Where's your passion?

Some days I'm surprised where life has taken me...

For instance if you had told me as a 19 year old that at the age of 25 I would be standing on a corner in Georgia preaching to Christians how we must stand up for our fellow preborn brothers and sisters I probably would have called you a nut job and walked away.

That is because at 19 years of age I found myself engaged to be married and engaging in a lifestyle that was not honoring to God or my future husband. I still remember the day where I was a scared Christian who wondered what she would do if that pregnancy test came back positive. It's hard to write sometimes about the lifestyle I was involved in or what I went through, but I know that it's a part of my testimony of how God brought me out of the depths and raised me up for such a time as this.

So how did I get to be that 25 year old street preacher calling out to Christians to defend the preborn? Well here's the short version of the story in bullet points:

• God knocks me on the side of my head to tell me I shouldn't be engaged.
• My friend comes home and asks why I don't I just go back to college and attend Liberty like her.
• I transfer to Liberty but then get mad after some sad, unfortunate events that happen in my life.
• God picks me up again after I knock myself to the ground by backsliding one summer.
• I head back to Liberty in the Fall semester of 2009 with a feminist mindset.
• God lovingly leads me to go to a sidewalk counseling training session in disbelief that a women could ever be helped by such techniques.
• I meet the most wonderful people who lead and mentor me on how to stand up for the preborn.
• I am impacted by a mentor so much that when she dies in a car wreck I decide someone must fight for the preborn in her absence and commit myself to full-time prolife work.
• God leads me on the journey across the country working with abortion images and then to work with a national organization.
• My life has a temporary crumbling due to my not keeping my eyes on the Lord and focusing on the pro-life movement instead of Him.
• God picks me up and moves me to Georgia to work with Georgia Right to Life in a smaller role, I believe He's teaching me much in this time :)

So I was invited by a good friend (Lincoln) to the Passion Conference, but it wasn't to attend the actual conference. You see for years those of us who do pro-life work have seen Evangelical Christians shy away from getting involved in standing up for their preborn brothers and sisters. They have said 'it's too much of a political issue', or that 'it's just too controversial a topic'. Many times without fail we walk away wondering why Christians have ignored the command given so many times in the Bible to 'take care of the widows and orphans'? So Lincoln who works for the Center for Bioethical Reform invites me to join him and other Christians outside of one of the larger Evangelical conferences calling Christians to action.

So many of us (including some good friends from out of state) went out on a Saturday in front of the Passion Conference in Atlanta, GA January to call our brothers and sisters in Christ to live out their pro-life beliefs.

Although we were there to call Christians to stand up against abortion I was very privileged to have a man come up to me and share the following in the video below:

His reaction is one of the many reasons why I know sharing these abortion images is so important and why I will continue to hope that these children who died unjustly will be able to fight against abortion even in their death.

Of course we had much of the usual response from Christians who would shake their head at us and mumble how they were pro-life. If we are Christians and we are pro-life what are we doing to show those beliefs?

Faith without works is dead! (James 2:20) So what does it matter if we believe something but do nothing to show we believe it. So when I would have Christians who would walk by slowly enough that I could talk to them who mumbled they were pro-life to me I would ask them "what do you do to show you are pro-life".
Very few of them had any answer. 

The amazing part when I really felt God working through me was towards the end of the day. We had given away all of our brochures on the side of the street that I was on and so I started to talk to the crowd (mind you I had for awhile had a bias against street preachers). I started to ask these young people why they so easily stood up for those poor men and women who were entrapped in the sex trafficking trade but why they would not stand up for these children?
I talked to them about what biblical views on abortion are and challenged them with Proverbs 24:10-12. Some of you may ask what difference I could make as most might write me off as crazy?

What amazed me is that as I stood there reaching out and talking to the crowds waiting to cross the street that a some in each crowd would turn and look at me and the baby who had been killed by abortion and they would Really listen! Some would look at the little one whose picture I held with tears in their eyes and nod their heads in agreement at what I was saying. Some even poked their friends on the shoulder and made them look and pay attention.

I told them not to forget this, not to forget that we as Christians are God's ambassadors to this world and are called to defend the weak and poor. I asked them to go back to their homes and live out their prolife beliefs.

Overall it was one of the most spiritually draining days I have had in quite a while and I told my friends that confronting Christians with truth is both my favorite and most hated thing to do. But I know had I not been confronted with the truth many years ago that I too would be just an apathetic Christian going through the motions without a thought as to helping those who are weaker than me.

