When a Dowagiac native returns to her home church this weekend, she will not be stopping by empty handed.

The community is invited to attend a free screening of the documentary “Apparition Hill” at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Dowagiac’s Sacred Heart of Mary church, at 51841 Leach Road. The event will follow the church’s 11 a.m. service, beginning with a light lunch of soup and sandwiches in the parish hall at 12:30 p.m. before the film begins at 1 p.m.

Jessi Hannapel, one of the co-producers and editors of the movie, will be in attendance, and will answer questions from the audience following the screening.

“Apparition Hill,” produced by independent movie studio Stella Mar Films, is a 2016 documentary that tells the story of seven strangers — two atheists, one believer, a mother struggling with cancer, a man diagnosed with ALS, a struggling addict, and a woman questioning her faith — who come together to investigate Medjugorje, a town in Bosnia where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared on a hill in 1981. The city has become an unofficial place for Catholic pilgrimage ever since.

Hannapel, a native of Dowagiac, has wanted to share the movie she helped create with her home parish at Sacred Heart of Mary ever since the documentary was finished, said Melissa Schultz, administrative assistant with the local church. After visiting the Dowagiac Catholic church to help instruct Vacation Bible School over the summer, Hannapel and the clergy decided on a date in November to host the screening.

“We thought this was a good opportunity to help build faith among the parishioners,” Schultz said.

Although the screening is free, people will be able to give a free will offering during the screening. Money collected will go toward the mission trips that the church’s teenagers will take next year, to Washington, D.C., and Niagara Falls.

Schultz said that, for her and many other members, Sunday will mark the first time they will have a chance to see the documentary. The woman said she is excited to see what Hannapel has in store for them this weekend.

“It is so awesome to see someone who you have watched grow up and blossom take her passion for filmmaking and use it to serve the Lord and build up his kingdom,” Schultz said. “It is heartwarming for us to see.”

For more info, people may contact Sacred Heart of Mary at (269) 782-8048.