Thoughts from the road

So as we travel our way out of Oklahoma after a most relaxing day yesterday at a small ranch/farm/whatever you call it I find myself full of thoughts. I couldn't be more thankful for Mrs. Keller and her generousness to take us all in, we arrived around  5pm after about 11 or so hours of driving yesterday and were relieved to get out of the car. We found ourselves on a farm of sorts with cows, horses, and lots of land, and within minutes were riding on the mule (a traveling cart of sorts, but not an ATV as the boys seemed to drive it as). It was awesome to go gallivanting about and yipping as we went over bumps in the cart and such. It was awesome to feel the breeze and see all the land, and no college or high school in sight. I can easily say I've had my fill of schools, but nonetheless will continue the work that's been started.

So we had some awesome time of talking with our host last night and relaxing and we all had a bed of sorts to sleep in last night which I'm sure the whole team can tell you was a little slice of heaven to us. I have a little less then two weeks left of touring with Survivors and am starting to prepare for what's next in my journey. I have an interview this week for a position in Minnesota in which I'd be doing sidewalk counseling training full-time. If you know me, you know that's something I'm definitely passionate about and love to do. But I also have had two other job offers which require fundraising my entire salary, so I'm not quite sure yet where God might be calling me. I'm hesitant to take the ones where I have to fund raise my whole salary for obvious reasons, but I know if I decide to take either of those that God will provide as He always does.

It's scary to think I'll most likely be out of the Lynchburg area come August, quite scary, that's been my home now for the past three years and I'll miss it, but I also know God is calling me not to be comfortable but to serve Him. As I sit in the Sprinter as we drive I find myself drawn to looking at the quote on my window (courtesy of Alexis) which is:
"Courage is not the absence of fear,
but rather the judgement that
something else is more
important than fear"
-Ambrose Redmoon

So I shall go wherever the Lord calls me knowing that the importance of the work I'm going to do overrides the fear of going somewhere new on my own.

Just when you think you can't carry on anymore...

 It’s been a crazy week, so there has been little writing. Somehow everyday I’ve gotten up this week without fail has felt like a Friday. I’ve been exhausted beyond belief and felt like I’ve been dragging my body every day.  But nonetheless I carry on to save the little ones and to grow in this journey that God has me on. I read a really great devotional today that talked about how we need to “walk with God” instead of asking Him to “walk with us”. How true that is in this fight! 

So this past week we’ve been in Georgia, as Georgia State University, which was a really interesting crowd. We had quite a few pro-aborts who came up to us arguing and ripping literature. We even had one that went through our Literature and made what they called “improvements” one of which included citing the ever credible site stfupro-life.tumblr, I know what you’re thinking… they sound legitimate right? So after that crazy filled day we drove off to Clarksville, TN.

We were greeted by a group of local elders and faithful attenders of the catholic church nearby to APSU (Austin Peay State University). They talked about how needed our visit was to inspire them, I truly wish they knew how inspiring they were to us and what a blessing they were. So we rushed from that meeting to another at APSU with the Newman Group. We had a rather warm welcome from the students and were given some much appreciate pizza and drinks as we all talked about where we were from joking and such. We then transitioned however into a time for them to ask us some questions about how they could become more active in their pro-life views.

The Newman group stepped right up to the plate when we found out there had been some miscommunication of how many of us there were and we needed some extra places to stay. So I was very thankful to Mary and Alexis (and Caroline) who so graciously took in Jayne, Sarah, and I into their dorm room for three nights to stay. We had such a good time talking with them and being able to get to know them. APSU’s campus was a challenge, almost as always we were met by security on the campus telling us we had to move our signs or that we couldn’t pass out literature because it was against school policy, which evidently takes precedence over one’s Constitutional Rights. But we worked it out and found ways around what they asked so our voice would not be silenced. It was a very hot day in the sun, but it’s amazing how God carries you through it all.

So we had a rather interesting night, we went and had lunch and did some media work before deciding to chalk on the campus that night. So we got ready chalk in hands and walked to where the play “Vagina Monologues” was taking place on campus. We handed out “180 movie” cards as well as some “Unplanned Pregnancy” cards to the audience as they walked in. Once they were inside we went to work chalking on the ground things like “Real Feminists don’t kill their children”, “Crisis Pregnancy call 1-800-395-HELP” or one of my favorites to combat their chalking “Vagina’s are for Mothers”. But as we were chalking up walked the ultra-feminist old ladies who started yelling at us asking whether we were from the Crisis Pregnancy Center (There’s a background story somewhere). We told them that they weren’t and then they proceeded to tell us how inappropriate out messages were since the play was about Reproductive Rights. We just replied that our messages were actually quite appropriate. So one lady came out with a camera and the proceeded to try and bully some members of the Newman group telling them she would get them in trouble for this. It’s amazing how some people will bully away when they are confronted with the truth of what goes on every day. So we finished up the night with reading a Psalm and we all went to bed for the next day and the work we had left to do on APSU’s campus.

We awoke the next morning bright and early to get set up on campus again, this time I was out at the front entrance of the college which faced a main public road, but also had good access to the students coming in from the parking lot. We had plenty of angry people that day coming up to us telling us it was inappropriate to show these pictures, but still saying that abortion was anybody’s rights. But even as the sun was absolutely glaring we still carried on and I remarked to Vince just how great a having a lemonade sounded right about then. So low and behold one of the members of the Newman group, Kate comes up and asks us what we would like to drink. So she went and got us some water and lemonade, this was truly such a blessing from God that I could not believe. Yes it seems small, but it’s amazing the things you take for granted when you work long hours and are always going on your feet.
We were also very blessed that two different men (one who was a pastor of a local church) specifically stopped their cars that day to come and walk over to us to encourage us that we were doing a great work for God by being there and speaking for the unborn.  That was such a blessings especially considering it came before my last conversation of the day with a particularly hateful young man who kept berating me telling Vince and I that we were breaking the law, even though we informed him we were not.

So that night we had a spectacular time being hosted by the Newman group for a social-cookout-night and ate wonderful food and played Disney trivia games complete with teams and craziness. It was such a great time, we really couldn’t have asked for a better group host experience at the college. I hope that in the future I’ll be running into some of those great people from the Newman group and can bless them as they have so richly blessed us this past week.  It’s been a rough week so far, and we’ll be traveling almost non-stop the next few days, but as we have much time in the car I love to look on this journey and think about all the wonderful people I’ve met. Fighting for the Unborn’s rights is something I hope to not have to do someday, but I can say, that I’m honored that I’ve been given the chance to do so while I can.

