Homeless Not Helpless - Pt. 2 Repeat Work

Hi JFA,

Thank you for keeping Christina and her unborn baby in prayer. She is still pregnant, though there was a brief scare when she called an abortion clinic shortly after I wrote the first time.

The [abortion] clinic told her she was too far along for them to help her and they did not give her the name of any other clinics to contact. Praise God for that victory.

My church has [also] been helping Christina and keeping in touch with her every day. My mom and I are taking her out for her 28th birthday next week. She wants to go to Red Lobster! :)

The next step is to get her to a nearby pro-life free clinic that can get Christina in touch with some adoption agencies.

I felt discouraged by people's attitudes when I shared a little bit of my walk with Christina. A co-worker made a nasty face at me and said that Christina's baby SHOULD be aborted because Christina hadn't had prenatal care and may or may not have taken drugs/used alcohol.

I was able to share with this co-worker that we will take whatever comes with this baby... we're praying for him or her, we already love him or her, and consider his or her life precious.

She was confused and didn't wish to discuss it further with me. I was proud of myself for responding to her with love, like JFA taught me.

And when we get to meet Christina's baby, by the grace of God, my co-worker will see that our prayers have reaped rewards. Whatever hardships this baby may face...we'll take them on.

So, keep us in prayer, as I do for you.

Love you guys!

-Nicole

Homeless But Not Helpless

With JFA's training behind you, repeat work can be merely a conversation away at ANY event - even church events!

Dear JFA,

Today my church hosted a fall event for the less privileged in our area and for the homeless currently living at a local motel.

I met Christina. She's 27, has had 7 babies and 2 abortions - the first when she was 14 because she became pregnant after being raped by her adoptive father.

Christina is now 4.5 months pregnant and has an abortion scheduled for this week. She said to me, 'I don't want to kill him or her, but I don't want to bring another one here and have the authorities take it (again).' Christina has had all 7 of her kids forcibly removed from her - each time leaving her wounded.

I was able to sit with Christina. I got her a cupcake (chocolate is her favorite), and coffee (I had to send someone to the church office with a tea cup to get some!), and we talked.

She has beautiful blue eyes - plagued with hardship and pain. Her pregnancy is obvious, and because she doesn't have clothes that fit, her pants looked uncomfortably tight.

I shared with Christina that one day I dream of adopting a baby. She said that was nice.

I touched her arm and said that if all babies went from the womb to heaven, there wouldn't be any babies to adopt - but that adoption is an option for her unborn baby.

She looked at me, and asked, 'Would there be someone who might adopt this baby?' I assured her there would be.

She said that she would rather not abort, but only if she could pick a family for the baby. My mom then joined us and we discussed getting in touch with some adoption agencies.

Christina left the event with a bag of sandwiches, another chocolate cupcake, a blanket, and a fleet of angels following her.

"Christina left with a fleet of angels following her."

On Monday my mom and I are going to contact Christina and see what we can do to help her. The father of the baby is not in the picture, though Christina lives with a man who does not support her decision to abort.

Please pray for wisdom for me and my mom as we walk with Christina.

I felt a bit helpless watching Christina walk out the church doors. Had I shown her enough love - said the right things? I pray so - and that this journey with her isn't over.

Thanks for being there for me JFA. I wouldn't have had the courage to sit down with Christina if it wasn't for the training you gave me. I love you guys.

I'll keep you updated.

--Nicole

Sent via BlackBerry

Just One More

Not only did Nicole not enjoy her seat work with JFA, she hated her first day of feet work.

In her own words:

"Bumping along on the bus ride to the Justice for All Exhibit, I actually slept peacefully, knowing full well that God would use me if He chose to do so. I felt I had prepared since I knew to ask, “What do you think of the Exhibit,” wait for an answer, and then proceed to introduce my new friend to a toddler or take them for a knowledgeable ride on a 'S-L-E-D.'

I figured that it was my pro-life duty to spend a couple days chatting with a few people about my beliefs, but I didn’t wish to be contacted by JFA for any future outreaches since I was doing my time, and earning my Family, Church, and Society class credit at the Focus Leadership Institute.

