New Beginnings

I can say it's definitely different being home so far. It feels like a whole different lifestyle then one of traveling non-stop. Not that I'll be in one place for long, right now what I'm trying to decide is what I want to do tomorrow pro-life work wise. My time with Survivors was great and I've grown so much in learning how to handle different situations and how to become more active defending the unborn. So I'm going to continue this blog with updates of different things I'm doing, though it may not be quite as active as it was on tour. 

So today I made a call to the local abortion mill, relieved to find out they got rid of one of their locations at least when I asked when I could come in for an appointment. But I honestly feel ill to my stomach about the call just made. I called as a scared young girl just trying to find out some information about options. I was asked about when I had my last period, so they could figure out about how far along I was. Then she asked me if I'd like to talk about options over the phone instead of coming in to talk about them. So I asked her what my options might be, and she launched into different types of abortions. Mind you I did not ask or tell her I wanted to have an abortion, just what my options would be. So I stopped her after she explained the first abortion procedure (my stomach couldn't take hearing anymore) and I told her I was unsure of whether I wanted that and might want to consider adoption. I asked her about some options with that, to which she replied "I don't have any information on that, but the office might if I can schedule you for an appointment". She also did say that she could tell me the rest of the procedures over the phone though, and that way she could just schedule me for one for tomorrow. Something is just not right with that.

Have you ever wondered why the "Pro-Choice" movement is called just that? I wonder it all the time, because it seems to me as if they are always trying to push abortion as if that is the only choice! or a choice that should be okay.....?
I don't have a camera I can get info on yet, so I think that I'll be waiting until I get back to VA to do undercover work. But tomorrow Matt and I will be planning on going out to pray and sidewalk counsel in front of the abortion mill. So if you're in NJ and would like to come along, please let me know. I just want these women to see their options... why is that so much to ask?

What do we actually accomplish?

So here we are almost at the end of my trip with Survivors and I find myself looking back as I’ve been on this journey into pro-life missions work wondering what impact we’ve made throughout the country.  Well I’m sure the biggest reward we’ve felt throughout the trip was when we received the “Good news” on Good Friday this past week.
You may remember that I wrote about 4 or so weeks back about standing outside of an absolutely awful abortion mill. At this abortion mill we had the sprinklers turned on us in hope that if they soaked us and the signs that we would leave. We stood as ever steadfastly as we were able to in hopes of talking to someone. We were very impressed with local pro-lifers such as Sarah H. and Father Terry who steadfastly were outside that clinic many days a week despite not only the sprinklers but almost constant harassment from the abortion mill workers.  I can’t lie that the harassment I received from two men who came to fix the sprinkler had been bothering me a bit on the trip. The things they said in effort to bother me quite the wide variety of disgusting things that any father would beat up a man for saying to his daughter. But I prayed for the one man nonetheless cause as I was standing there I could feel as if he was hurting in his life, like he knew what he was doing was wrong, like something in his life he knew was wrong. I very much wonder if that was the ache of needing a Savior in his life.

Okay I’ll get to the good news now… so as some of us were in Mexico on Friday we were told to call Kristina immediately cause she had some news for us, I figured it was about the Jackson arrest. But we called and were told that the Alabama abortion mill was ordered to close by May 18^th! Diane D. the clinic owner had been ordered to surrender her license by or on that date ( you can read more about the story here)! A lot of this is happening due to all the injunctions against them, including I’m sure stuff about the two botched abortions that happened earlier this year. There’s been so much that the pro-life movement and many have done to bring about the closing of this abortion mill. It’s really a blessing to see that all the work we do is not in vain and that we do accomplish great things. I can honestly say that this work is mentally (and sometimes physically) exhausting day in and day out. You wonder if you’re making differences, but we also had some good news while we were in Tennessee. We visited a local pregnancy center and were told that a woman had walked in and after seeing our signs had decided against getting an abortion. What a victory! We know that our signs change hearts and minds all the time, and every day it seems we get those who tell us that our signs will never change anything and we get to tell them differently.

So this week we’ve had a couple office days and today we traveled to Moorpark College in California to do activism on their campus for two days. The first day was a bit rough today, we discovered once we arrived on campus that it was “Multicultural day” which normally sounds like a great time to do what we do. We quickly found out however that there were several grade school classes on field trips at the college, we knew the second we saw them that as soon as we set up that we’d be dealing with angry teachers and parents. That can always almost put a sour mood on the day, but I started praying that no matter what we faced we’d be able to handle things peacefully.

So as you can imagine several parents (and students) came up complaining about the fact that we were there and how awful that we would subject young children to such images. But may I just give my opinion for a second…. I honestly think that what sets the tone for kids being upset or being interested in what’s going on has largely to do with how the adults act. I’ve seen many young children who have been told and shown what abortion is. These children funny enough seem to most times grasp more so than adults that abortion is wrong and is the taking of a life. No, we’re not trying to brainwash the kids, we’re trying to explain to them the truths of what’s going on. So the parents and teachers at the school did manage to reroute the children so they didn’t walk right in front of where we were set up.

It so scary to think though that in a few years when those kids reach middle school and high school that they’ll start to be marketed by people like Planned Parenthood. They’ll be taught that so many things that are wrong and should be called murder are not. Do I want these children to have to see these images, the answer is of course no. But sometimes I wonder if it’s necessary as kids are being hit with sexual images, pornography, and other things having to do with the “sexual nature” and how they can’t control their desires. I simply want people to see both sides of the equation, you want to teach them sex education and all that, well if you insist on doing that then tell them about the consequences of those actions that you say are uncontrollable.

