“Hard as Nails stepped up and prayed for me when I was completely hopeless.  They were patient with me as I struggled and they reminded me of God’s immense love for me.”  Hard as Nails is humbled when we receive comments like this one from a teenaged girl impacted by our ministry. We are reminded that our work is not in vain and that God is using us to bring healing to our young people. Hard as Nails is here for you too. If you struggle with an addiction to drugs, alcohol or pornography, if you are cutting, have suicidal feelings or are being bullied, if you feel alone, helpless or hopeless, we would like to pray for you. If you need prayer or someone you know needs prayer, please join us any evening at 9:00 pm (EST) on our HANM Facebook wall. Hundreds come each week to experience the healing power of God's love. March was probably our biggest month ever. We traveled to eight different states ─ from California to New York and states in between! On our first trip, the Syracuse HAN team traveled to Northern New Jersey to minister at two confirmation retreats, an all-girls school, and two youth groups that Justin has visited for many years. The team was excited to be joined by many past, present and future HANM members and supporters, including Craig Jandoli, Pricilla LaPort, Daniel Downes, Patti Dugan and others. With all the extra hands of Christ, we were able to have more testimony, activities, and personal prayer and guidance with the youth. We brought the message with more vigor and fearlessness than ever! The confirmation retreat on March 3 at Our Lady of Peace Parish in Providence, NJ brought out new emotions for the high schoolers. With a big focus on confirmation and the effect of sin on Jesus and our own lives, many hearts were freed that day. One student bought a t-shirt afterwards and said he was going to nail it to his bedroom wall to remind him that he and everyone he comes in contact with throughout the day is amazing. March 4 brought another confirmation retreat at St. John the Baptist in Hillsdale, NJ. For this retreat, Justin challenged the adult leaders to step up and be involved with their youth, and one adult volunteer shared with the group of 200+ that he learned more about his faith in the few hours he spent at the retreat as he had in the last 15 years. By the end of the retreat, a mom at the event shared her miraculous cancer survival story, and how she has to ask God to live each day. The next day Justin again presented at Benedictine Academy, an all-girls school in Elizabeth, NJ. The girls were willing to be vulnerable, and we showed them how to share in love and encouragement, building each other up as a tight-knit community. That night was the first of the youth groups, with Blessed Sacrament Parish in Westchester County, NY. The other took place on March 6 at St. Michael’s in Union, NJ. Both events stressed the need for faith everyday. Overall, the welcome and heavenly hospitality from all involved in the tour were greatly appreciated!    From March 9-13, the Hard As Nails team made history - we took a 15-hour trip to Illinois and Missouri in our new tour bus! After the highly anticipated bus (and motor home) arrived in Syracuse, it was blessed - probably making it high on the short list of Catholic tour buses! The newly remodeled bus allowed the team to set up space to work, have meetings, eat, hang out, pray, and even sleep. The bus rolled into Belleville, IL for the Diocesan Youth Conference, titled Fanning the Flame. And that is just what Justin did for the two-day conference. The rest of the tour consisted of events at St. Mary Magdalen for Southside Youth Ministries and Duchesne High School, in St. Louis, IL, as well as Altoff High School back in Belleville. At each of these venues, Justin once again called for youth and adults alike to apologize or encourage those in the room whom they hadn't been ready to reach out to in the past. After a very short break, the Hard As Nails team set off for West Virginia University on March 16, switching gears and focusing on college evangelization and outreach. Watch out frat houses, as groups went recruiting door to door on the campus of one of the biggest party schools in the country! Two days of healing talks, adoration, confession, Mass and planning sessions gave the students the tools and drive to bring their newly brainstormed commitments to their campuses and improve their campus ministry. St. Vincent’s in LaTrobe, PA, had a group of students there, some of whom followed the ministry to Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio for a motivational Missionary for Life talk session on March 19 after a group of us in "I’m Amazing" t-shirts wandered the campus talking to students. Students were challenged not to live mediocre lives. Some were so touched by the ministry that they signed up for information on our Missionary Program starting this August. Justin also guest-taught one of Chris Padget’s Christian Morality classes, further igniting the Steubenville campus. Justin ended the month at the San Antonio Youth Explosion on March 24. In an interview with the San Antonio Catholic Beat before the event, Justin responded to the charge that his personality is too intense: “The reality is that John the Baptist was intense. St. Paul was intense. St. Francis of Assisi was intense. Jesus Christ was intense. But let me tell you something. What they were intense about was the love of God. […] Other Hard as Nails speakers were also active during the month. From March 2-4, Tim Hanley and a team of musicians and other speakers traveled to San Bruno, CA for the fourth time. He also went to Boise, Idaho from March 10-11 for the Idaho Catholic Youth Convention. Brian Greenfield spoke at a diocesan event in Baton Rouge, LA. We are working on a marketing plan to get Brian into more schools and churches around the country to share his amazing gifts with more people. Please check out our events calendar at www.hanm.org to see where we'll be going next and join us on the road if you can. As always, thank you for your prayers and support. God bless you! You're amazing!