So, arriving safe and sound at the ghastly Exhibit (which I had seen earlier during JFA training), I proceeded to listen to a few conversations between Rebeccah, Steve, and a few of the CSU campus students. Then, I felt that it was my time, and so I stood, upright and qualified in front of the Exhibit, and waited for a student to happen along my path.

About three minutes later, I looked to my left and saw a girl, about my age, staring intently at side one of the Exhibit. I prayed to God, asking Him if indeed He did want me to talk to this girl, and I felt the Holy Spirit prodding me toward her.

By this time she had been standing beside me for about two minutes and so I figured she was committed to at least discussing the Exhibit with me for a little while. I had evaluated this girl, prayed for guidance about whether or not to talk to her, and I was so ready to finally ask my 'What do you think…' question! And so I did.

There aren’t words to describe what this girl said when I politely invited her to discuss the Exhibit. Actually, there are words, but I’m not repeating them.

It was as if she was spitting fire, flinging it back and forth between the Exhibit and me, and I was stunned. I tried once more to engage her, but it was no use; she cut through me with her angry eyes one last time and then stormed off, spewing a few more choice words as she went.

I was completely defeated. My upright and qualified stature turned into a sunken down and absolutely ruined one. I slunk away from the Exhibit, sat down under a tree that was away from people, and began to question God. 'Why in the world would you have me talk to that one?!'

I sat and talked with God for a while, and my answer seemed to be, 'Because that one, Nicole, is the one I wanted you to talk to.' But I didn’t understand. The rest of the day I couldn’t bring myself to talk to anyone.

The next day I was worried. I couldn’t possibly go through another situation like the one I had the day before. And so I prayed, 'God, let me just talk to one person today.'

A friend and I took some surveys into the heart of the campus and before I knew it, I was jumping in on a conversation between my friend and a guy who had said he believed that a baby was 'alive' only after birth. I challenged his belief with the 'environment' part of the S-L-E-D test and I actually felt like I had stood up for what I believed to be true, that a baby was whole, alive, and important at conception.

I had spoken to my 'one person!' And so, I prayed, 'God, let me talk to just one more person.' Six or seven surveys, and about five great conversations later, I was still praying, 'Okay, God, just one more!'

When I found myself back at the Exhibit, I began to get a little nervous again, because this was the war zone where I had been trashed! But with my prayer on my lips, I walked up to a young girl and her friend and asked them if they had been at the Exhibit the day before.

One said she had and the other one flipped her phone open and said that she hadn’t. I asked the one with the phone what she thought and she said, 'Well, I carried my baby nine months, and it was because of pictures like these. So I don’t mind this (exhibit) being here at all.'

Then, holding up her phone, she asked, 'Do you want to see a picture of my daughter?' Of course I said yes, and on the screen of the phone was the face of a gorgeous 6 month old, curly haired little girl named Shanae. I told the young mom what a hero she was for making the hard choice to carry her baby and to care for her. She said that yes, it had been a hard choice, because when she found herself pregnant, neither her parents nor her church had agreed to take the child, and so she had decided to get an abortion.

Before she did, though, she said she had to check on the internet to see what exactly an abortion was. She told me, 'After seeing those (abortion) pictures, I knew I could never do that to my baby, and I decided to keep her.' It was the pictures she saw of abortions that changed this girl’s mind, and so people who say, 'The pictures are just shock tactics that don’t affect people other than to make them emotional' are wrong! It was such a blessing to talk to this girl that the hard conversation that I had had the day before drastically faded in my mind.

I must have spoken to about a dozen just 'one more persons' on that second day, and the impact it had on my life was indescribable. I told Tammy (JFA staff member) that I wanted to change my mind about going to future exhibits and I gave her my email address. Now I can’t wait to receive an email from JFA telling me how I can help and when I can attend another campus with them.

But I also know that I don’t need to be standing in front of the JFA Exhibit in order to discuss my beliefs about abortion. With my JFA training, my two days at CSU talking with students, and with a prayer on my lips, I could talk to hundreds of 'just one more persons' in my lifetime; but I pray that by the time God takes me home, I won’t have to argue against abortion anymore because there truly will be 'Justice for All.'"