Graphics and Saying Goodbye

So sad to see the last week with Created Equal come to an end, I’ve had a blast getting to hang out with some really awesome teenagers and of course the Created Equal staff people.  The last few days I broke off from Survivors to go with Created Equal as we tried to reach as many colleges as possible in the last few days and so I could visit a friend I hadn’t seen in about 4 or 5 years.  I really do honestly believe we changed so many hearts and minds this past week, I’ve had so many people tell me that graphic pictures don’t have a place. But when you see college students as their faces turn to horror because they had no idea that this was what abortion looks like you know that we should be exactly where we are with these signs.

One particular student’s face will remain with me for perhaps the entire trip; I only wish I could know her and her little ones fate. Her name is Savannah, she came up to our display as there was quite the intense debate going on with both Seth , Mark, and students who stood both on the pro-choice side and the pro-life side. Let me just jump on a side note and say I was totally blessed to be able to watch these two men debate and have conversations for the past two weeks! But anyway Savannah is about 9-10 weeks pregnant and the Planned Parenthood worker had already been up to her to offer her services and such. It was scary to see because you almost instinctively know that PP just sees her and her unborn child as a dollar sign.

So Savannah started getting into a debate exclaiming that it was her choice, that she would decide what was best for her and how dare we be out there with the graphics we had. Now let me just say this (you can label me as insensitive if you’d like) there’s no medium ground, either the photos are offensive or they aren’t. You can’t have it both ways! You can’t tell me the photos are offensive and then go on to say there is nothing wrong with what the photos show. This young woman however found the photos extremely offensive but still thought there was nothing wrong with choosing to kill her unborn child. I didn’t get to speak to her much, but tried to stand back and watch as Abigail defended the unborn. I couldn’t be more proud watching some of the girls trying to talk to Savannah; it was always with love, but with an urgency of wanting to help save her little one.  Savannah must have been there for about 2 hours or more talking to many of us, Seth offered to adopt her little one; I followed and offered just as the conversation was ending. You almost have to know that if she thought abortion was completely okay that she wouldn’t have stood there for 2 hours talking to us all. My heart broke for Jessie as my guess was this was her first time seeing a young mother pregnant and treating the life as if it was okay to throw away. I told Jessie as Savannah walked away that while we had no idea the ultimate decision that would be made for her child that I knew those photos would stick with Savannah as would the conversations she had with us.

It’s hard to get used to the fact that in this work as a missionary you’re around life and death on a regular basis whether you realize it or not. Each glance at a picture could change a mind and save a life, as well as the conversations we have. I’d like to think that when I ask students whether they’re registered to vote and then inform them on our current president’s pro-abortion stance that they will be inspired to go out and vote in the upcoming elections for a president who will stop funding the elimination of a third of our generation.

It was really hard to say good bye to the Created Equal team at the end of the week, I felt like I was able to bond so much with the gals on the trip this second week. What a blessing, I am and always will be a die-hard youth leader, so being around youth naturally makes me happy. Especially when it’s so hard being away from my girls back home in Lynchburg.  It’s always sad to say goodbye, but I’m hoping I’ll be making a trip to Ohio within the next few months and get to visit with them all. It’s especially amazing the impact they all can have in my life in a short period of time. I was talking with Rebekah and Emily in the van and hearing them express interest in possibly going into full-time pro-life work, and they’re not even out of high school yet! What an encouragement to see the passion of Cassie, Amelia, Emily, Kailin, Jennifer, Abigail, Jessie, Maggie, Rebekah out in the mission field! I look forward to seeing how they impact their towns, friends, and families as they go home. 

Gaining Sassy Pants and Patience

So this week has definitely been a week of learning patience so far, with team members getting towards the end of their rope after long days and little things we forget to do until its late and we have no patience or energy it’s been a rough one.

Today we were at Miami Dade College, a smaller college then most we go to, but we managed to get our literature out to almost all of the students.  The craziest conversation I had was definitely with one girl who saw the abortion pictures and said that “it’s so wrong and shouldn’t happen”. Then I asked her whether she was registered to vote, she said yes, I then asked if she knew where Obama stood on the matter of abortion. She said that she didn’t know so I told her that he was for abortion up to the 9^th month and beyond and how he tried to overturn the partial birth abortion ban. So when I asked her what she thought about that her response was “I still like Obama though”. I asked her why, she said “Because he’s black”. She was walking away at this point and I tried to call after her telling her about the innocent lives being taken every day because of the help Obama gives to the abortion industry. But I’m afraid that all fell on deaf ears.

It’s so hard sometimes, we have all these African American students who have the capability to change the world with their voting power, the power to vote which so many great men and women fought to get. Yes these students remain uneducated and vote based on color, how is this right? Just having been to the civil rights museum and seeing all the ways that people fought for freedoms I hate to see them going backwards. I hate to see the African American community being tricked into thinking people like Obama have their best interests at heart, because that’s absolutely not the case. Please don’t consider me a racist; I was totally hoping Herman Cain would be our next president before he dropped out of the race.

But today got even crazier as we went to the high school today, we were at Miami Central High School and ran into a frustrating situation there. The team always jokes about our team members having what are called ‘sassy pants’. ‘Sassy Pants’ are when you basically get fed up with people trying to silence your right to free speech so you fight as hard to keep your voice heard as they are trying to silence your voice.  I can I believe rightfully say I gained my sassy pants today.

We arrived to the school and split up into teams of two, I had signs and Preston came with me with some literature. So here we are standing on the sidewalk outside the high school (all on public property) and giving the students the information. The students are taking it and talking to us and all of a sudden a police officer comes walking up. He tells me that Preston and I have to move across the sidewalk and we’re not allowed to be there (this is nothing new to be told something like this). So I asked him whether or not I was standing on public property, to which he gave no answer except that I needed to move. Yet again I asked him whether I was breaking a law to which he didn’t answer but said we needed to move. He then asked if I had I.D. on me calling me Daisy (I was wearing a name tag still from the college we were at earlier), I told him “I don’t have I.D. but why do I need it, was I breaking the law?” So he took out his notebook asking Preston if he had his I.D. on him and Preston said no, again I asked him whether we were breaking a law and he refused to answer. So I saw him very agitated and he looked like he could be reaching back for what looked like a hand cuff pouch so at that point I told Preston we would move across just until we could get in touch with Kristina.

