An Amazing Fact: One of the world’s top-three holy sites is the shrine known as Our Lady of Guadalupe. Every year in December, millions of devotees descend on Mexico City to worship the image at an old basilica—on the anniversary of the Virgin Mary’s supposed appearance to an indigenous man 500 years ago. More than 14 million come to the shrine annually, making it the most popular stop in the Catholic world after the Vatican. Some pilgrims crawl on their knees for miles hoping to please Mary and curry favor with God.
Did you know that 30 percent of the world’s nations list Catholicism as their largest religion? And that the United States is the fourth most Catholic country, following Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines?
Catholics are such loving, sincere, and devoted people—but I’m afraid that hundreds of millions of them are under assault by the devil through the deception of idolatry. The Scriptures list idolatry alongside such sins as murder, adultery, and witchcraft (Galatians 5:20). Indeed, Revelation’s urgent last-day warning is about worshiping the image of the beast.
As a result, this sin-sickened world is under a befuddling veil of lies, leading millions to “carry about idols of wood, [and] pray to gods that cannot save” (Isaiah 45:20 NIV). That’s what happened to Jane. She was seduced by a counterfeit Christianity and taught to pray to dead and lifeless statues.
A Good Catholic
Jane grew up going to Catholic school and attending Mass every Sunday. She was a faithful Catholic and took her relationship with God seriously, even at a young age.
But some teachings troubled her. For one, why was she taught to pray to Mary to reach the heart of Jesus, her personal Creator and Redeemer? For another, praying the Rosary seemed like “vain repetitions” (Matthew 6:7)—nothing like the prayers of Jesus.
The more Jane searched her Bible, the further away she felt from her church. So, even though she had a job in the Catholic Church, she remained adrift and confused.
Out of Babylon
One day, Jane discovered a colorful flyer advertising a Bible prophecy series at a local college campus. She and her husband eagerly attended. The bold truths that were proclaimed brought burning conviction to her heart.
Vivid Scriptures flooded her mind: “the woman … adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls” (Revelation 17:4); “destroy their altars, … and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire” (Deuteronomy 7:5). She discovered that her church was Babylon, “the Mother of Harlots” (Revelation 17:5).
Her home was filled with ornate statues of Mary and various saints—and a costly collection of rosaries from all over the world. “I was so angry,” Jane remembers. “It was sixty years of Satan’s lies.”
When she shared her discovery with friends and family, she suffered extensive persecution. Although she had been a faithful Catholic her entire life, she knew what she needed to do: She made the bold decision to leave Babylon.
Yet where was she to go?
Online Lifeline
Then she remembered that the presenter of the Bible prophecy series had mentioned a place where she could find truth: Amazing Facts. When Jane searched for us online, she was met with troves of biblical information that you helped supplied—videos, Bible studies, and much more. “Once I found Amazing Facts,” Jane writes, “I couldn’t get enough.”
Why? Because of the holy boldness that you support with your gifts—the same gospel power that compelled Peter to preach in Acts 4, the same Spirit that enabled Stephen to speak with bold conviction even under ridicule and the threat of death.
The Whole World Wonders
Did you know that more than half of today’s 2.3 billion professed Christians are Catholics? But today’s Protestants are just as likely as Catholics to believe that Sunday is sacred, and souls don’t die—that the dead can see them and even answer prayers. Babylon has a vice grip on her daughters, infusing Sunday sacredness and spiritualism everywhere.
Now compound that with the relentless cultural, secular, and spiritual deceptions that have put the plain truths of God under assault—every facet of creation, biblical marriage, and the sanctity of life are being questioned and torn apart before our eyes.
Friend, just as Paul asked others to pray for him to preach boldly, I desperately need your prayers to stand for truth as Satan roars in anger. Because frankly, time is short. The window for reaching millions of deceived souls is closing fast. We can only do this together.
No Time to Be a Jonah
Jane stared at the statue of Mary, with its finely chiseled lines and delicate pose. For years, she’d prayed to this lifeless porcelain idol instead of her Savior.
But one day, through your support of Amazing Facts’ bold preaching, she swung down a hammer until that idol was a pile of rubble.
Friend, Amazing Facts needs to shore up our budget for loud, explosive, bold evangelism. We need to ensure that we’re able to respond immediately with messages that the world needs right now—to overcome social media censoring, shadow-banning, and blacklisting, all designed to keep God’s full Word from the people. Without you standing with us, our ability to share last-day truth would be shut down quickly.
So in these lean summer months, when funds are scarcest, will you send a bold, faith-sized gift today to ensure that our broadcasts, websites, and publications can still be seen and heard? Your gift of $200 could bring bold truth to more than 300,000 TV viewers. And $100 could share God’s Word with over 50,000 individuals listening to Bible Answers Live on the radio. Or, if God leads you, a gift of $1,000 will ensure every outreach will continue to be effective. Whether you send $25, $50, $100 or more, every cent you give will make a difference in countless lives whom the enemy is deceiving and trying to keep captive.
More people are now waiting to hear about Jesus. Let’s not keep them from the plain truth any longer.
For the cause against idolatry,
Pastor Doug Batchelor
President, Amazing Facts International