Postlogue: Click here to read about Nicole’s first “Just One More Person” experience (her mom) upon returning home from the Focus Leadership Institute in 2006.

Second Postlogue: Click here to read about Nicole's most recent (2010) "Just One More Person" named Christina.

Turning 2-day outreaches into 2-minute outreaches

JFA’s very first 2010 training gave me firsthand opportunity to witness the practical goal of JFA’s Abortion: From Debate to Dialogue (ADD) training:

Translate two day life-changing JFA training experiences into two minute life-changing conversations with family, friends and peers.

Texan native Charity Boaz met JFA Texas staffer Jacob Burow through FaceBook. Jacob persuaded her to attend our Georgia Tech (GT) training. Charity flew to Atlanta to attend our Sunday afternoon ADD seminar at GT.

She was in my GT outreach carpool the following Monday morning. We finished our journey to the GT campus each day via MARTA, Atlanta’s mass transit train.

Despite a very rainy Monday Charity had 15-20 conversations in which she practiced JFA’s 3 essential dialogue skills: ask good questions, listen, and find common ground.

On Tuesday morning’s 10-minute crowded MARTA commute, I had to stand but Charity found a seat beside a young man (Darius) who promptly asked if she was a GT student.

"No," she said, "but I am going to GT for the 2nd day of a pro-life outreach." Darius barely had time to nod before Charity asked him, "So are you pro-life or pro-choice?"

"I’m...(hesitating) I don't know. Which are you?" Darius was as smart as he looked!

"Oh," Charity quickly responded, "I'm pro-life. May I show you why?"

“Sure,” he said. Charity proceeded to give Darius our 2-minute side-one tour of the JFA Exhibit using the 9-inch JFA Exhibit brochure, asking the key questions: “When do we become human?” and “Should wanted-ness determine our value as humans?”

As the train neared the GT stop Darius told Charity, “I think I’m pro-life too. May I have that brochure?”

“Sure,” responded Charity, handing it to him. “If you fill out the card in the back I’ll make sure you receive more information. Thanks for letting me share it with you.”

“Oh, thank you,” said Darius. “I plan to share this with my friends.”

Through God’s blessing, your prayers and your generous financial support, we’ve had an entire year of equipping more than 1,500 students and young adults like Charity to become 2-minute ambassadors!

A fait accompli

The dehumanization of unwanted unborn children is a fait accompli.

Fait accompli is French for "I don't care what the weight is or the gender of the person singing, or even if cigars have been handed out. It means "It's over. It's done."

The attitude that unwanted unborn children are "different" from born children has reached those we would once have though most protected from such a dehumanizing bias.

I recently spoke in a Sunday morning service in very pro-life, pro-home school church in one of American's most conservative cities. The message I gave that morning was JFA’s hard-hitting and heart-breaking 30 minute presentation entitled, “Facing Abortion.”

It’s the pro-life PowerPoint presentation to end all pro-choice confusion and sentiment. You would expect it - I wrote it. And that morning I delivered it to a full church.

One of the first people to greet and thank me after the service was a young man who introduced himself as Hanley.* (Name changed for privacy)

“I really enjoyed your presentation,” he said, and then almost in the same breath added, “I have a friend who’s 17. She told me about 3 weeks ago that she was pregnant and planning to get an abortion.”

“Wow…your girlfriend?”

“Oh no, I’m only 13. My dad would kill me if I did something like that!”

“Got it. So Hanley,” I asked, “what did you say when your friend told you she was planning to get an abortion?”

“I told her it was a bad idea, but then I didn’t know what else to say.” He looked distressed.

“Did you tell your parents or her parents or anyone about the situation?” I asked.

“O no, she made swear not to tell anyone. She knows a lot of people in this church and is also home-schooled. She didn’t want her parents to find out."

“So do you know what happened?” I inquired.

“Yeah, I called her later that week to see how she was doing – she told me that she had already had the abortion."

“How is she doing now?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen or talked to her since.”

“Does anyone else know that she got an abortion?”

“I don’t think so. She made me promise not to tell anyone.”

