Monday, August 20, 2012

An Odd Story From Fatima Custodian, Matthew Shibler

See, Fatima Custodian, Matthew Shibler wanted to cut expenses driving Our Lady’s statue to his Fatima Home Visits, and he did by 55% (using a motor home! - -see full story below),
but life on the road still isn’t free.

Yes! I’m happy to help Matthew with food and / or fuel.

Please consider helping this young Fatima Custodian Matthew Shibler and his teammate with a donation towards food or fuel so he may continue to take the beautiful pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima into homes all across America.

You see, when you donate to his food needs or his fuel requirements, in the eyes of Our Lady, you become Matthew’s long-distance travelling companion in his Fatima Home Presentation apostolate. And you share in the merits of their work and prayers - - - the Communion of Saints is such a beautiful reality.

Matthew has consecrated his whole life to Our Lady.
And like all of our Custodians, he has a tremendous level of dedication – he is a full-time volunteer and he does NOT receive a salary!

Instead, he depends entirely on support from you and me.
Share In Matthew’s Fatima Apostolate:

Help Towards FOOD and/or FUEL Here

(See the table below for actual savings from the motor home.)

The Three Biggest Expenses For Fatima Custodians:

  1. Lodging
  2. Food
  3. Fuel

Matthew, who has been taking Our Lady of Fatima around our beautiful country for eight and a half years, has come up with a more economical way of doing this apostolate (see table below) - - - of being a better custodian of your assistance and prayers.

After eight years of living out of a mini-van, jammed full of their suitcases, religious stock, and appropriate room and care for the almost 5-foot statue of Our Lady of Fatima, and eating most meals at restaurants, and usually having to sleep in the closest available motel after the last Fatima presentation of each day, and being very aware of the large expense this food and lodging was to your sacrificial donations, to say nothing of the very difficult and hectic daily lifestyle…

…while driving down the interstate highway, a thought occurred to Matthew as he watched motor homes pass by: how would it be if he and his Fatima Custodian teammate, Charles, could take their home with them?
He immediately dismissed the idea as a temptation to the soft life -

- - a temptation of the devil. But as the driving wore on and more motor homes passed by, the “temptation” did not cause agitation, but rather calm consideration.

OUR LADY SHOWS HER HAND
Knowing that the devil’s temptations only cause disturbance in the soul, Matthew instantly perceived the hand of Our Lady and started treating the idea of a motor home as an inspiration from her.

And so he and his Fatima Custodian teammate started praying Rosaries about it and determined to research it in depth.

Help Matthew With FOOD and / or FUEL Here

(See the table below for actual savings from the motor home.)

How A Motor Home Saves Money And Custodian BURNOUT
With a motor home they could cook their own meals, eliminate staying in costly and usually mediocre motel rooms, sleep in their own bed each night, not have to run all over an unknown area to find an open restaurant or motel later at night after their last Fatima presentation, and quite importantly, not have to worry about the safety of Our Lady’s statue and all their equipment.
So Matthew and Charles let the idea ferment and started crunching numbers over spreadsheets.

They had the Fatima Teams accounting department scrutinize their figures. It was quickly confirmed that, if properly purchased, a motor home would likely cut their expenses by a whole lot as well as greatly improve their daily lifestyle and reduce “Fatima Custodian BURNOUT”.

Share In Matthew’s Fatima Apostolate: Help Towards FOOD and/or FUEL

(See the table below for actual savings from the motor home.)

A Motor Home? --- SOUNDS LIKE YOU’RE LIVING IN THE LAP OF LUXURY

A: Not even close - - - everything’s small and austere, but we admit it’s “home” and it is MUCH better and inexpensive than eating at restaurants and sleeping in ‘last-minute’, smoke and mildew infested motel rooms and showers. We know our bunk beds are clean every night and we cook in our little kitchen and the shower is always clean. We wake up refreshed instead of weary.

Q: OK. I’m still listening. Keep talking.
A: We searched the internet. The whole idea would only be cost-efficient if the purchase price was right.

Finally, Our Lady obtained from Divine Providence that a very nice elderly couple needed to sell their garaged motor home. They sold us their 14 year old, 1998 motor home, in pristine condition -- body and mechanical – for $28,000 (just a few thousand more than what our Fatima teams normally have to spend on new mini-vans).

Q: Tell me more.
A: Well, it’s 35 feet long, had a good sized bedroom in the back (which we quickly split in two and into which we put two sets of comfortable, but Spartan-like, bunk beds for four men - - - normally it’s just two of us, but when we do our “Caravans”, like the recent ones against the HHS Mandate, we can sleep 5 men because the couch pulls out into a bed.)

Q: Do you drive the motor home to each Fatima presentation?
A: No. The scheduling office schedules us for visits in an area. The presentations are scheduled within a 40-mile radius. Since we tow our regular mini-van behind us, we’re able to drive to the area, and park the motor home. We don’t drive it much. Most of the motor home driving is done between our headquarters in Spring Grove, PA, and the area where we’re scheduled to do presentations. Once in the area, we park the motor home and then use the mini-van for the short trips to all the individual Fatima Home Visitation presentations.

That makes sense. So how much money has the motor home saved your team?

A: We’ve been using it a year now and these numbers are solid. Here’s a chart with the actual

Why do you still have expenses for lodging if you sleep in your motor home?

A: So many times we are blessed with Home Visitation hosts whose location allows them to let us park for 3 or more weeks within the reach of an extension cord and we just plug in to an outside electrical outlet on their home which they donate small electric usage to us. Nevertheless, there are many times when that isn’t an option and we have to rent a space at a campground. That usually averages about $35 a night.

WOW! So with so much savings, why are you asking for more help?

A: The short answer is: we cut expenses, but we aren’t able to eliminate them. We’re still very much relying on your generosity and open hearts to help us.

We want to continue taking Our Lady’s statue and spreading her rosary and her miraculous message of Fatima to thousands of souls each year - - - up front and personal apostolate.

Share In Matthew’s Fatima Apostolate:

Help Towards FOOD and/or FUEL Here

You know, while many young men in our days are loosing their souls and giving bad example, these young soldiers are “having fun” doing the good work, but although they have done their part and are ready to hit the road again taking Our Lady’s Fatima statue to people, they still need your generous help.

It truly is team work - - - them and you.

Without your support right now, Matthew and Charles may not be able to take the Pilgrim Virgin Statue into more homes, which all too often is the only way many families learn the Rosary, and hear the Fatima message, and start on the path to conversion.

And when you help towards food and fuel to Fatima Custodian Matthew, you will establish a spiritual partnership with them, and will share in their prayer and apostolate.

To see our full financial disclosure, click here.

No comments:

Post a Comment