At that point I was absolutely furious (I think my eye may have been twitching) and picked up my signs and went across the street. So I definitely had my sassy pants on and started projecting my voice to the students across the streets telling them exactly what their administration didn’t want them to know. Telling them that by the time they graduate one out of every four girls in their high school will have had an abortion. So yeah I’ve learned when my rights have been suffocated and I’m told I can’t be by students and talk to them about what is greatly affecting them that I will get on my sassy pants and then yell at the top of my lungs if that’s what it takes to save lives and help students.

I won’t be silent, I won’t lead a normal life, and I won’t pretend everything is okay until abortion is outlawed in the United States! Yes I know some people will still break the law and have abortions, but just because people commit murder of born humans and rape others doesn’t mean we should make it legal to make it easier for them. Much less give our tax payer dollars to help fund them, so think on that as you finish reading about the life I’m leading. What life will you lead until abortion is ended?

God's beauty to those who serve Him

So we are at the end of week one touring with Created Equal and there team. May I just say what a joy it was getting to know everyone this week (Sheila, Dale, Bubba, Mark, Jan, Seth, Aubrey, Adia, Summer, Ian, Stanley, Colin, Brandon, Preston, and anyone else I could be missing though not intentionally). Created Equal’s team was just what the Survivors needed to be refreshed after a crazy week of dealing with police and the abortion mill in Birmingham.

So over this week we’ve visited 4 colleges… I believe. We spent one day at Florida State University, and then traveled to go to University of Florida, and then we have been at University of Central Florida these past two days, but took some time out the first day there to stop at Valencia College for an hour of free speech (apparently they only allow one hour of free speech two days a week?)

But I have felt so blessed because while we’ve been in Orlando we’ve been taken in by a lovely family for dinner times (they’re also housing some of us) and they have a lovely house on the lake in Orlando. I can’t tell you how much some days it’s needed to come back to somewhere beautiful to just rest and admire the world God created. To be able to sit on a rocking chair on the porch and feel the breeze, ahh what a blessing!

So aside from the blessing of beautiful scenery we’ve been blessed with great host homes. When we were in Tallahassee three of us girls got to stay with the lovely Sinclair family. They were great, they had four kids, one of which was the most adorable 3 year old girl who loved to be read books to and played with. It’s always a joy to be around children after working to protect their rights in the womb all day.

Seeing the whole team that joined us was a blessing and refreshing to see their patience with students as they defended life. Sometimes being on this trip after a few weeks you start to jump to the end of every talk, because you think you know where it will eventually lead. But the key is to realize that it’s a separate talk with everyone, everyone is coming from a different life then the other. So seeing Created Equal and their patience was amazing, I really can’t put into words how impressed I was with each of the team members. It was great to see their growth throughout the week as well, for some it was their first time ever getting up and defending their pro-life views.

So I’ve found myself getting increasingly homesick some nights, but at the same time finding more independence every day. This trip is definitely expanding my willingness to go wherever God calls me, no matter how far that might be. I’ve been reluctant for a bit to go anywhere that’s more than 9 hours from home (which is NJ), but now I feel as if I could conquer the world!... or at least the United States.

I think so many people underestimate the mission field that is the pro-life movement. These are lives we’re talking about, approx. over 3,000 little ones being killed every day because people are unaware the humanity of them and because so few people are willing to stand up for them. So please think about it, what are you doing in your daily life to live out your pro-life beliefs? Are you getting involved? Sidewalk Counseling? Pro-Life Activism?

Maybe you say, well I’m too busy, my life is just hectic right now... okay so why not spend some time praying for those who are getting involved, and set a goal to get involved once a month. Take an hour slot in a 40 Days for Life campaign near you and go pray! Pray for the end of abortion, because if Christians continue to not take a firm, active stand on this issue then we may never see this battle won. So take a stand, and invite your church to take a stand with you!

Tonight we are situated in a lovely cabin in the middle of nowhere in Florida, with an ever gracious host who has taken us in (God bless him for taking us hooligans in!) Tomorrow we will be at Florida Atlantic University, so please pray for safety as we are there and visiting other colleges this week! Remember to text me too if you have my number, cause I love hearing from you all and so appreciate all your support as I’ve been on this trip!

Week6/7- A time to reflect and pray with all one's heart

This past week has seemed to almost drag on forever, not because it was boring by any means, I think it was more along the lines of because it was so emotionally draining. I already wrote the post on being in Jackson and what happened there. But after Jackson we headed to Birmingham, AL to do some activism at a local abortion mill, whose owner just happens to have certain unpleasant affections for our group. I heard many stories on the way from California all the way to Alabama of Diane and her love for hurting pro-lifers who dared to stand and sidewalk counsel or pray in front of the abortion mill.  But I’m not really sure I could’ve been prepared for what was awaiting us there, there’s always a difference between stories and experiencing something in real life.

So we arrived in Birmingham, Alabama on Wednesday night and went straight to bed after the past 38 hours or so of insaneness. We awoke early the next morning to go to the abortion mill and received quite the surprise on getting there. Jeff, Cheryl, Father Terry, and Sarah H. were the first ones out of their car and onto the sidewalk. Just a few seconds after stepping onto the sidewalk it seemed the sprinklers went on. Now let me just clarify these aren’t some wimpy or run of the mill sprinklers, these are high powered sprinklers that can easily give you bruises the water shoots out so hard. So only a few seconds after turning on poor Jeff had the sprinkler shoot at his eye, causing quite the injury, I know this because he took several pictures of it.
Things only got crazy from there but I won’t go into the details just now, just know that Diane graciously greeted all of us that morning with tons of foul language.

That day I had the chance to sidewalk counsel and talk to a young man waiting in his car as his wife (or girlfriend) went into the mill in order to get a medication abortion being 3 weeks pregnant then. I was talking to him as he was staying out in the car with their cute little boy Tyler. The father told me the reason his wife said she was having the abortion was because her doctor told her she wouldn’t live if she continued with the pregnancy. He said they had fought the whole way to the clinic; he wanted her to keep the baby and get another opinion from a doctor. She trusted her doctor whole heartedly and didn’t want to take the chance. It broke my heart cause that young man sat in that car with his son, and proceeded to tell me that although he wanted her out of there that there was nothing he could do aside from calling or texting her to come out. He said it was her body and ultimately he couldn’t make the choice for her. It’s so sad to see a father of the baby not think that he has any say in what happens to his own child.

It really broke my heart, because you could tell from the way the father was playing with his son that he was a loving father. Tyler was constantly trying to climb out of the window of the car, I was convinced that he was trying to urge his dad to go into that building and get his mother and little brother or sister out of there. I gave the young man a lot of information and he texted his wife and said that she said she was going to come out soon, but she never did while we were there. So while I don’t know what happened he said she texted that she couldn’t go through with it because her Iron was too low. We don’t know ultimately what happened, but I’d like to think that maybe she came out and he took her to the local pregnancy center where she could get a second opinion.

