How did Good News Ministries of Tampa Bay come to be?
Take a photo journey through time with us!
 The year 1993 was a real bummer for Ralph Modica. The company he worked for downsized from 14,000 employees to 2,000. Each day, he wondered if he would still have a job tomorrow. And it felt like God didn't care.
 Then in October, his wife, Terry, convinced him to go with her and their two children and some friends to a Catholic weekend conference being held in Wildwood, New Jersey, a couple hours south of their home. The theme of the conference: "Do Whatever He Tells You" from the story of the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11). Little did Terry and Ralph realize that the Blessed Mother was directing the two of them, just as she had with the wine stewards. Through the speakers at the conference, Mary challenged them to do whatever Jesus asked, which would soon mean following her Son to Florida so they could start Good News Ministries of Tampa Bay. Why did Mary get involved? Because a couple of folks near Tampa had been praying the Rosary asking God to bring Good News Ministries, which was headquartered in Pensacola, Florida, to their own home town.
At this "Do Whatever He Tells You" conference, a featured speaker was Charlie Osburn, founder of the original Good News School of Catholic Lay Evangelization. The following January (1994), Ralph took a vacation from his stressful job to attend the Evangelization School with a few friends. After all, traveling to Florida in the middle of a N.J. ice storm had to be a great idea! (Left to right below: Ralph, Bill Wegner, Claire Henwood & Julio Valencia)
There, Ralph discovered that God really did care about him and his job situation. During a Healing Mass, God asked him, "Ralph, will you trust Me?" The healing he received from the teachings and the Mass were so life-changing that he called Terry and said, "You're going to attend the next school in March!"
When he got home, everyone noticed a remarkable change in him. He was peaceful and joy-filled — no matter what happened. His 13-year-old son, David, asked, "Who are you and what have you done with my father?" The family began to wonder: What will happen when Mom goes to the school in March?
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