My name is Annette, and I am the owner of a tour guide service in Raceland,
Louisiana, which is forty miles south of New Orleans. Since 1992, I have
been blessed with the opportunity to bring over 1,000 of God's children
to Conyers, Georgia.
Our pilgrimages have been filled with many miracles, both physical and
spiritual healings, signs and wonders. But the greatest witnesses of Conyers
are the conversions. "By the fruits you will know." The fruits from Conyers
are unending.
The faithful have returned to the Sacrament of Penance, Adoration of
the Most Blessed Sacrament, and daily Mass. On the 13th of every
month, you can travel up and down the Bayou, and see hundreds of people
gathered together praying the fifteen decades of the Rosary at the same
time that the Rosary is being recited in Conyers.
Nancy Fowler, a housewife from Conyers, Georgia, has been receiving
messages from Jesus and Mary. In October 1995, "Our Loving Mother" said
she would not give a message again until her anniversary date in October
1996. She also said that Nancy was not going to be in the Apparition Room
or speak to the pilgrims until that time. Nancy has been in obedience to
Our Lady's request.
On April 12, 13, and 14, 1996, we had a total of twenty-four people
in our group of pilgrims that traveled to Conyers. Several people in the
group had been to Conyers many times before; for others, it was their first
time. I want to share with you the events of this "Journey of Faith", that
touched our lives.
I had booked the motel thirty days in advance for the tour. I had reserved
a mini-bus for the trip. When I phoned to confirm the bus, there was a
communication error, and the bus was not available. The bus company was
very understanding, and sub-leased a bus for me. However, we had to go
to New Orleans via one bus line, and then switch buses for the remainder
of our trip.
Betty, our driver, was a beautiful Baptist woman from New Orleans. She
was very excited about the trip. She mentioned that no one else wanted
to take our trip, because it was a group of Catholics going on a religious
tour. She was a Christian, so she took it.
We stopped in Montgomery, Alabama for lunch. Our bus driver went to
refuel the bus while we were eating. She returned to the Mall to pick us
up. She went in for a few minutes to get something to eat. When she returned
to the bus, she saw someone tampering with the bus. As she approached the
bus, the person ran off. She contacted Security, and then called the Police
to come and check the bus. Security was concerned that maybe someone had
placed a bomb on our bus. Thank God they didn't find a bomb, but the bus
would not start. We had to get another bus to take us to Conyers. We waited
from 2:30 PM until 7:00 PM before a bus arrived to get us.
The owner of the bus that was broken, told the bus driver to take a
Greyhound bus back to New Orleans. But Betty wanted to continue along with
us on the trip. Her boss allowed her to come with us to Conyers. We were
very surprised that she wanted to stay with us, considering the fact that
she was a Baptist and it wasn't her job to go. She came, because she wanted
to.
Our new bus driver was named Darrell, a Baptist from Montgomery, Alabama.
He told us that the reason he was late was because no one else wanted to
take the trip, when they found out where we were going. He was scheduled
for another trip, but changed with someone to take us. We all felt in our
hearts while we were waiting for a new bus, that there was a reason for
the delay. On Sunday, April 14th, we discovered what that reason
was.
On the day after the Apparition, April 14th, our group returned
to the Apparition site. We asked Darrell to come with us into the Apparition
room. He came with us, and was one of many in the group that witnessed
a miracle. In the corner of the room on a shelf is a statue of "Our Loving
Mother". When we looked at the statue, we witnessed the shadow of the statue
change from one shadow to many, disappearing completely, and then showing
again. (I captured this miracle on my video recording.)
We left the Apparition room and went to Holy Hill, the site where Nancy
lives. Again, I invited Darrell to come with me and walk on the grounds
while the group was getting their Holy Water from the well. (The water
has been blessed by Jesus.) He and I walked in the front yard and I explained
to him about Mary, and the many titles she appears as. He asked me to stop
in the middle of the front yard and he commented on how peaceful
it was just being there. We walked until we arrived in front of the beautiful
statue of "Our Lady of Fatima". The statue is life size, and is painted
solid white. I then told him about the miracle at Fatima, and how Our Lady
was calling her children to her Son. I told him that it did not matter
which religion you followed, and that she was the Mother to us all. There
is only one God. I also explained to him that we do not worship statues
or Mary. We told him that we ask Our Lady to petition her Son for us.
At that moment, Darrell walked up to the statue and held Mary's hands
in his, looking at her straight in the face. I could tell that he was very
sincere and praying from his heart. Suddenly, he began to cry. He asked
the few people that were there, "What is the color of Mary's eyes?" We
immediately answered "White", because the entire statue is painted white.
He told us to look at her eyes, that they were blue. We looked at
Mary's eyes, and did see that they appeared to be a blue/gray color. We
noticed her eyelashes and eyebrows forming, and we could actually see our
reflection in the pupils of her now "real" eyes. Her eyes stayed blue for
about twenty minutes. Whenever Darrell would touch Mary's hands (which
he did numerous times), her eyes would turn a darker blue. He could not
believe what was happening to him. He said, "I asked Mary to help me, and
her eyes turned blue."
Truly, this was a miracle. Mary allowed this humble Baptist man to know
of her real presence. At the same time that her eyes were blue, we smelled
the scent of roses, over and over again. This was a sign of Mary's presence
to us. Darrell also smelled the roses and commented through his tears,
that he usually was unable to smell anything due to a sinus problem. But
Mary allowed him to smell the roses. There were no roses anywhere around
us, except for some plastic ones.
Almost everyone in the group saw the miracle, and some members of the
group are providing written testimonies. The greatest miracle we feel we
witnessed was the conversion of Darrell and Betty, our bus drivers. We
all know that our lives will not be the same, and we give all the glory,
honor and praise to Jesus and Our Holy Mother Mary. I have captured the
statue of Mary with her eyes blue on my video and in my photographs. Our
Lady has said, "I allowed cameras so that others might believe."
Darrell's last words to us were that no one was ever going to take away
what he saw and felt. He was going to contact and speak to a Catholic priest.
Praise God! I also saw gold glitter on my sister, Julie's hands while she
touched the "Our Lady of Fatima" statue.
My greatest conversion at Conyers was that my heart has turned to gold,
filled with the love of Our Lady and Jesus. I know in my heart, and through
witness, that Our Mother Mary and her Son, Jesus are in Conyers, Georgia.
Thank You, Jesus and Mary!
Annette B.
April 18, 1996
Raceland, Louisiana
Note: There have been sixteen additional written testimonies received
from pilgrims who were on this
tour, all of
which support the above testimony.