That next day on Friday we yet again went to the clinic, I grabbed some signs that day to hold and walked toward the mill. Yet again there went the sprinklers, we got wet for a while before moving out of the way, so that the cops could see when they were called that those sprinklers were affecting our right to free speech outside the clinic. That morning was absolutely freezing, yes it was probably only in the 40’s but when you’ve been soaked by sprinklers and the wind is blowing all these factors make for one very cold activist.

We were there for two hours, and in that time there were two plumbers who came to fix the broken sprinkler (because they really need two high powered sprinklers to scare us off). Now these must have been two of some of the vilest men I have ever seen. Kristina tried to engage them in conversation and they started back attacking us. Father Terry even tried talking to them, but then they started saying some of the vilest things I’ve heard in a very long time. Vince, Kristina, and I stood close to the fence because while the sprinklers were off we could do so without getting soaked. I still don’t even want to think of some of the things they were saying, one of them who was older was the one who was saying the more vile things while the other tried to work and would only respond with an attack if he was especially upset. I told the one working down on the ground that I just wanted him to know that I was praying for him and praying that he was able to find a better job so he didn’t have to do what he was doing then.

They weren’t there for long before Diane came out and started calling us names and spewing her hate towards us. I put up my hands and started praying, anything, I couldn’t understand why this women seemed to be covered in this evil feeling. I had actually heard stories of how Diane had hired a hit man a few years back to take out a pro-lifer who faithfully stood in front of the abortion mill praying and sidewalk counseling. I wish so much that this woman would turn her back on the abortion industry forever, but  it’s not going to happen without prayer, so let’s pray for her please!

I was greatly relieved that after we had made a quick stop at a local Planned Parenthood to pray for the 40 days for life vigil that we went back to the house for some much needed free time and rest. Being a missionary traveling is perhaps more tiring then I thought it would be, but then again I was off of school for 2 or so months just sitting at home doing research, so not like I was running marathons. Overall it was a great experience in Birmingham, Alabama. We were able to go to the Civil Rights museum with Created Equal the day we left for Florida.

Just to give you a little background, the next two weeks Survivors is pairing up with an organization called Created Equal, they’re based out of Ohio. They also like us go to college campuses and set up a huge display of signs. They are doing two weeks of touring in which high school and college aged students can use their spring break to defend the unborn and travel all over with them and get some practice in debating. It’s really great to have them with us, and I know our one and only guy Vince is happy to finally have some guys around. So currently we are in Tallahassee but will yet again be traveling tonight. We were just at Florida State University; it was an interesting school, definitely one of the more apathetic ones we’ve visited so far.

I felt so blessed however to talk to this young woman today, she came up to me as I asked her what she thought about the signs and held up her hand. She said “I’ll talk to you, but a few quick rules”, I said “ok”. She said she wanted to keep things polite and that I couldn’t get all uppity on her, which I completely respect and hope that I never do that! So we had a great talk for probably about 45 minutes or more in total that day. She was really great, she talked, then I talked, then she talked, then I talked. It was all done in complete respect. Yes, I always have a point to make when I talk to people, but my thought is that I’m not always trying to hammer them over the head and make them admit their view point is wrong, even if I do strongly believe that. This young woman was pro-choice and had gone through an abortion herself, but she said at that time it was what was right for her. She considered it her one and only “get out of jail free card”. Now while I don’t know if she ever regrets it or not, the great part was she was so open to listening, she agreed that abortion should not be a means to birth control. She also made the great point that while the pro-life message is a great one, there is also such a great need for educating our young people before they even get to the point of needing an abortion. We talked about both our pasts and how we have both fallen victim to men in the past and them telling us how much they loved us, only to treat us like trash.

We talked about a lot, how we’re both super passionate about helping the youth who are uneducated and stuck in the foster system. She wants to be a judge who helps with Children Services and such, which is great! Yes, I know you’re thinking I’m agreeing an awful lot with someone who is pro-abortion, but we had points to agree on. I was happy to hear that she at least thinks abortion was not an option past the 6 month mark. That always seems to be where people on the fence stand on abortion. It’s often because most people know that babies have a much greater chance of living outside of the womb when they’re born then. To me, yes I will occasionally debate someone who is staunchly pro-abortion til I’m blue in the face, but there are points where I know that will do nothing but turn them off from the pro-life side even more. That’s not what I’m seeking to do, I seek for equal rights for all, for all to be respected and have freedom. I just absolutely don’t believe in Murder and how over 3,000 children are being murdered in the womb every day!

So it’s been great on the road, every day I grow more, I try to be more selfless, though I admit I’m definitely not the one on the team to say that I’ll sleep on the floor, but I can if need be. God has been ever so great in providing just awesome host homes and families to take us in and feed us. I often wonder if this is what it was like for the Disciples sometimes, though I imagine they were much less welcomed then we were. But there’s always that great moment when someone is willing to engage in a conversation with you and you see the light bulb in their head light up because they realize just why we’re fighting so hard for an end to abortion.

Thank you for all who have continued to pray and support the Campus Life Team, we can use all the prayer and support we can get!

Jail Time

So the past 28hours or so has seemed like a whirlwind to me, witnessing my first up close arrest for participating in the pro-life movement was a pretty intense experience. I wasn’t a fan of watching my team members be taken away in handcuffs, it was absolutely frightening. Frightening that we could be arrested when we hadn’t even broken the law and frightening that we’re not guaranteed our freedom of speech rights. 

This all started with us going to Murrah High School on Monday, just as we always do when we’re in a town we go to a high school to hand out literature and makes students aware of the horrors of abortion. So we split into two teams of two and one team of three. I went with Vince to the south parking lot of the school where students drive their cars out after they’re dismissed.  I took some literature to give to the students and Vince took some signs. So it was a normal day like most high schools, I was actually a bit surprised we seemed to have a good amount of students taking the literature compared to normal. But we found overall that in Jackson, MS that people were more open to taking it and reading it because they hadn’t been shown the truth of what abortion was and were curious as to what our message was.

So Vince and I finished up after most of the students had driven out and walked back to the van, Mary Rose had come running up to us to get the video camera but I didn’t think too much of it until the entire team got back to the car. The got in and Sarah had had some school cops in her face who took her signs out of her hands trying to get her to leave. One of them even grabbed her camera by the lens and was telling her it was illegal to film him, she asked by what law was that and got the answer “My law” from the cop. So we got most of that on video and then were told by the cops that we were not welcome there again. But honestly, I mean what is that? You’re telling us that we’re not welcome on a public sidewalk to demonstrate our rights of free speech?