With the utterance of those words Hanley’s face went white and his voice quivered, “Oh no, that’s my dad coming over to tell you what a good job you did this morning. PLEASE don’t tell him what I just told you."

(to Hanley's father) “Hi...thank you. Yes, I met Hanley. We’re having a great conversation. Thanks again, good to meet you too. Talk with you a little later.”

After Hanley's father had left and Hanley began to breathe again I said, “Got a question for you.”

“Okay,” Hanley said gamely.

“What if your 17-year old friend had told you that she was going to kill her 2-year old brother, but asked you not to tell anyone. Would you have remained silent?”

“Oh no, that would be totally different,” he quickly shot back.

“How would it be different, Hanley?” I asked.

Hand under chin, Hanley visibly considered my question. After about 15 seconds, a wry smile broke across his face. He said, “Really wouldn’t be different, would it?”

Listen up. The bad news is that if a 13-year old home schooled boy in a pro-life church in the heart of conservative America believes there's a moral difference between killing born and unborn children, for all practical purposes, the dehumanization of the unwanted unborn child is a fait accompli.

The good news is that the cultural attitude that Hanley had assumed was not consistent with his personal faith. Once better informed and then challenged to consider his previous bias, Hanley dismissed any difference between killing unwanted unborn and born children.

The mission of Justice For All? Train thousands like Hanley to make abortion unthinkable for millions, one person at a time.

Semper Fi

I met John, a Marine, at our “Should This Exhibit Return Next Year?” poll table at the University of North Texas outreach the first week of November 2010. He had recently returned from Afghanistan.

Standing near the poll table in order to talk with participants, I asked John why he had signed the "YES" side indicating he wanted the Exhibit to return.

“It’s wrong to kill innocent babies,” he answered. “And this seems like a really effective way to say that.”

When I asked John if he’d would be willing to get involved in the pro-life club on campus, he said he didn’t see the point since he already believed in our mission.

“John, let’s assume people believe in the mission you just returned from doing. If we send them to Afghanistan to do the mission but don’t train them before sending them, what will happen?”

"They will die,” John quickly shot back.

“What if we train someone to do the mission but never send them to do it?” I asked.

“Be a waste of time,” he said without hesitation.

“Plus the people you were sent to protect would die?” I asked.

“That’s right,” he affirmed.

Looking at the Exhibit, we both fell silent.

In less than half a minute, John added, “I got it. You want me to get trained to help save lives.”

I nodded yes. I loved not only the efficiency of our conversation, but his follow-up response:

“When does the pro-life club meet?”

Lives depend on training the next generation. Don’t neglect your own training.

Consider participating in a 2011 JFA training event. Make it a personal missions trip. Bring a friend or family member.

You (and they) will never forget it. Neither will those you learn to engage.

Neither will those whose lives are saved.

Semper Fi.

JOIN JFA'S IRONMAN TEAM!

Meet JFA superhero Mike Pluimer! Superheros and superheroines are known to risk their own safety and use their power to help the helpless - without any expectation of reward.

Mike Pluimer is just such a superhero! He will compete on JFA's behalf this Sunday (July 25) in Lake Placid at the Ford Ironman triathlon.

He will make this superhuman effort (swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles - all within about 12 hours) not to glorify his own superhero image, but to help raise money for those who are super-needy - unwanted, unborn children.

One of the charities that Mike is sponsoring in Lake Placid in the Janus Charity Challenge is Justice For All.

Your generous donation to Justice For All earmarked for this event may not elevate you to a superhero, but it will certainly place you on the side of those separated by their concern and care for "the least of these." (Matthew 25.40).

Become a JFA Ironman through your generous donation here or on Facebook (please reference "Ironman" in the memo field for your gift to count toward the Janus Charity Challenge at Lake Placid).

Children like Nick and Donato will not be here tomorrow without your help today.

Conversation 5, Kenesaw State University

I asked a girl who stopped to view the Exhibit what she thought. She told me that all of her friends were talking about the JFA Exhibit and saying that "they couldn't get anymore now."

I asked, "What do you mean?"

