Help Them Come Home

A Catholic Evangelization Campaign for the Rest of Us

"The Fields are Ripe for Harvest"

That’s what Jesus told his followers 2000 years ago in encouraging them to go out and help the lost and the hurting find salvation in Him. It is still true today. Indeed, we are starting to see a great ingathering of souls, as more and more people find and embrace the truth and beauty of the Catholic Church. But there is still so much more we can do. That is what our new evangelization campaign is about.

The most common prayer concern I hear from faithful Catholics is that they long for certain friends and loved ones to either become Catholic or return to the Church. They also wish they could do more to help that process along. Unfortunately, that often feels like a daunting or even impossible task, one that doesn’t get much support at a local level and is considered best left to the experts. This campaign is intended to help change that.

I am a convert to Catholicism, and have been talking to skeptics and converts for the past 25 years. And although each story is unique, over that time I have learned that there is a pattern to conversion, and there are certain principles we can follow to help people along that journey. There are also common reasons that people reject the Church, and certain pitfalls that evangelists can avoid.

And now we have taken all that information and started to package in tools that everyone can use and share, and over the next several months we will be working hard to put the finishing touches on it and get it into your hands.

Here are the projects we are working on

Becoming Catholic: A Story of Awakening to Something More

This feature length documentary will follow Don as he travels the country talking to some of today’s most interesting and articulate Catholic converts, including Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Abigail Favale, Joseph Pearce, Stacy Trasancos, Sr. Theresa Noble, Matthew Wiseman, and many more.

Season 2 of Convinced: The Series

We recently started posting full individual conversion stories on YouTube and it has been a great success, so we are busy getting ready for season 2. Look for amazing stories from some of the folks mentioned above, as well as many more, including Joshua Charles, J. Budziszewski, Dale Ahlquist, Amber Rose, Jeremey Christiansen, David Bereit, and many more!

The Path of Conversion: Why Skeptics Become Catholic and How to Help Them Along the Journey

Many evangelization and apologetics books talk about why skeptics should become Catholic. This one explains why they actually do. Scheduled for publication next year, this new book from Don will clearly show the pattern that skeptics follow from unbelief to belief. Using examples from the conversion stories he has been recording for over a decade, Don will also show how we can most effectively play a positive role as they travel that path.

How To Talk to a Skeptic: Personal Evangelization and Apologetics that Actually Works

Scheduled for release from Ignatius Press in 2026, this is an updated version of the 2013 book of which Peter Kreeft said “This is one of the most practical books of apologetics I have ever read. It is also one of the most profound.” It will include new material to deal with the new “advances” of the sexual revolution as well as be more explicitly Catholic. (I originally wrote it for a Protestant evangelical audience.)

An Indexed Guide to Convinced, the Series

Convinced, the documentary, has been used in parishes to help seekers and questioners for many years, and now OCIA leaders are starting to do the same with Convinced, the Series. We would like to help make that process more efficient by providing and timestamped index of topics and questions that are covered in each episode. This way parish leaders could quickly access material to answer questions as they arose, as well as more easily implement the videos in their presentations.

What We Need

The funds we receive through this campaign will go primarily to shooting the rest of the interviews for the film and YouTube series, and then completing the post production process for both. It will also help pay for writing, publishing, and distributing the discussion guides and indexes for the movie and videos.

The Impact

This is my fourth feature length documentary and my third book, and with each project I am more amazed with how much influence these projects can have. My first film, Convinced, has been used by God to bring many into the Church and is currently being used by Churches all over the world to help evangelize and educate catechumens. Unprotected helped awaken a generation of young women to the dangers of the sexual revolution, and as a follow up, my most recent documentary, Dysconnected, has been shown to lawmakers around the country in an effort to help stem the tide of transgender ideology. (A battle we are winning.) The YouTube series Convinced is reaching hundreds of thousands around the world with powerful stories of conversion. I am convinced that each of these new projects can have the same type of impact.

Ways You Can Help

Please pray and, if you are able, support this campaign financially. We simply can't get it done without you. Also, sharing with others is also extremely beneficial. Thank you!

As a thank you, here are some gifts you will receive at various giving levels:

$50.00 - The Movie

You will get a digital download of Becoming Catholic before it is available to the general public, along with a pdf download of the accompanying Booklet and Discussion Guide. The booklet will provide more details of the points made in the film, as well as a resource list and some questions to help facilitate small group discussions.

$100.00 - The Path of Conversion Book and Video Course

A signed copy of Don's new book The Path of Conversion: Why Skeptics Become Catholic and How to Help Them Along the Journey as well as access to a video course that walks through the material in the book.

$250.00 - Book Bonanza

Personalized, signed copies of How to Talk to a Skeptic and Twisted Unto Destruction by Don Johnson, as digital copies of several book from converts who appear in the film, including Into the Deep by Abigail Favale, There and Back Again by Fr. Dwight Longenecker, and From the Susquehanna to the Tiber by Jeremy Christiansen. (More books TBA)

$500.00 - Parish Resource Pack

Get digital access to Becoming Catholic for the members of your entire parish, plus a license to screen it to the public. You will also receive the indexed guide to Convinced and all discussion and study guides that accompany the various media.

$1,000.00 - Your name in the Credits (This and all subsequent levels include unique behind the scenes updates and access to the filmmakers.)

$2,500.00 - Title of Supporting Producer

$5,000.00 - Title of Associate Producer

$10,000.00 - Title of Assistant Producer

$25,000.00 - Title of Executive Producer

Thank you for your prayers and support! Learn more and support this campaign here.