By Christina
My parish, Holy Rosary Church in Portland, Oregon, is a fairly large parish with many wonderful large families and so many awesome young people. I realized though, that we all needed to be more activily involved in pro-life work as a parish, so after I finished my high school studies in January this year, I began to look at what I could do about this.
I was eager to get a pro-life youth group started there, but I soon saw that I needed to just get started in doing pro-life activities, and then form a group once people began to join me in these. So I set a date, July 5th, Saturday, for some pro-life activities at one of the big abortion mills in Portland, LoveJoy Surgicenter. I decided that we would hold a couple very beautiful, educational pro-life signs; pray the rosary; and hand out literature to passersby. This would all be a great start for the people of Holy Rosary.
A month before July 5th, I began personally inviting all kinds of parishioners to join me for this day at the abortion mill. Everyone was very supportive and eager to be a part of this, and said that they would try to make it over. The pastor of Holy Rosary, Fr. Anthony Patalano, was also wonderfully supportive and helpful! A week before the event, he announced it after all the Masses on Sunday for me! I'm very gratefull for his assistance and look forward to working with him more in pro-life activism.
I had never organized and lead a pro-life activity before, and I'll admit that besides being quite excited about it, I was a little nervous! I knew, however, that I just needed to jump in and get started, and that soon it would all be old hat!
Well, July 5th went very well! It was a perfect day, weatherwise, for this kind of thing, and everyone who came was wonderfully inspiring! The abortion mill was closed, since it was the day after Independence Day, but we were able to reach many people with signs and literature.
Most of us standing out there were young people, and I don't know if I've ever had such a great time doing pro-life work! They were so enthusiastic and inspiring in their zeal for what they were doing, and we were laughing almost the entire time! When it was time to leave, they wanted to stay, since they were having such a great time. And they were even setting the date for the next pro-life activity; I didn't have to! There were also several very awesome and fun-loving parents standing with us.
I am totally thrilled that this pro-life activity went so wonderfully, and am eager to do more of this with the parishioners of Holy Rosary. I was amazed at how, once they had someone to organize the event for them, they were all too eager to show up for it! And I am all excited to be a leader in the pro-life movement!
Showing posts with label Christina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christina. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Monday, July 07, 2008
When Shepherds Lead
By Christina
We all know the importance of having our bishops and priests be actively involved in the pro-life movement, leading us in helping to end abortion in America.
The power that these spiritual leaders have, being the ones that we trust and depend on in our spiritual lives, is frankly amazing! I have seen some wonderful instances of them leading their people in pro-life work, and I am always surprised at what they can bring about, even by giving only a little encouragement to their people.
It’s a part of us to look to our priests and bishops for leadership and guidance. So when they show no interest in pro-life work, their people automatically go the same way. It’s up to the priests and bishops to instill in their people a love for pro-life activism.
Abortion is a spiritual battle, an intense battle between good and evil. This gives our priests and bishops an even greater responsibility to take an active interest in it. And imagine their responsibility to protect their young people from the evil of abortion!
I often truly wonder why they don’t do so very often. I honestly can’t come up with an answer to this one. If I was a priest or a bishop, I would take full advantage of my position to help end abortion. I will never understand otherwise.
After all the long years of study, all the hours of prayer and discernment, all the zeal and dedication that it took for our priests and bishops to get where they are, wouldn’t they be more than ready and eager to do all they can to eliminate the great evil of abortion?! Wouldn’t they be burning to fully excercise their sacred offices?! Wouldn’t they be on fire to do all the good they can?!
I don’t understand.
I think, however, that it is very important for us lay people to very specially help our priests and bishops with pro-life work. We need to be more dedicated to working with and for them, and not just asking and expecting them to do it all. I’ve been recently working with my pastor to do more pro-life activist work at my parish, and he has been very supportive! While asking him for a lot of support and help, I have been taking on a lot of the actual work and personally doing some of the time-consuming jobs. This is very helpful and encouraging to him because he can be involved in pro-life work but does not have to use up all his time on it.
One area that priests and bishops can assist the pro-life movement in a very special way is the 40 Days for Life. There is an incredible story about the success of a bishop leading this campaign in Texas. Wow! He had 89 different churches and 800 people all involved in the 40 Days for Life at one abortion mill! And yes, this mill just shut down! The story can be read here. It is an excellant example of the power that our spiritual shepherds have in leading their people in doing great things for the Church.
May we all do our best to encourage and support our priests and bishops in pro-life activism!
God bless.
We all know the importance of having our bishops and priests be actively involved in the pro-life movement, leading us in helping to end abortion in America.
The power that these spiritual leaders have, being the ones that we trust and depend on in our spiritual lives, is frankly amazing! I have seen some wonderful instances of them leading their people in pro-life work, and I am always surprised at what they can bring about, even by giving only a little encouragement to their people.
It’s a part of us to look to our priests and bishops for leadership and guidance. So when they show no interest in pro-life work, their people automatically go the same way. It’s up to the priests and bishops to instill in their people a love for pro-life activism.