I was blessed to be able to be a part of the outreach that day and I pray that many have gone home with the truth and are making an impact defending the preborn in their communities.

So my question for you is this: Where does your passion lie?
What do you believe and how do you show that you truly believe it?

Thoughts on the Good Samaritan and the Feminist view

It's been quite the long day. Today I was reminded of the story of the Good Samaritan. As I was driving to work I drove by the scene of an accident. I noticed there were no cops or ambulance there but the other cars were just passing by so I did as well thinking surely someone else would stop or that an ambulance would be there soon. Just a little bit up the road I thought of the story of the Good Samaritan and felt God tugging on my heart to turn around.

So I finally gave in and took a u-turn in my car to go back to the accident. I pulled up behind it and got out of my car and saw that the car that was badly banged up was a lot like my accident over a year ago. I saw Suon Chang walking back to her car and got her to sit down in my back seat and did a few memory and tests to make sure she didn't seem to be too hurt from the crash. I then was able to pray with her and give her some water while we waited for the police to show up.

The policeman showed up and told me I could go, so I asked Suon Chang if she wanted me to stay until her husband got there and she said yes. We didn't talk too much because she didn't speak a lot of English but I could tell just her having someone there meant a lot.

Her husband got there and they both thanked me far more than I deserved and I got back in my car and made my way to work.

Over the course of the day I've come to several realizations, here are a few:

1. I don't understand at all why women want so badly to be equal with men, that is to say why they want the same roles as men. God has created us females with such amazing qualities that men don't have and I believe this qualities are truly to be valued and nurtured. I know that God has given me that ability to be nurturing and I wouldn't trade that for any qualities that are more specific to men.

2. Sometimes we are just meant to plant a seed. I felt that way when I prayed with Suon Chang, I did not think my call was to preach the gospel to her at that moment but I prayer with her knowing that could be the seed that needed to be planted (did you know if takes a person an average of hearing the gospel 7 times before they will respond to it?).

3. So often we as Christians will look at a tragedy and think to ourselves how awful it is but we think to ourselves "well that's not really my problem" or the ever popular "that may be your area of ministry but God hasn't called me to that". I myself had thought to myself "oh somebody else will stop". We are called to be like Christ but I fail to see a time when Christ used either of these phrases. Not one other person stopped during the 15 minutes or more we were waiting for the police man.  I have come to the realization we are called to be the hands and feet of Christ and that means denying ourselves and sometimes even getting to work late.

So some actions steps for you, dear reader because I love action steps (I mean why take the time to read this if you aren't going to challenge yourselves with the new knowledge you have gained?).

1. Whether you are male or female learn to embrace that role which God has so greatly gifted you with and embrace those wonderful qualities that are unique to you.

2. Pray with people, don't be afraid to ask "can I pray for you right now?". Odds are that that person will not feel uncomfortable but rather so loved by the fact that you want to pray for them and for their needs.

3. Be the hands and feet of Christ, always. Start by challenging yourself one day at a time. If can be something as simple as writing a letter to someone who is in prison during the holiday (Write to Mary Wagner a pro-life hero imprisoned for her work), stopping to buy someone who is homeless a meal (I don't suggest giving money), buying life saving gifts for those who are needy around the world (World Vision gifts).

But whatever you do stop passing by those who God is tugging on your heart to help. I deeply regret my disobedience by first passing by that accident this morning. I could feel God tugging on my heart to stop, but I kept on going until I could not ignore that which Christ has called us to do.

So go out there and be His hands and feet!

I am ashamed of my fellow Christians

I am ashamed of the churches I have attended and their silence, I am especially ashamed of the fact that I went to 'the world's largest Christian university' and that in the over 12,600 students that go there, only 10 or less can put aside their needs to come sidewalk counsel and pray for an end to abortion. 

I am absolutely horrified that while on Facebook last night, I saw a friend from Nyack college, a more liberal leaning Christian college that I went to for a brief period, post about his great work at Planned Parenthood and then saw a pastor (from the same college) comment on the post commending my friend for his great work. I am astounded that someone who claims to serve God could ever say that he is proud of the work that goes into a company that kills living, human beings.