She quickly responded, "All of my friends are saying that after seeing [the JFA Exhibit] they can't get anymore abortions. Like, every time they get pregnant they get one. Some of them have been pregnant 5 times and have gotten 5 abortions. One of my friends got one last month and it's been ripping her apart."

Our conversation ended well. I showed her how to walk people through the JFA Exhibit brochure and told her how to guide her friend to local post-abortion counseling services.

--Allison Martinez, Texas A&M, March 2010

Breaking the Cycle at Kennesaw State Saves Child

March 2010

I saw a woman slowly walking around the small exhibit so I took the opportunity to strike up a conversation. She seemed curious as to why we were there and what we were doing. I told her that we also had the large exhibit up on the grassy area at Kennesaw [State University]. She wanted specific directions on how to get there so she could go look at it.

She said, "wow, these pictures are really sad....and graphic..." I asked her more about that. All of a sudden she interrupted me and asked, "Oh is that your poll?" looking at the "Should abortion remain legal" question. I said, "Yeah, that's us too."

She then said, "I had an abortion a few years ago, so I think I'm gonna go sign yes." I was in shock. She quickly walked away from me to go sign her name under yes. As I was waiting for her to finish signing her name so that I could ask her about her abortion and possibly refer a crisis pregnancy resource, another volunteer took the opportunity to talk to her. I waited to talk to her until someone else started talking to me. A few minutes later she was gone.

Later in the day at the large exhibit I saw her talking to another volunteer. Again, I tried to catch her but she left before I could catch her attention. I asked the volunteer who had spoken to her how their conversation went. She said, "That woman is pregnant now and said that she didn't know what she was going to do."

She said that she saw the small exhibit earlier and after thinking about it for a while decided she couldn't do the same thing with this pregnancy.*

--Allison Martinez, Texas A&M University, March 2010

*The Alan Guttmacher Institute reports that about half of all abortions each year are performed on women who have already had at least one previous abortion.

Dust the Rust Off

I feel incredibly blessed to have spent my spring break with JFA in Georgia. God used the trip in numerous ways. I no longer feel "rusty." I even ended up sharing the JFA Exhibit brochure with a director on the plane flight back, which resulted in a 2 hour conversation!

I always instantly notice the spiritual fruits that come from going on JFA mission trips. I feel much more brave and at peace. I also feel charged and more passionate, but also heartbroken about the pro-life cause. And it always makes me want to go on more mission trips : ) ! --Allison Martinez, Texas A&M sophomore (March 2010)

Trained to listen and pray!

Fifty high school students took part in JFA's seat work (4.5 hour seminar) of which forty volunteered for the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) outreach (feet work) in early April.

Below is an excerpted reflection by Shelbi Launer, a Dayspring Christian Academy senior.

"I don’t consider myself a great speaker, but during the outreach at UNC last week, I didn’t need to be a great speaker in order to impact someone’s life.

I discovered that just praying can make an impact. I prayed that those viewing and discussing the Exhibit would see the love God has for both them and the unborn babies.

I continually prayed for those who seemed broken and hard-hearted. It made me sad to see all the hate and resentment.

Although the JFA Exhibit speaks loudly about abortion, those who represent JFA do not. I was amazed at how calm the JFA staff and volunteers were and how they portrayed God’s love through their speech. They showed me how to be passionate but also respectful.

On the way to UNC campus I was really nervous and worried -- about what to say and how to approach viewers. I was scared I was going to make a mistake. What I didn’t think about enough was helping others, and showing them God’s love.

I would like to participate in another Justice For All outreach. I had a great time listening to conversations and praying for each person.

Next time I also want to engage people to help them understand the truth about abortion."

-- Shelbi Launer, Senior, Dayspring Christian Academy, Greeley, Colorado

Your prayerful support helps train tomorrow's leaders (like Shelbi) today to listen and to pray as they give their time and talent on behalf of those without a voice.

Team Up with JFA and Right to Life of Central California

On April 18 - 21, 2010, Justice For All and Right to Life of Central California are teaming up to change hearts and save lives. Details here.

Join the team!

Donate - help JFA train tomorrow's leaders today.

Get trained. Learn about JFA's "Abortion: From Debate to Dialogue" training program.

