<div>My husband, Stephen Payne, is a devoted husband, father, and lifelong Catholic filmmaker who has spent more than 35 years serving the Church—often without pay—out of love for Christ and the faithful. Today, after decades of sacrifice and service, our family finds itself at a critical crossroads. A convergence of serious health challenges and unexpected financial strain has left us facing the most difficult season we have ever known, and for the first time, we are humbly asking for help simply to keep our family stable while Stephen fights to recover and continue the mission God entrusted to him.
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<div>Stephen and his father, Richard Payne, are the co-founders of Arcadia Films, a Catholic film apostolate that has produced more than 120 films over its 35-year history. Their work has reached countless souls and has been recognized with both national and international awards, including A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing and Saints Alive!. For more than three decades, they labored tirelessly—often without pay—out of love for the Church and the faithful they serve.
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<div>Only in recent years has Stephen begun receiving a modest salary from Arcadia Institute to help support our growing family. Now, after so many years of sacrifice, Richard is stepping into a well-earned semi-retirement. At the same time, however, our family is facing the most difficult trial we have ever known.
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<div>For nearly a year and a half, Stephen has been suffering from serious and persistent health issues. He has struggled with memory loss, brain fog, and chronic fatigue. What has been definitively diagnosed is cardiovascular distress. Both an echocardiogram and a nuclear stress test revealed that one of Stephen’s heart ventricles is enlarged and not emptying properly, likely the result of several years of untreated sleep apnea. These findings were confirmed by a second opinion from a trusted cardiologist friend. Stephen is currently wearing a portable EKG to more closely monitor his heart and, we hope, arrive at a clearer diagnosis.
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<div>As a result of these health challenges, Stephen was unable to work for an extended period and only returned to work two weeks ago. He is now attempting to rebuild his livelihood as an independent producer and entrepreneur. Unfortunately, the transition has been difficult. EWTN, which once provided consistent work, is currently unable to offer immediate opportunities, leaving us without reliable income during this critical recovery period.
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<div>Stephen needs both time and financial stability to bridge the gap between producing new work and securing dependable compensation. At present, we have nearly exhausted our available funds, and our family is in urgent need of support. We are humbly asking for help in raising $8,000 per month until the end of the summer to cover our basic living expenses—our mortgage, fuel deliveries, utilities, and other essential household needs.
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<div>Your support in any form—whether through GoFundMe, PayPal, wire transfer, or check—would be an answered prayer. It would give our children the peace of knowing that their father can heal without overwhelming stress. It would give Stephen the time and stability he needs to recover his health and continue moving forward.
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<div>We are placing our trust in God’s timing and in your generosity. Please keep our family in your prayers—they mean more to us than we can express. And if you are able to give, please know that your gift is more than financial support. It is hope. It is a lifeline. It is a tangible act of love that will one day allow Stephen to return fully to the mission God has called him to and continue providing for our family.
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<div>If we fail to fundraise the proper funds by February 15 (when our next mortgage is due), we will lose our house and my husband's editing suite-- his only way of providing income for us-- and be forced to waste away off of pure government benefits in a homeless shelter.
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<div>From the bottom of my heart, thank you. May God bless you abundantly for your kindness, prayers, and support.
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George Szele

Anonymous

James Morlino

Barry Almon

Stephanie Brenzel

Chaya Golovatchev

Help a Father Protect His Family in a Time of Crisis

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

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Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

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Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

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charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

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Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

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