I am grieved that many pastors do not preach on the sin of abortion as they do the sin of hate towards one another. I am grieved that many churches only want to fight abortion in the pretty ways, and not really get out there and discuss that it is wrong. Why can we only collect money for pregnancy centers but become suddenly frozen when we need to take a stand as a witness for life who is against abortion?

Yesterday was the first day of the 40 Days for Life campaign. I can imagine you know where I was, but you cannot imagine the grief that I felt. So many of you tell me you are pro-life and are all for what I do, but you do nothing yourselves to put an end to this. I sat out there yesterday crying out to God in prayer asking, ‘Why am I the only one sitting out there praying for three whole hours at the start of this campaign’?

I am truly ashamed of my lack of movement on this issue, so do not just see this as me calling out others, but also calling out myself. There are many days that I could have driven the hour and a half to Richmond to go sidewalk counseling but did not. There were many days where I could have pulled out the abortion pictures I have and stood on the streets in order to educate people but I did not.

I want to ask you something though. Do you believe you would have taken in Jews during World War II and Hitler's Holocaust and kept them safe?
Well let me tell you this. I truly believe that if you have not spoken up to family or friends about abortion, if you have not gone sidewalk-counseling, if you have not regularly devoted time at a pregnancy center, participated in abortion image outreach, or another pro-life ministry that you would have not have even spent a few moments thoughts on helping the Jews in such a practical way.
I truly believe that and there is very little you could ever do that would convince me otherwise.

I believe that if you are one who contributes to those financially who fight abortion that you possibly would have also contributed to those who needed financial help to help the Jews.

I know I will hear from many of you that the 'pro-life ministry' just isn't what you are called to do or help with. But remember that saying that means that you also would have said the same thing about helping the Jews, the disabled, and the orphans when they were being lead off to the concentration camps.

I know that we are all busy and I am not trying to deny that your life, family, job, etc. are less important and do not keep you busy. What I am saying though is that, can you not manage one hour to pray or sidewalk counsel? Can you not manage a few days for a trip to educate the people who need to hear and see what abortion is? Can you not talk about abortion and teach lessons at your church about it? Can you not skip the football game and do your homework during that time so that you can go sidewalk counseling instead?

I leave you with this last thought. If we truly believe abortion is wrong and kills a baby, then we will devote time to trying to save these little ones and their families. If we believe that abortion is simply just another procedure that needs to happen, then we will sit back and hardly ever touch the subject.

"In front of every abortion clinic there needs to be a sign that reads, 'Here by permission of the Church." -Francis Schaeffer

I just need you to understand

I've been working a few weeks now on getting a post out about the amazing time I had on this summer's Justice Ride, but I'm still working on a few rough ends. For the mean time though, I just really needed to say the following to a larger audience than myself.


I still cry at the abortion pictures.

There I said it. It's not some big secret, but often times when I am out there during the day I put on the brave face, I get into my outraged mood of "why does nobody care about this?" and I try to talk to people, to point at the pictures and try my best to get them to look.

But I still cry as I sort through the pictures to see if I can find some pictures of students doing outreach to put on a missions letter.

I HATE LOOKING AT THESE PICTURES!!!

I hate waking up every morning knowing that even though I'm unemployed that I find it impossible to get a "normal" job. I was talking to one of my very dearest friends today and I'm afraid he got quite the earful at lunch. I was lamenting about the fact that I almost wish I could go back and not know about any of this, that I wonder what kind of life I would be leading if I hadn't walked into that first sidewalk counseling training session at Liberty University back in February of 2010.

I have been reading about Dietrich Bonhoeffer lately and I am made to feel bolder in my convictions by seeing the convictions he held about what was happening to the Jews leading up to and during the holocaust.

He was bold and reckless (from what I've read so far) and confronted so many professing Christians who crossed his path. I want to be this person!!! But I am afraid I waiver when I have already just in part tasted the consequences of being that person.

I've lost friendships over discussions on birth control and have had people yell at me for asking them if they would have 'stepped up to talk about or stand in the way of the mass slaughter of the Jews'.
So I maybe have slowed down where instead I should be speeding up.

Right now I'm writing a fundraising (and prayer raising) letter (PS I hate asking for money) and trying my best to communicate this mission that I feel burning in my heart. I hope to finish this without too many more tears, but honestly I wish I could share my tears with you!