Partnerships and Repeat Work Saves Lives

Last fall (2010) God led the JFA staff and regular volunteers into Oklahoma for our annual training trek with OK private and public schools.

JFA’s staff and volunteer training program contains 3 key elements:

1. Seat work – Abortion: From Debate to Dialogue (ADD) Seminar
2. Feet work – participation in an ADD Exhibit Outreach
3. Repeat work – individual and/or group follow-up using ADD training

Local partnerships are critical to changing hearts and saving lives before, during, but especially after outreach events.

For each outreach venue JFA strives to partner with pregnancy resource centers who serve their communities 24/7.

During our first training in Oklahoma (2007), we were blessed to connect with Crossroads Clinic, based in Guthrie, OK. Crossroads again partnered with us for our 2009 University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) campus outreach.

Not only did the Crossroads staff join us at UCO last fall with a resource tent/table (pictured right), they brought with them several high school girls from Guthrie to train on each day.

Crossroads shares JFA’s vision for training next generation leaders!

This past February Linda Stewart, Executive Director of Crossroads Clinic, wrote to tell us:

“…our Client Services Director, Stephany, took a group of teens to counsel [at the Crossroad’s table during JFA’s campus outreach at UCO].

[Afterwards] one of these high school girls, a girl named Kyla (a junior), took the JFA Exhibit brochure back to her high school and showed it to fellow students.

Several months later Kyla received a note from a Guthrie high school girl that she didn’t know. It read,

‘Kyla, you don’t know me, but those pictures you passed around at school about abortion saved my baby’s life.’”

Your financial gifts and prayers help JFA develop critical training partnerships that change hearts and save lives, one person at a time.

Pray for us – we’re off to Colorado next month (April 7-14) where we’ll partner with at least 2 high schools, Focus on the Family Leadership Institute, several churches and campus groups. Thank you for your generous support!

Meet Josh - JFA's Newest World Changer

"If you could help thousands of people rethink their view on abortion, would you?"

That was the question for JFA's newest intern, Josh Pedrick (left in picture right). Josh is the youngest sibling of Rebeccah (Pedrick) Wagner, who herself was once a JFA intern and staffer AND is now married to JFA's Director of Training, Steve Wagner.

We're going next-generational at JFA with Josh's internship!

Josh has previously joined JFA for 3 training events - the first time as a 15 year old. Now 3 years later as an 18 year old, Josh reflects:

"JFA taught me how to dialogue with students, reveal truth, and still show gentleness and respect. The training experiences I've had with JFA have truly been life-changing."

Josh shares that a conversation he had at age 15 at North Texas ended with the college student saying: “Before this conversation [with you] I hadn’t given much thought to abortion. But after looking at this [exhibit] I can see abortion is wrong.”

After which Josh said, "This conversation made a tremendous impact...it showed me that I could make a difference in people’s hearts."

His willingness to do anything and everything we've asked and to do it with enthusiasm and charity is indeed a special addition to our team.

We covet your prayers and continued support as we head to Colorado next month!

3,500 Will Die in America Today

More than all killed on September 11, 2001.

Why doesn't this news stop us - in our tracks?

Unlike the Taliban attack, today's assault

Won't catch us by surprise.

We know when they will die.

We know where they will die.

We know how they will die.

And we know why they will die. BECAUSE

THEY THREATEN THEIR FAMILY'S LIFESTYLE.

Why don't we think about those killed by abortion today?

Could it be that we fear saying "YES" to HELPING THEM

WILL THREATEN OUR LIFESTYLE?

Remember Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10)?

His answer to the lawyer's question

"What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

The guy whose day-trip to the city

Was interrupted by an unscheduled and messy encounter?

The story of a person who stopped to help someone left for dead.

Someone very different from them.

Someone Mr. S. may well have had good reason to resent;

IT was an unwelcome interruption in his journey.

IT was a potentially serious financial intrusion

Upon Mr. S' wallet.

His journey to the bigs.

IT was an unwanted burden

An appointed test of faith for Mr S.

Why show mercy?

Who would ever know (at least in this life)

That he simply walked on by.

It was not his mess.

Not his passion.

Not his fight.