This was not acceptable, the cops had already done damage by not letting us get to talk to as many kids as we could, but now they were telling us that our rights we being taken away. This was not something acceptable to us. So we talked about whether we were going to go back the next day and thought about what the implications could be if we did. But we realized that we should have no reason not to go back, and we needed to get the message out to the students. I mean when these students are being targeted by Planned Parenthood to make money off of who’s going to tell them the truth if not us or people like us. Abortion mills aren’t interested in helping them; they’re interested in making money off of them.

Just the other day when we were at the clinic we saw a mother take in her 11 year old daughter claiming she was ‘raped’ (I say claimed because the mother didn’t seem nearly outraged enough as some women who’ve dealt with that ordeal) and that she needed to have the abortion. I tried to talk to the mother and tell her daughter needed her to love her and take care of her right then, but to no avail she walked back into the clinic. So if we have to risk what we did in order to stand up for the unborn then we’re going to. We’re not going to stop doing something that is perfectly legal within our rights because people think the message is offensive. You know what is offensive? That over 3,000 children are being slaughtered every day in the United States and that most people don’t even give a though about what they can do to stop that.

So we decided to go back to the school the next day, one of my good friends had brought up a good point about a week earlier to me in the matter of arrest situations. She knows I want to both foster and adopt and she asked me whether I knew if getting arrested would prevent me from doing either. So while I don’t know the details I knew that I would need to be careful with the whole matter and if I could avoid being in the arrest situation that I should.

So Tuesday came and we headed back to the school at 3pm, shortly after we arrived we noticed that a film crew from a local station (Channel 3) was there, so Kristina got out and gave a short interview with them. At approximately 3:25 we went to the back of the van and Sarah, Vince, Kristina, and Brianna got out their signs and literature. Mary Rose, Jayne, Nina (local pro-life youngin) and I got the cameras and car keys and headed opposite the sidewalk so we could try to capture everything that was going on tape. So they team on the sidewalk set up their signs and waited for the students to come out. So as the students start rushing out of the school the police are already walking up to Kristina and the others telling them they need to get off the sidewalk. Some of the administrators and police were telling the students not to come near us or take our literature, some even yelled at them to get back inside. I really don’t always understand why they think we are so violent, then again they though the people who were on the frontlines in the Civil Rights movement were violent as well.

So as those of us videoing were trying to get good shots some buses pulled up in front of the school they hindered us from getting any shots of Kristina and Brianna. So I was focusing on Sarah and Vince and then look up to see Brianna in handcuffs being led across the street to a school cop car that is parked on the side of the hill closer to us. I started snapping as many shots as I could get with the camera (I’m afraid there were some very blurry photos to sift through). I managed to get a few okay ones as Brianna was being put into the cop car. I tried not to let my mind go to thoughts of panic. So I then look around back to the school and see Kristina in handcuffs also being led to the car… so I was able to snap a few pictures before she was put in the car. But again I didn’t stay on her with the camera cause my attention then went to Vince and Sarah.

Vince and Sarah were being escorted to the other side by us, so we took a few steps back so that if they were arrested the cops wouldn’t come after us… I mean someone had to be there to make the phone calls and get them out right? So we continued to film and I continued to worry that they’d take them all in. Even though Survivors have been arrested in the past for standing up for their freedom of speech rights and won most (if not all) cases it’s still scary because when you think about the way our country could be going downhill you worry about our rights being taken away. I mean just the other month Jayne, her father, her sister, and a few others were arrested for praying in front of the White House?!?!?!?!! Since when has that been illegal?!

But anyway, I digress… a lot. So as it happened Sarah and Vince were not arrested and we were able to get our signs into our van. As we were walking to load everything up news station pulled up and Mary Rose (our 2^nd in command) took up the torch and gave the channel a pretty good interview. So we packed up everything and our lovely hosts (Harriet and Judy) took us downtown to try to find Kristina and Brianna and where they took them so we could just go pay a small fine and get them out and fight the charges in court later. At least that was the plan we were expecting.

So we made it downtown and went to the city court… we were then told to go to the county court next door and that that is where they would be. So we went next door and then were told they would be in the city court. We told them we were just there, that they weren’t there; mind you at this point I’m starting to get pretty concerned. So they kept trying to give us the run around, but then this stranger who was super nice and commented on one of our pro-life shirts that he liked it was nice enough to tell us exactly where to go to get some information. So we went to the correct location which was behind both of the court buildings and after much pestering of the man behind the desk found out that the girls had been there, but that they had then been transferred to another place with holding cells where they would wait to be booked. So we asked how long that would be, they said they didn’t know the time, it would depend on that amount of prisoners waiting to be booked there.

So we mulled around outside the courts in our van, and then our two host home ladies said they knew a lady (Tanya) who lived downtown who had just called them and said we could come wait things out at her house. So we headed to Tanya’s house and went in and introduced ourselves. This woman also a sidewalk counselor had been arrested herself outside the abortion mill and charged with prostitution… now you tell me how they made up that charge against her?!!!

So we waited and waited… and waited some more. We ran back to the high school to try to do an interview with a news station that was filming live at the school, but just happened to miss their broadcast by the time we got there. But we did get some valuable information from the newscaster. We hadn’t been told when we were at the station what charges were being put against the girls… just that they were being held. So the newscaster was able to read us a quote from the arresting officer who said that they were being arrested for 1. Disorderly Conduct 2.Trespassing and 3. Interfering with a bus driver.

So we found this out and then rushed back to Tanya’s house to see if they heard anything yet, Tanya finally got fed up with waiting and started making phone calls. She managed to get ahold of the man who was booking over at the jail and he gave her a sob story about how he was the only one there working on booking. He told her that he wasn’t even sure they would be booked by midnight. So we packed up everyone in the van since it was about 10pm or so at night and decided to go back to our welcoming host homes and try to get some rest and make some phone calls since we didn’t think there was any way they’d be let go that night.

As we went back to our homes... I just kept trying to pray on the way, praying that they’d be safe, that they’d be warm. I think it’s hard for me to be on the side and out of control because of being in charge of the pro-life group back at home for quite a bit. It’s humbling, to not know exactly what’s going on in an on-the-fly situation. I’m used to being able to call the shots and make the phone calls, so it was scary and humbling. I was hearing lots of people in the group and via phone conversations say that this was very unusual for an arrest like this. So even more so I went into a hyper prayer mode and started texting friends to keep praying.

