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:
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:
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.
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?
No comments:
Post a Comment