his mother taking the prescription drug, Thalidimide.

It was in high school that he began playing the guitar and harmonica, became deeply involved in the Catholic Church and considered becoming a priest. But, his life was changed forever, in an unforgettable mo-ment in 1987, when he played his guitar for Pope John Paul II in Los Angeles, before a live audience of 6,000 people and a TV audience of millions. Those few moments brought his unrestrained abilities as a guitarist into national attention.

A highly talented composer and musician, Tony has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors. Tony's latest album Hands In Heaven, is a musical look into the heart and soul. All songs on the album reflect the perceptive and deeply-rooted insights into the life and faith of Tony Melendez.