We were so blessed in the fact that our host homes welcomed us back with open arms and told us they would help us in whatever way we needed even if that meant raising the bail money. Once we were back at our host homes Sarah, Mary Rose and I were able to sit down and watch the 10 o’clock news and saw that our group and the arrest had made it on the news, not only at 10pm, but also at 5pm and 6pm. So there on the TV we saw both Brianna and Kristina being arrested, and saw them very rightfully asking what they were being arrested for and the police not answering. We also were able to notice later on that they were not even read their rights as they were being arrested.

So we watched that and went to bed, or at least tried to, some received phone calls during the night. Kristina and Brianna were able to get a local call out to a host home around 4am saying that they would be in court at 9am the next morning. So we got up early that morning packed everything up and hoped that we would get them out and on their way early so that we could get them bailed out and be on our way in time to make it to Birmingham and get some stuff done.

So we went the next morning to the court house trying to find information and the docket to tell us when the girls would be appearing before the judge. Again we got the run around from place to place, not getting any straight information, but we were glad when Tanya arrived to help us find some news. Well we found out that both the girls were going to be held for $2000 dollars apiece and not be given a trial. So we ran around trying to find some connections Tanya had to get the girls a trial. In the end a cop came out to us sitting outside the court building and told us the girls were in a court room. So we all rushed up there, some of us had to stand outside while some other cases were taking place because it was crowded. But we all eventually got in there to watch the case. I had been texting people like crazy that day for prayer and kept going back in forth between the girls having a court case and not having one. So Kristina was called up before the judge, and waived her right to attorney since we didn’t have one present. She pleaded not-guilty to all three charges and the judge looked over the case. He told her she’d be released on her own recogniscence (ROR); we all breathed a huge sigh of release. Kristina went back to sit down and next Brianna came up; again she waved her right to an attorney also and pleaded not-guilty. She was also released on her own recogniscence. What a relief and praise to hear we wouldn’t have to bail them out. The judge however did set their court date for about a month from now, but we assume that by then the school will drop any and all charges since they are all false arrests.

Sadly we had to wait another 3 to 4 hours before the girls were actually released, they claimed the paperwork did not arrive, but we’re not sure if it was just the Jackson PD trying to give us more difficulty. So around 4pm both girls were released back to our team, there was much hugging and crying and plenty of camera crews to catch everything. The funny thing was, three of those camera crews were just there because of a drug bust, while one channel was really interested and was able to go get an interview with a Survivor (Jayne) before the girls were released. So we all loaded into the van glad to have them back and be reunited. We let them head back to a host home to get cleaned up first and then we started to make our way to Birmingham. Before the girls had been released we were happy to be joined by Jeff and Cheryl who are the founders and directors of Survivors (of the abortion holocaust) and also Father Terry and Sarah H.

So this whole ordeal was insane and crazy and wore all of us out, I don’t think one of us did not sleep well last night. We overall are so thankful for so many things. We are thankful for all the prayers given during the whole ordeal, so thank you all for that. We are thankful that the girls didn’t have to be bailed out and that we had a merciful and understanding judge. We are so thankful for all of our host homes (Judy, Harriet and Bill, Roy and Beverly, and all of the Mississippi Pro-lifers who helped and of course Tanya). We really wouldn’t have made it out of that situation without God blessing us all along the way. So thank you to everyone who called, everyone who prayed, and all of you who kept us in our thought, I really couldn’t be more thankful!

So what will happen from here, well I can tell you that we will be going after the city of Jackson for all the damage they did, to the girls and to our time that was taken away from ministry. So keep us and the lawyers in prayer as we pray for wisdom in how to pursue this all.

Blessings,
Sarah
Missionary for Life and Survivor

A history lesson in Jackson, Mississippi

This whole week has seemed like one great big history lesson to me. We have over the past few days driven about 26 or more hours in total in order to make our way from Las Vegas, Nevada to Jackson, Mississippi. We made our way in our faithful Sprinter stopping in Albuquerque, NM first and then in Dallas, TX the next night. We were greeted at both places with awesome host homes who provided so graciously for us with food and a bed to sleep in (It’s always a joy to have a bed to sleep in when you’ve been traveling or working all day). So Sunday morning after going to church and a quick lunch we packed up and headed towards Jackson, MS. We were thankful to have a host homes with the Moore’s in Dallas, but were super excited upon reaching our desitination in Jackson. We were immeadiately welcomed into Vince’s host homes house by Roy who started giving us his life story of his work in both the pro-life movement and the civil rights movement.

Apparently Roy was arrested and in jail with Martin Luther King Jr and was in jail with him when he wrote the Birmingham letters! I mean how awesome and cool is that! If only I knew the amount of history that was about to hit us in the face upon arriving in Jackson.  Our host homes were made up of many people who had participated in Operation Rescue sit ins at clinic entrances before the FACE act was signed into law. These people would take their weekends off and drive hours and hours to an abortion mill where they would gather and sit in the entrance to the abortion mill as long as they could. Of course the police would then come and cart them off and they were usually in jail for a few days or so, sometimes a few hours, and sometimes weeks.

I’m honestly in awe of these people and the sacrifices they’ve made just to protect the unborn, I hope to be as bold and passionate as they are one day. Roy’s story was pretty amazing, his wife Beverly is actually a former abortionist who realized the error of her ways and turned herself around and opened a very successful OB-GYN practice later on. She’s not retired as well as Roy and they both work tirelessly to educate others on the horrors of abortion and it’s terrible effects on young women. We were graciously welcomed for dinner by Pro-Life Mississippi on Monday night, which was awesome there were so many passionate people there. Lots of older women who had such concern and love for the young women who were being misled and given abortions every week.

We held a candelight vigil there at the last remaining abortion mill in Mississippi on Monday night, how powerful to be joined in prayer with all those pro-lifers and get to write messages in chalk to the young women on the sidewalk.One of our host homes we had a older couple named Harriet and Bill, they were awesome! Harriet had done many rescues in her younger days, and Bill her ever faithful husband would drive her to them. He wasn’t one to participate in them but would follow her and then wait for her if she was arrested. It was one of the most darling stories I think I’ve ever heard.
There were overall lots of powerful stories from each of our host homes, lots of reasons that I would love to stay. I think I can safely say that I hope I’ll be visiting soon again, to learn more history and to join with the Mississippi pro-lifers in hopefully one day shutting down that last remaining abortion mill!

