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Terry went to the Evangelization School with a few of her friends. As she observed the changes taking place within her and those around her, she yearned to be able to serve God through Good News Ministries because of the impact it had on people's lives.
While praying about this in the school's little St. Anthony's Church, she felt the unseen presence of someone wearing blue standing nearby on her right. She had never before experienced this. In her spirit she knew it was the Blessed Mother. Terry wondered, "Why would Mary be visiting me? I don't even pray the Rosary very often." Still not understanding that Our Lady had started her on a special path with the call to "Do whatever He tells you," Terry said to friends Cheryl Wegner (in the photo, second row with long hair) and Anne Albanese (front row, right): "I really, really wish I could be part of this ministry. Why spend time working in something else that doesn't make as much of a difference for God's kingdom?"
When Terry returned home, she said to Ralph, "Let's move to Florida!" She surprised Ralph, because for fifteen years he had wanted to move to Florida and she had resisted. They had begun their marriage and their Catholic faith journey while Ralph was stationed at McDill Air Force Base in Tampa, and Ralph had long felt a desire to return to their spiritual birthplace. Take a close look at the next picture, taken in 1978. The two priests on the far left and right of the altar are Fathers Fred and John Buckley. They will reappear later in this story!
Meanwhile, God took Ralph one step further in His question about trust. He asked: "Are you willing to lay down your life for the sake of My kingdom?" Not an easy question to answer, it did stir Ralph to search for a new job in Pensacola, since that was, at the time, the only home of Good News Ministries. But God closed that door very quickly.
Then the ministry came to New Jersey. The friends who had been to the Evangelization School teamed up to start the first branch of the ministry. This should have excited Terry and Ralph, but strangely they felt increasingly like they didn't belong there anymore. The urge to move continually increased. They began to look for a way to leave New Jersey. The opportunity came when Ralph's company (he never did get laid off during the downsizing) closed all the local offices and set up Ralph to work out of his house. God said, "Now you can move anywhere you want and still have the security of a job!"
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