Sometimes we have students come up to us and talk about humans can’t control having sex with people, that it’s simply in our nature to always do it, all the time. I often feel like then asking them whether the fact that I control that nature in myself as do my friends makes us some sort of super humans…. But I usually keep my mouth shut when it comes to sarcastic comments; I find they don’t help in debating so much.

So today at Moorpark went well, we had really a lot of students who wanted to talk and handful that wanted to sign up to get more involved with pro-life activities at their campus. I know these pictures change minds; yes not every mind is changed. Though I guarantee that those images are something that are not so easily shaken from people’s minds.  So I’m preparing for my last day with Survivors tomorrow, it’s sad to see the time go by in what now seems like such a fast time. But I know I am so better prepared to be able to engage in conversations with activism and that this time with Survivors has lit even more of a passion for pro-life work in me. A passion that will not be quickly extinguished, in fact I plan on doing some pro-life work this Saturday in New Jersey with my brother and continuing even back in Virginia. Remember do not let your fires be put out, do not let the outrage at the fact that over 3,000 unborn children are killed every day fall away cause you are simply too busy to do something about it. Get out of your apathy and do something about what’s going on! Scream about it, tell everyone you know, and be active about it! For if we don’t cry out for their murders then who will?

Easter and In memory of those who went before us.

The last week has been such a crazy one, getting back in California and getting showered and rested for just a little before three of us took off for a missions trip to Mexico. So we arrived back in California on Tuesday night and Preston, Jayne, and I took off with a youth group team to Mexico on Wednesday morning. Talk about running all over the place, it feels as if I never stop moving sometimes. 

I was so blessed to be able to go to Mexico to get to play with the orphans and bless the orphanages with food and clothes for the kids. What a difference from going to talking to mostly angry college students all day to playing with orphans who hug you the second you get out of the car. I felt so taken aback when we got out of the car at the first orphanage in Mexico, cause no more than a couple minutes pass and here come a flood of little Mexican children coming up to me and hugging me saying "hola" as they pass by. Oh it was awesome! Exactly what my heart needed after being at the University of New Mexico (I ran into two rather hostile and angry students there).

But back to the Mexico trip, it was absolutely great to meet more of the White family and to get to know all their friends from the youth group that came down on the trip and do ministry with them. I was also blessed in getting to see some absolutely beautiful sights while we were down there because the missionary house is right on the beach. The sights there were absolutely breath-taking (see picture below)

These are the moments in which you take it all in and thank God for blessing you as you do the work He has called you to do. It was amazing each morning to be able to wake up and go sit outside and take in the view as I did my morning devotions. Truly I have been so blessed by God in so many ways along the trip. We were in Mexico until Saturday night when we got back. During the trip we visited orphanages and were able to play with the kids, dye some eggs with them and then do an Easter egg hunt. It was so great to see their faces light up and even more humbling to see kids who had so little wanting to share the candy they found with us. I definitely know that all these years I've wanted to go visit and work with orphanages have now not been for nothing, because it truly is a great experience! It was also humbling as we went and delivered food to families in different locations that were living on so little. One place we went was nicknamed the "chicken coops" by the team and I can see why. Each family there lived in what was the size of a chicken coop with very little, the faces of the little kids and some mothers as we pulled up and loaded out bags of food to give them was enough thanks. The little ones are always so cute because it's as enough they know that when Americans come that we will have candy for them. I can really say that I felt much more blessed by being able to serve then what little we have blessed them with food. I don't think it will ever cross my mind to be a regret of not taking the time off and staying back in CA during those days to rest. Because while we were down there serving God granted me the rest needed. It was truly such a blessing for Preston and I to be able to go on the trip, one I know that we both will not soon forget.


But today celebrating Christ's resurrection from the grave was quite powerful; I also was struck so much on Good Friday on the greatness of Christ laying down His life for sinners such as us. I have so many areas of fault, far too numerous to even list. But He still loved me enough to endure all that suffering, such a moving thought. It was great to be invited to the White family's celebration today with all the kiddies and family members running around. They accepted Preston and I in as if we were their own which was quite moving for us being so far from our own family on the holiday. 

I was especially moved today as we paused before prayer to remember a certain amazing young woman named Kortney. I know I haven't written about her on here before so much, but I'd like to think Kortney is partially responsible for this awesome mission’s work I've been doing for the past 7 weeks. Kortney was such an inspiration and great friend, and I guess you could say mentor of mine when she was working with Students for Life. She was always keeping tabs on how things were going with the pro-life group at Liberty and how I was doing with some struggles there. She was talking to me a lot about going into the pro-life movement full-time after graduating. Well after her, Jon, and her unborn daughter Sophy passed away in October I almost felt a bit lost without them. Jon had been very much responsible for helping me put together Liberty's first pro-life senior project. I remember sitting down one day in January and thinking "okay, I'm done with college what now", then I thought to myself "What would Kortney suggest that I do next, now that I'm done with college pro-life work?" So I remembered that she had worked for a group called "Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust". I had also remembered seeing them at the SFLA conference a week earlier but dismissing going to work for them since it wasn't a paying job. But then I felt something tugging at me to submit an application to become a missionary with them. So I did, and the rest is history!
So today we took a moment to pray for her family and to remember her, I feel like throughout this entire trip I've been seeing little marks of how she went before me in working with Survivors and accomplishing so much!

I've met so many people on the trip who've been touched by her life and the work she's done. I've also met quite a few who knew Jon and were very inspired by his passion for the unborn. So today we remember not only their memories, but most importantly the memory of Christ. The memory of a carpenter's son who was sent to earth to walk the road before us, and die for our sins on the cross. Today I remember the sacrifice made on that cross for all my sins. So today and everyday let's keep on our mind the sacrifices others have made so that we can be where we are today. Let us remember to live life to the fullest fighting for what we believe in (as Jon and Kortney did)!