Did you know???

That Texas is flat as a pancake.... I now know this... thanks to 12 hours spent in the Sprinter today.

My First Truth Team

Thursday morning started off just a bit too early in the morning for my liking, but that seems to be how any morning going to an abortion mill is. But Thursday was different, very different, because I’d be walking into the abortion mill that morning, not just standing outside of it. Brianna was going into the center that morning to get a pregnancy test and Jayne and I were accompanying her into the center as concerned friends. So as we got to the abortion mill and most of the team got out with the signs the three of us hung back in the van. We waited about an hour until we knew that there were clients in the center and Brianna made the call to ask if she could come in to get a pregnancy test. We talked and prepared a plan in the van as to how to get the information needed about the center and how to possibly talk to the women in there and convince them to walk out. We grabbed a bunch of literature that we could put in the magazines letting women know the harmful side effects of abortion and also some cards for the local Pregnancy Resource Center that’s just a stone’s throw from the abortion mill. Mary Rose came back to the van to drive us around the corner so we could get out of the van and walk a block to the clinic so it didn’t look suspicious.

I got out of the van and found myself surprisingly calm for this being my first experience walking into one of the clinics. I had prepared the night before a bit for it and texted a lot of friends asking for prayer covering me and the girls going in. We walked to the clinic, Jayne and Brianna in their best pro-choice outfits they could pick out. As we walked up we saw the pro-lifers standing out there with their signs, our friends and team members, but we pretended as if we didn’t know them and had never seen signs like that before. I starred in horror at the signs, which even though I see them every day isn’t hard to do, some things you should just never be used to seeing. As we walked up Kristina started pleading with us to just take the literature and look at it, telling us there was a pregnancy center right nearby that we could go to instead. So I took the literature as Brianna walked right in, Jayne hung back and grabbed a piece from me to look at. 

We walked up the path and opened the door to that Horror house, and went to the receptionist’s window.

Jayne had opened up one of the graphic picture pamphlets at the window and the receptionist grabbed it from her telling her she couldn’t have it in here. I tried to hide mine but the receptionist saw it and demanded I hand it over. I asked “Can’t I just read it?” she barked at me “No, you’ll have to go outside”. So I gave the piece of paper to her, but not before I read some information to loudly share in the waiting room. I asked where the restroom was and was pointed towards it, I walked there. We had gone over in the car to try and leaflet the restroom and hide some stuff in magazines if there was any in there. I didn’t see any magazines so I took one and stuck it sitting up in the trash praying that someone would look at the leaflet and see how the baby grows. It had tons of facts in there, including that a baby’s heart starts beating by 21 days. I was slightly disgusted as I went to wash my hands and noticed no soap in the bathroom, guess that clean hands isn’t a priority so much there. I went back out in the waiting room and proceeded to wait with Jayne and Brianna for Brianna’s name to be called so she could go take the pregnancy test. We all wondered whether we would be told it was positive or not, Jayne had had an experience like that doing a Truth Team once.

So we sat in the waiting room, Jayne got up and went to the restroom as well and then afterwards sat down next to a young man in order to hopefully talk to him and convince him to get his lady out of there, but in a quiet manner. I sat talking to Brianna asking her if she knew what she would do if she was pregnant. I told her I saw in the leaflet that “a baby’s heart starts beating at 21 days!” We talked a little more and then she was called in to take the test. She came back out and around this time Jayne was trying to talk to the young man and his lady still, but didn’t have much luck with them. I went up to the receptionist and asked her “Hey, if my friend is pregnant, I was just wondering if you guys have adoption counseling or something for her?” The receptionist answered back coldly that “we don’t do that here, but I can get a number for it”. I then asked her what type of counseling was available and the lady who was even shorter tempered in the back answered “We don’t do counseling here, we just terminate pregnancies”.  I was shocked, very shocked, not so much that they didn’t do it, but that they would admit it in that manner. There was no sugar coating about it, nothing nice they just “terminated pregnancies” or in truthful speak “Killed children”.

I walked back to my seat feeling sick, I still feel sick about it as I type this. So I grabbed a magazine as I sat back down and started putting cards for the pregnancy resource center in there, my deepest hope is that they didn’t find them all when we left and somebody will find one and walk out of there. Brianna was back and sitting down and we talked about the Pregnancy Center and how she should go there if the test was positive since they offered free help and talked about all the options available to women. I asked a young man next to me if he knew why the receptionist took away what the people outside gave me. He said something about how they were probably threatening the people coming in, so I didn’t think I had much of a chance of convincing him to take his lady out of there. But by the time we made it into the clinic both his lady and then a young daughter of a mother in the waiting room were already in the back rooms.

At this point the mother who had brought her daughter in earlier that we had seen was on top of Jayne because she apparently recognized Jayne was trying to counsel the couple to leave. So Jayne walked out of the center. Brianna’s name was called not shortly after that and she was given her results; a negative… shocker! So Brianna and I, new to doing a truth team didn’t make a huge blow up when leaving we just put all the leaflet’s that we had left on the coffee tables and walked calmly out and found Jayne and proceeded to walk back up the street past the three cop cars that had been there since early that morning. We walked back up the street and crossed over to where the pregnancy center was, I told the girls I was going to go in and tell the nurse Patty what happened while we were in there and how they didn’t provide counseling at all at the abortion mill. I spent some time in there talking to the nurse and receptionist and thanking them for all the work they do to help women who often find themselves in crisis pregnancies. After spending some time with them I went back to our van and changed jackets and went back to sidewalk counsel with most of the team.

Sidewalk counseling is what I’m used to, it’s not a comfort zone, because it’s not easy, but it was nice to be back in familiar territory after a whole week of activism. I was surprised how many cars continued to keep driving up to the abortion mill, so many young women, some just for birth control, but still most don’t know that birth control is abortifacient. So we had literature and tried to give most of the couples or young women some, but most wouldn’t take it. We found out that the staff in the abortion mill often warns women coming in that both the people standing outside and the people at the Pregnancy Resource Center are really mean and won’t be nice to you. That makes me roll my eyes most of the time, I mean how can someone who is fighting for you be against you. But we can also look at God that way sometimes as well.

The roughest part of being there was seeing the young women come out of the clinic after the abortion had been performed on them. They were taken out the back door and the person accompanying them was told to drive to the back door so they wouldn’t have to see us. That honestly just creeps me out! I mean what other medical procedure would force you to leave through the back door so that you’re not seen, obviously something is wrong here!

