-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Richard Ellis was born and raised Catholic. His family was not practicing their faith much and, only in his very early years, does he remember going to church with his parents. During his college years, he completely abandoned any religious practice and his faith. He quickly began to move up the corporate ladder and became Vice President of an accounting firm. The “wisdom” of the world says that you are somebody when you have money, when you get promotion after promotion, when you reach the height of popularity. When Richard was on top of the business world, he thought he was “somebody.” Shortly after, he began to live life in the fast lane. “My conscience was dead and so it didn’t bother me to do immoral things.” This led Richard to live in absolute darkness – intellectually and spiritually.

The light of Christ dispelled that darkness one evening when, as he was channel surfing, he came across something he wasn’t expecting – a Catholic Network, EWTN. That evening, Mother Angelica was discussing “The Church.” He began to hear things about the Church that he had never heard before. He had tasted many of the world’s “treasures” and experienced many of the world’s “pearls” throughout his life. But through that episode, he was given the grace to realize that the Catholic Church was the narrow road where he would find the treasure and pearl of great price – Jesus in the Eucharist. He realized that the one for whom he was truly longing was God. His soul was thirsting for the living God, as Psalm 63 tells us: “I was like a dry weary land without water.” That night he prayed, “Seek me, Lord; I need you. Seek me, find me. Come then, Lord, for I have gone astray. Come in search of your sheep.” The following day, Richard was reconciled to God and the Catholic Church through the sacrament of Confession. 

Today, Richard is a Knight of Columbus and an EWTN Media Missionary. He uses various EWTN programs to help instruct those in Confirmation and RCIA classes. He has started an EWTN lending library at his parish using many of EWTN’s series, documentaries, and devotionals to help others discover the beauty and splendor of the Catholic Church. He tries to make others aware that “we will find the pearl of great price and the hidden treasure only in God.” Thirty-seven years after his First Holy Communion, Richard made that discovery.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Through the encouragement of a close relative, Pete and Carolyn Schumann of Moberly, MO, began to watch EWTN. As time went by, Carolyn reminisces, “Our love and devotion for truth and the Catholic Church grew by leaps and bounds. Our lives were changed forever. We immediately began to spread the good news about EWTN to family and fellow parishioners.”

In August of 2005, the family member who referred them to EWTN moved to a housing facility for the elderly in Moberly; EWTN was not a part of the channel lineup. “Praying the Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and watching the Daily Mass would be sorely missed by my aunt,” Carolyn said. “We knew we had to do something to help bring EWTN to our local cable company’s channel lineup, so the entire community could benefit from EWTN’s excellent programming.” The rosary group began praying for EWTN to be brought to the cable system lineup. They believed if there was a will, there was a way. A visit to the cable company was made, and the addition of EWTN was requested; other volunteers began a petition drive. In the months to follow, a petition and a number of written letters were presented to the cable company, along with phone calls and emails. The group kept on praying.

In December of 2007, the local community was blessed with the addition of EWTN to the channel lineup. Pete and Carolyn distributed program schedules and placed several bulletin announcements in their local parish bulletin to create awareness of EWTN. Covenant Network – Catholic Radio 90.1 FM in Moberly, an EWTN Radio affiliate – also promoted EWTN’s addition to cable television. Many parishioners sent thank you notes to the cable company’s corporate and regional offices to show their appreciation for adding EWTN’s programming. The Schumanns and other Media Missionary volunteers are presently starting an initiative to knock on doors in the Moberly area to share the good news of EWTN on cable television and Covenant Network. Today, several churches use EWTN programming as a catechetical tool to instruct those in RCIA, Marriage Preparation, CCD, and Confirmation classes.