"Whatever you did not do... ." (Jesus, Matt. 25.40)

In the words of pro-life luminary Gregg Cunningham,

"The Samaritan not only felt pity for the beating victim;

He took pity on him."

Justice For All prepares people to be Good Samaritans.

To rescue those so small and helpless that

They can be left for dead in a bedpan.

How?

We train people to make abortion unthinkable

for everyone they know and meet, ONE person at a time.

Does your daily calendar allow for such interruptions?

Samaritan-like appointments?

Meetings appointed by God to change hearts.

Are you equipped?

Emotionally?

Mentally?

Physically?

Spiritually?

Willing? (e.g., Jesus, Philippians 2.5-7)

On March 7-19, 2010,

Lord willing, Justice For All will train 300-400 students and adults

In Georgia and Tennessee

To save lives.

Will you be one of them?

Will you help?

If not, why not?

You were born to make a difference.

They can be too.

3,500 will die today

And tomorrow.

Unless we stop to help.

Click here for JFA March 2010 Training info

Click here to Donate

Pray always.

World Changers Who Rest in the Everlasting Arms

I recently had the opportunity to share the speaking platform at "Prime" with Steve Gillis, college pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, GA.

His theme that night was "World Changers." The idea that followers of Christ should be "World Changers" was woven throughout the evening.

In my remarks I briefly referenced the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., yet the recent holiday commemorating Dr. King's life actually celebrates an entire generation of intentional world-changers.

Among my favorites is Dr. Ralph David Abernathy. Fellow activist Andrew Young reportedly summed up Rev. Abernathy's role in the civil rights movement with "Ralph was really the pastor to Dr. King. He was a source of strength to us all."

Asked about his source of strength -- how he withstood the immense pressures of both internal and external criticism not to mention threats to his and his family's lives, Pastor Abernathy quickly reflected with the 19th century hymn's refrain, "Resting on the everlasting arms of Jesus."

The source of Dr. Abernathy's strength (Jesus) is both the start and finish line for anyone seriously considering living in opposition to injustice.

The prophet Isaiah spoke of the same source and strength:

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty, God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign...over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness...forever." (Isaiah 9.6-7)

God, help me be a world changer who rests daily in the "everlasting arms of Jesus."

Dumb About Abortion

Students "...smart enough to meet entrance requirements..." but dumb about abortion was essence of the antilogy observed by Leslie Cumiford in a recent The New Mexico Breeze article highlighting Justice For All’s fall 2009 outreach at the University of New Mexico (UNM).

Consider Julie, a pre-med UNM junior who scolded me at the “Should This Exhibit Return Next Year” poll table with “Why don’t you redirect your efforts to accomplish something beneficial to mankind?”

Her assumption?

Unborn humans are either not full members of the human community, or if they are, they’re certainly not as valuable as needy born humans.

How indeed can students like Julie successfully test into our institutions of higher learning, but seriously fail a pop quiz about abortion? (Warning: link contains graphic abortion image)

Answer: Bad leadership and a cover-up of unparalleled proportion.

The Cover-up. Over 100,000 unwanted, unborn children on planet Earth are violently killed each and every day - 24/7 (about 3,500 daily in the U.S.).[1]

Do the Google or LexisNexis search. Not a single article in a single newspaper in a single country decried yesterday's violence against 100K unborn humans. Or the day before. Or tomorrow’s.

Why not?

Bad Leadership. Leaders we would expect to expose such evil by instructing those for whom they have oversight are instead relatively silent.

And the truth is few in America's pews want their peace disturbed.

In large part because the majority of those so weekly seated have either participated in an abortion, love someone who has, or want to preserve a future "choice."

The Net Result. Those who could and should be better instructed (born children) enter adolescence completely unprepared for the evil they themselves are vulnerable to experience.

Join Those Prepared to Make a Difference. Help JFA find and train leaders willing to equip next-generation leaders to change hearts and save lives.

How? One gift, one person (You?) at a time.

Click here to financially help JFA annually train over 1,500 students like Josh, Jamie and Kelly to win their generation.

Go here to get trained yourself to make a difference.

---

[1] http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_IAW.html