It was a really tough day, but I’m thankful I was given the chance to participate in the Truth Team, because what we uncovered is only going to fuel me to keep fighting for the unborn, to keep fighting for the women, and to keep fighting for the men, all of whom are affected by abortion. 

Week 5.1

The past three days have definitely been challenging, as I’ve been getting more into the swing of things. Tuesday we finished up at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, I’ve learned that the second day seems to be the more challenging one as people are more ready to debate us then. I was sad to see that the young man (Josh) did not come back with his girlfriend Heather, but I’m hoping they still made the right decision and choose to not abort their child. I was able to talk to a lot more students then the first day however. A lot more stopped looking at the posters and asking why are we there? I always respond that we’re there because we care about them, and the children lost to abortion. I think that’s a part of the reason we’re all there, we all care, not just about the babies as pro-choice people claim, but we care about the mothers and fathers.

On Wednesday we arrived at the local community college in Las Vegas and set up our displays along with Project Truth. It was really refreshing to be at the junior college cause the students seemed way more willing to take literature and more willing to talk to us. We had so many students who came up to the displays with their jaws dropped and just a stunned look on their face. There were so many discussions I had that day that it’s almost hard to keep them all straight. But there was one who stuck out to me, a young man named Jamonte; he came up with a friend just staring at the picture. So I went up to him and asked whether he had ever seen anything like this before. He said he hadn’t but just kept staring, so we talked a little about how horrible it was and then he opened up to me. He told me his girlfriend had gone into labor at five months just recently and because it was so early the baby did not survive. My heart broke for him, he was talking about how could anyone kill a baby when they so wanted their little one. It was an unexpected pregnancy for them but he still said that he knew the second she was pregnant that he couldn’t kill their son. He stood and talked to for over a half hour, it was like he was just aching for someone to listen.Someone who was willing to listen to the pain that comes with losing a little one. It made me think, how many suffer and don’t get to vent because they feel that they have to suffer from the ‘Choice’ they made. That’s got to be the hardest part for post-abortive women and men, they must feel that they can’t complain or be openly upset because they made the ‘choice’ to kill.  I got Jamonte’s contact info in the end so I could email him and his girlfriend some resources to get some healing and help. But it was so awesome to be able to just listen, and just to tell someone I don’t know what you’re going through but I’m praying.

So many people don’t realize our hearts as pro-lifers, yes there are the angry ones. However there are those of us whose hearts bleed for the women being affected by this. I started praying a prayer a few years ago that God would break my heart for what breaks His and He has. My heart is broken for those women and men affected by abortion. I’m so blessed that God has given me the opportunity to be able to work with Survivors and spread the love of Christ and His redemption while fighting the social injustice that abortion is.

Start of the tour with Survivors

So today was my first day with the Survivors Campus Life Team doing activism.  It was an awesome first day!  The team arrived a little before 9 a.m. at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.  We were told there might be rain, but fortunately the rain never came.

The team split up so we could cover more of the campus.  Jayne and I went to work with Uncle Don (Don Blythe's) group Project Truth.  Kristina, Mary Rose, Sarah, Brianna, Vincent, and Sarah D. went off to a populated sidewalk on campus. Jayne and I set to work handing out literature a little bit away from where Project Truth had up their signs. I was surprised at the amount I was able to pass out in the time, seemed like so many people were taking them.

Coming from a campus like Liberty University I can honestly say with all the stuff they pass out there it seems like I could barely ever get anyone to take anything. So I was very encouraged by the amount of both men and women taking the literature from us. Just about a hour and a half after I got started a older lady, perhaps a professor came up to me and told me she was from Lynchburg. I was so excited to meet a local all the way in Las Vegas! She then proceeded to tell me  "Well I am fully supportive of a women's right to choose and I’m so sorry that you’re so narrow minded and uneducated”. I was so taken aback by this, but as she was walking away I called to her that I didn’t think I was at all and that if she’d like to talk I’d be there later if she’d like. So that was pretty discouraging, not going to lie, it’s never easy to be called ‘narrow minded’ or ‘uneducated’ especially when you’ve spent hours researching what you’re trying to witness to people about.

So I went back to handing out literature and was able to talk with some different students there. My Liberty University sweatshirt I was wearing actually seemed to attract some people who had visited the area. I talked to one young man, who seemed to be a social activist of sorts. So we got on the topics of politics and he mentioned he had a lot of stuff he was outraged about. I asked him if he was registered to vote and he said “No, I’m not, I just don’t see it happening cause I’m so fed up with political crap”. I told him that I knew it was hard to deal with all the back and forth and slandering of others and not knowing who to believe. But if we don’t value life at it’s beginning then doesn’t that throw every other thing out the door. We talked for a quite awhile and I found out he was president of a social justice group on campus. It overall was a really enlightening conversation, I always try to keep myself open to listening to others. It goes back to being taught that  “people don’t care how much you know, til they know how much you care”. I hold onto that, I tried making some connection with the people walking towards me, whether that was talking about the weather or something else.

One of the best parts of the day was the fact that I got to hear Uncle Don talk, Kortney (Kortney Blythe Gordon who was killed back this fall in a car accident and was a pro-life hero and mentor of mine) had talked so much about her Uncle Don and all he has done in the pro-life movement. It was a bit emotional for me, because she was so much like him, you can see her smile when he smiles and hear her laugh in his laugh. But it was great to remember her and all that she had done to inspire so many of us.



So one of the encouraging conversations was with a young man named Josh, he came up to the signs, just looking at them stunned. He told us he grew up Catholic but never realized what abortion looked like and what it did to a human life. He told us his girlfriend was 9 weeks pregnant but she wasn’t sure she wanted to keep it. So I talked with him about the options they had, and told him the best thing he could do was bee supportive right now and help provide as I was sure his girlfriend Heather was probably really scared right now. We brought him over to talk to Diana (She and her husband, and their little girl) who is post-abortive and would be able to help give Josh some information and advice. He said he’s going to try to come back our second day with Heather on his lunch break so she could talk to us. I’m really praying they come back, I’d love to talk to her, while I’m not proud that I have a pregnancy scare in my past I really think it has helped me see that these women just need love and help, not condemnation.

We also were able to visit a local high school in Las Vegas and pass out some literature to some students. Their reactions to the posters showing an aborted baby were exactly what they should be. Some students said “There’s no way I’d ever do that”, others came up asking about the baby and commenting on what it looked like. I was really happy to get some literature in their hands and hope they read it and ask questions.

This was such a great day, and we’re so blessed with a great host home that’s a Godsend. I’m so excited to kick off this adventure of being a full-time Missionary for Life.