Justin Fatica
In 1997 a young man sitting in Saint Peters Cathedral in Erie, PA had an experience with God. God touched him in his heart and encouraged him to make Christ popular. He believed that God had something really big planned so that he could bring praise and honor to the love of his life Jesus Christ.
That young man's name is Justin Fatica.
At the age of seventeen Justin promised God that he would dedicate his life to spreading the name of his personal Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Upon graduating Cathedral Prep in Erie, PA, he attended Seton Hall University. While at Seton Hall he founded the 12 Apostles Program, a program designed to help his fellow college students develop a relationship with Jesus Christ. They traveled throughout the metropolitan area bringing the Word of God to high school students. This was just the beginning of Justin fulfilling promise to God. After graduating Seton Hall, he decided to continue his mission as a religion teacher and campus minister at Paramus Catholic High School in Paramus, NJ. It became clearer here, that the Lord had different call on his life. He made a firm decision to begin his plan of starting his mission. Hard as Nails Ministries, founded in 2002, has touched thousands of lives. Fatica now believes that this is an answered prayer that he has been waiting for since 1997. His goal is to use what he calls "ENTERTAINMENT WITH A MESSAGE" to an MTV, video game and in your face generation. It is intense and you will never forget his unparalleled and intensely dynamic speaking style. Whether it is an "in your face" style like so many media outlets polarize or his gentle tender hearted approach. His message is about loving all people no matter who they are or what they have been through. It is not just about him. He has teams of college and high school students who work hard at developing skits and testimonies to touch the lives of young people throughout the country. Fatica has touched lives in such a dramatic way that the ministry has had numerous youth, after their Hard as Nails experience, travel hundreds of miles just to be a part of the mission again.
Brian Greenfield
Brian Greenfield was born and raised in Washington, DC. After graduating from high school, Brian attended Seton Hall University. While there, God moved powerfully in Brian's heart and life. Brian began to attend a weekly prayer meeting with other students. This eventually grew into a retreat ministry called the 12 Apostles Program. While leading a retreat, Brian promised God that he would stop living for himself and gave his life to Jesus Christ.
He continued to work in youth and young adult ministry during his four years at Seton Hall, speaking at numerous youth events and youth groups. After graduating with a degree in communications, Brian attended the Franciscan University of Steubenville for theology. While at Franciscan, he felt God calling him to give more of himself. Brian withdrew from school and entered the Community of the Franciscans of the Renewal. As a postulant, Brian lived in Harlem, served the poor, and began his formation as a
Franciscan Friar.
After finishing the postulancy, Brian returned to Washington, DC to further discern God's call for his life. Brian returned to Seton Hall University to study theology, where he served as a part-time Campus Minister for the university and taught religion at Paramus Catholic High School. He also began his work with Hard as Nails. He received his M.A. in Theology in May 2005.Brian has spoken to thousands of youth and young adults about the message of Jesus Christ. He has written numerous articles concerning various aspects of Christian living. Brian is also one of the few black catholic evangelists in the United States.
Brian believes that God has given him gifts to bring the message of Jesus Christ to others and knows that there is a prevailing hopelessness in this world that can only be remedied through an encounter with Christ. Brian is currently a faith formation coordinator for Incarnation Parish in Tampa Florida. He resides in Spring Hill Florida with his wife Genevieve and his two children Mieko and Michael.
Tim Hanley
Tim Hanley was born and raised in the New Jersey suburbs of NYC. At the age of 16, after a powerful encounter with the mercy of Christ, he knew he had to serve the LORD. This is when he met the other men who would later begin Hard as Nails Ministries Inc. A recruited D1 college football player, Tim went on to play in the Ivy League. He used this experience of "teamwork" and "commitment" in order to found a college faith community marked by a three-fold devotion to the Blessed Mother, to the Holy Father, and to Our Eucharistic Lord. This community, called SOULDIERS MINISTRY, continues to grow with men and women whose hearts burn with a zeal to be apostles to their campuses. When the LORD called Tim to give up his love - football - in order to devote his full time to “Kingdom business,” he struggled to yield to the Spirit, but grace abounded and he began the next step of his great adventure of the life of faith.