I wish I could share the burden on my heart. I wish I could show you the women and men I have seen on the streets who have told me that abortion was what kicked off a long list of bad things for them. I wish I could show you the joy in that faces of those men and women when I tell them that through Christ we find forgiveness. I wish I could show you how when the innocent children pass by our graphic images they point and say "look mom, it's a baby".

But most of all, I wish that every Christian would cry over the fact that we have done so little to end abortion. That we as Christ's followers have said so many times that the pro-life thing just 'isn't our ministry' we are called to.

So if you're reading this do me a favor. Take one minute (that's 60 seconds) and ask God to break your heart for that babies that are dying every day (approx. 3,500 just in the U.S. every day). Many Christians would say that they wouldn't equate themselves to the German Christians who ignored the Jews being killed during the holocaust. But if we truly believe that life begins at conception and that abortion ends it then how are we any different if we do nothing about it?

I hope reading this gives you strength. The strength to become active against the culture which tells you that ‘this just isn’t your area of ministry’. The strength to devote even an hour of your week to helping these children being carried off to the slaughter.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Prv. 31:8

Awaiting God's next path

So here I am just a little in to April and I find my time done at Students For Life. It's a sad and unexpected thing but instead of dwelling on it I am constantly refocusing my eyes on the Lord and doing my best to be open to where He may be leading me.

So what will I do in this waiting period, well I have a few projects in mind, some you'll have to sit down with me to talk about in order to find out. I'm mostly excited for the future because God brings us through life in order that we may better learn to serve Him and I know that's where I'm headed.

One of my projects I will be working on is to be earnestly praying for a woman named Diane Derzis who owns several abortion mills (one of which is located in Richmond, VA not too far from me). I have met her once and during that time she tried to say every dirty thing she could to me and about me. That is not something I'm not used to, in fact I consider it an honor whenever I am able to stand by those who are being held to do a dark work and being able to pray for them.

I've been able to find out through some work that there are several different abortion mills that are not giving options in counseling but rather just telling women about the one option of "termination".

Why do they call it pro-choice when there is no choice given to these scared young women? Whenever someone has told me they are pro-choice I am quick to correct them and tell them that what they are actually saying is they are pro-abortion. The only different choice that they are for that I am not is the choice to murder an innocent preborn child.

How can we call that a choice? How can we call it a 'blessing from God' or a 'beautiful baby' and then call a preborn child the same age 'products of conception'?

As I stated in a status on facebook I am not sure what is ahead of me right now but I know three things very assuredly that I will continue to do:
1. Praise and Worship the Lord
2. Cry out against the horror of abortion
3. Try my best to communicate God's love to all people

I am definitely hoping that the Lord might somehow open up avenues for me to continue to train pro-lifers in sidewalk counseling. That has been one of my biggest pleasures to be able to have the opportunity to do so for the past few years and I hope to continue it. It was a also a huge pleasure to see students at University of Richmond use some of the tools I helped them find to save a  life just a couple months ago.

So now comes the waiting and praying part, hopefully I can learn to be still for a little bit so I can better hear God's direction for me.

Missionary for Life,
Sarah

About time

So it has been awhile since I've updated those who may be interested in my journey but here goes.

This semester has been crazy and very fruitful! I have traveled somewhere over 14,000 miles this past semester by car and am quite exhausted. But meeting the dedicated students I was able to work with far makes up for the feeling of exhaustion I faced most mornings.

I was able to start a few new pro-life groups at different colleges, some of them even in states out of my region which was exciting! I also got to meet and talk to so many people with inspiring stories and see their dedication to the abolition of abortion.

I was blessed to work with the team at Students For Life of America and see the dedication we all put in day in and day out. I'm still not quite sure how some of them operate on so little sleep!

Again if you're interested in hearing some of my journey's you can read my entries about my travels on www.sarah.studentsforlife.org

Overall at the end of the semester one of the best things to hear was that I got the compliment back from many student groups saying that "Sarah (I) was always there for me (the groups)". It's really great to feel as if I've made a difference and inspired maybe just a few to work towards seeing an end to abortion.

So keep me in prayer if you would as I gear up for this coming semester and I'm looking to hit over 20,000 miles this time!

Missionary for LIFE,
Sarah

Follow me onward and upward

With my new job at Students For Life of America I'll be posting a blog every week for everyone to see. So since I'll be updating there I'd love for you to come and read what's going on. You can find my new site at sarah.studentsforlife.org

Hope to hear your feedback there!