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.