Dear Juan Baptist,
 Deacon Craig LeGier and his wife Sherry live in Carlin – a remote town of 2,300 in the state of Nevada. There in the wide open expanse of desert nothingness, faith is found!
Their marriage is strengthened by their devotion to answering the call of Christ through their mission work. Ten years ago, Sherry noticed an ad in her Parish bulletin looking for someone interested in working with prison inmates. She said, "This felt like what God wanted me to do." She responded immediately and has since spent her weeks traveling – up to 360 miles – to visit men who are serving time for some of the worst crimes imaginable. She "sees" these men, cast away by society, as children of God. Her hope for them is simple – she wants them to feel God's love and to feel cared for.
Your most generous gift to Catholic Extension will begin your journey in not only visiting the imprisoned and caring for the homeless, but continues by ensuring and expanding the spiritual well-being of Catholics throughout the United States.
Our partners, for example, helped Sherry bring people like Mike, a death row inmate, to the Lord. How? Once a month, Sherry travels on bleak colorless landscapes to minister in each of three Nevada state prisons. In their early meetings, Mike regularly declared that he no longer believed God existed – and yet he wanted to speak with Sherry during every visit. She could see in Mike a desire to come to God and they both prayed for his conversion. After four years of regular monthly visits, Mike became the first death row inmate in Nevada's history to be baptized.
After Sherry worked to arrange it with prison officials, Mike finally arrived to a small prison chapel with armed guards and 30 pounds of shackles binding his wrists and ankles. All of these chains were removed so that he could be fully immersed in the chapel's baptismal pool.
 After receiving his sacrament of baptism, the shackles were firmly replaced. And despite his earthly shackles, Mike was now freer than he had ever been in his life. Please visit us at www.catholicextension.org to read more stories about our faithful works since 1905.
Your financial support is the only source of funding we receive and I pray that you will join us today. In return, I'd share information with you that not only informs you of current needs, but also of the good works your support has allowed us to achieve. We never share your information with others and only communicate with you in the manner you desire. Your partnership will provide yet another opportunity for you to be involved in the work of the wider Church beyond your own parish or diocesan boundaries. Please join us.
I don't want to take much of your time, so I hope you'll allow me contact you again next month to share a story of Sherry's husband, Deacon Craig, and the good work he has continued to do in his twenty years of serving the Church.
In celebration of the beatification of the Blessed Pope John Paul II, and his devotion to the Holy Mother, in return for your partnership today, I will send you a special token of our appreciation.
Yours in Christ,
Father Jack Wall
President |  | | |