After graduating from Cornell University, Tim discerned the religious life as a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal. He spent one year living among and serving the poor and suffering in Harlem, Bronx, and Newark, NJ. The experience of relying on others’ generosity just for the basic needs of life was not only humbling, but enlightening for Tim. This was a tremendous opportunity to retreat from the battlefield of the world, and enter the battlefield of his own soul. As the year of formation unfolded, it became quite apparent to Tim that the greatest battle he would ever fight is that of the interior self… the battle for sainthood which we are all called to fight. His passion for urban outreach was cultivated in the inner city, and his heart still beats for the streets.
During this time of formation as a Franciscan friar, it became clearer over time that the LORD was calling him back into the world in order to work to "sanctify the secular." Inspired by his hero, the Great Pope John Paul II, he now seeks to renew the church and the world as a lay evangelist, traveling and preaching to young people all across the world. When not on the road, you can find him in the streets surrounding his office in Newark, NJ - bringing hope to an area infested with gangs, drugs, sex, and violence.
As the spark of the Caribbean mission, Tim has developed the international component of Hard as Nails, founding communities and establishing outreaches on various Caribbean islands. In addition to the international missions however, Tim also has a passion for the mission to reclaim the masculine identity in Christ. His dream is to see a RENEWAL of authentic manhood in both the Church and the world. He also attests to the fact that the first place he fights to see manhood redeemed is in his own heart, in his own soul, in his own life. Tim's versatility and ability to engage various audiences has had him sitting on faith discussion panels at Ivy League universities, inspiring incarcerated youth in the Bronx NYC, and preaching Christ anywhere in between. Invite him to your event and you will most certainly be blessed by his authenticity, his passion, and his apostolic zeal for souls!
Dan DeMatte
Growing up, Dan had two dreams – be the best wrestler in the state of Ohio and go to college at Notre Dame. All of his time and energy went towards pursuing these dreams in high school, until a series of events caused both of these dreams to come crashing down. After realizing that there was truly no dream worth living for other than the dream of heaven, Dan completely reoriented his life and his priorities so that his unchanging God was his core. After graduating high school and served as a missionary for a year before returning to his home town in Columbus, OH. and helping to form a dynamic college ministry at Ohio State University and working towards degrees at Ohio Dominican in Theology and Philosophy. At the same time, he became a youth minister and quickly formed a powerful army of disciples for the Lord Jesus Christ. As he continues to serve the Lord as a youth minister in Columbus, he is also the program director for two huge youth movements, Jesus Jams and Catholic Youth Summer Camp.
Dan was featured on a reality TV show called God or the Girl. The show aimed to portray his discernment process between the priesthood and the married life. In his discernment process, Dan carried an 80lb cross on a 22 mile pilgrimage in order to better unite himself to the cross of Christ – the center of all vocations. After discerning his call for three years, he heard the Lord call him to the life of a married man – God through the girl. Dan is happily married and has his first baby on the way.
As a speaker and evangelist, it is Dan’s goal to encourage all young people to reject sin and Satan, and all of his empty promises, and to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a fearless and radical way. He believes that every person is called to be a saint. He believes that this world is in need of an intense renewal. He believes that the renewal begins with you!
Craig Jandoli
Craig was born and raised in Northern New Jersey. Craig met Christ during his high school years, and wasted no time doing the Lord’s work. At the age of 15 he helped start a ministry for athletes at the high school he attended. He also was a leader of the weekly prayer meetings, and helped coordinate many retreats. After high school Craig went to the seminary for one year. This was a powerful year in his life because it was through living in that house of discernment that he found out his calling was to work with the youth of this world. He was hired as the youth minister at a parish in Essex County NJ in October 2006 and is still currently working there, where the youth group is thriving!Craig has been around HAN since the first years and serves as a dynamic and powerful speaker, with a great gift to reach young people through his humor and preaching.
