Former Protestant missionary shares Eucharistic encounter at IEC

Barbara Heil was a "church planter" before she was awestruck by an experience of Eucharistic adoration.

Speakers from around the world have gathered at the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) in Budapest, Hungary from September 5-12, 2021, sharing their testimonies of Eucharistic faith.

One of those speakers is Barbara Heil, a former Protestant missionary, who currently resides in Iowa.

Heil gave her powerful testimony of conversion, first to Protestant Christianity, and then to Roman Catholicism.

After many years as a “church planter,” traveling around the world to establish Christian churches, she began to encounter Catholics who challenged her faith.

At first she was introduced to the writings of St. Teresa of Avila, and began to explore Catholicism, being surprised by what she was reading.

During this time of searching, she was invited by a Catholic priest to a conference in Philadelphia. She had never stepped inside a Catholic church before and “stood in the back,” to observe the strange liturgical rituals.

The organizers announced that at the last day of the conference there would be a “procession” throughout the church.

Then suddenly she found herself crying and emotionally charged when she opened her eyes and saw the Eucharistic monstrance in front of her.

She said in her testimony, “I didn’t know what a monstrance was. I didn’t know what a Eucharistic procession was. All I knew was that Jesus himself was standing in front of me at that moment.“

This profound experience of Eucharistic adoration set her on a path that would later end in being accepted into full communion in the Catholic Church.

You can watch her full testimony below (or