Abortion is a spiritual battle, an intense battle between good and evil. This gives our priests and bishops an even greater responsibility to take an active interest in it. And imagine their responsibility to protect their young people from the evil of abortion!
I often truly wonder why they don’t do so very often. I honestly can’t come up with an answer to this one. If I was a priest or a bishop, I would take full advantage of my position to help end abortion. I will never understand otherwise.
After all the long years of study, all the hours of prayer and discernment, all the zeal and dedication that it took for our priests and bishops to get where they are, wouldn’t they be more than ready and eager to do all they can to eliminate the great evil of abortion?! Wouldn’t they be burning to fully excercise their sacred offices?! Wouldn’t they be on fire to do all the good they can?!
I don’t understand.
I think, however, that it is very important for us lay people to very specially help our priests and bishops with pro-life work. We need to be more dedicated to working with and for them, and not just asking and expecting them to do it all. I’ve been recently working with my pastor to do more pro-life activist work at my parish, and he has been very supportive! While asking him for a lot of support and help, I have been taking on a lot of the actual work and personally doing some of the time-consuming jobs. This is very helpful and encouraging to him because he can be involved in pro-life work but does not have to use up all his time on it.
One area that priests and bishops can assist the pro-life movement in a very special way is the 40 Days for Life. There is an incredible story about the success of a bishop leading this campaign in Texas. Wow! He had 89 different churches and 800 people all involved in the 40 Days for Life at one abortion mill! And yes, this mill just shut down! The story can be read here. It is an excellant example of the power that our spiritual shepherds have in leading their people in doing great things for the Church.
May we all do our best to encourage and support our priests and bishops in pro-life activism!
God bless.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
One Dead, Two Wounded
Posted by Christina
You’ve most probably seen the pro-life slogan that runs, “Abortion: One Dead, One Wounded.” I think that this slogan is wonderful for exposing the ruin that abortion brings to both mother and child, and it is a beautiful expression of our compassion for the mothers who are victims of abortion and not just the babies.
But you know, while I see it as truthful and beautiful, I also see it as incomplete. Every abortion does kill a baby, and every abortion does wound a mother, but in this slogan that mentions only the baby and his/her mother, we have again forgotten the father.
If we forget the fathers who are, along with the mothers, victims of every abortion, who will remember them? And if no one remembers them, who will help them?
We cry out indignantly against the pro-abortion movement’s constant downplay of fatherhood’s rights and dignity, and we accuse them of trampling a sacred and irremovable part of every family. And rightly we should. But do we also often forget fathers? Do we, through our forgetfullness, unwittingly assist the abortion industry in burying the importance of fathers in the lives of their children?
Abortion in America is built on two main pillars: lies and silence. One of the favorite lies is, of course, that fathers have no rights or say in the lives of their unborn children. And silence on this issue greatly helps to furthur the lie. Now if we too forget to speak up constantly in the defense of fathers and offer them help, what are we doing to combat such an evil combination of lies and silence?It’s easy to forget the fathers, in our efforts to reach out to the mothers whose babies are threatened by abortion. But if we do, we only furthur the anti-fatherhood cause that the pro-abortion movement has worked so long and so hard to uphold. They know that once fathers are given back the rights that are theirs, abortion won’t stand a chance. Because it is the nature of fatherhood to fiercely protect their children.
Why else would the pro-abortion movement so tenaciously guard the lie that fathers have no rights in regards to their children? Without the shield of this lie, abortion is pretty much gone.
So we can’t for one moment forget the importance and rights of every father in the lives of his children. Not only must we expose the pain of abortion for fathers, but also the responsibility and rights that they have, and that no one can take these away from any father.
The abortion problem is, if we think about it, largely a father’s issue, since in every family it is the father’s duty to protect and guard his wife and children.
Notice the almost unbelievable skill of the pro-abortion movement in effectively furthuring their cause: one of the first things they did in legalizing abortion back in 1973 was too strip fathers of their rights!
It’s up to us to come back in full force against the lies that are destroying the sacredness, duties, and rights of fatherhood! Lies that use a most despicable way to furthur the murder of innocent children! Terribly shameful!
But what else would be so effective a shield for the pro-abortion movement? It is one of hell’s worst deceptions!
Let us do our best to constantly combat one of abortions most supporting lies. And so, it is not, “Abortion: One Dead, One Wounded.” It is, “Abortion: One Dead, Two Wounded”!
You’ve most probably seen the pro-life slogan that runs, “Abortion: One Dead, One Wounded.” I think that this slogan is wonderful for exposing the ruin that abortion brings to both mother and child, and it is a beautiful expression of our compassion for the mothers who are victims of abortion and not just the babies.
But you know, while I see it as truthful and beautiful, I also see it as incomplete. Every abortion does kill a baby, and every abortion does wound a mother, but in this slogan that mentions only the baby and his/her mother, we have again forgotten the father.
If we forget the fathers who are, along with the mothers, victims of every abortion, who will remember them? And if no one remembers them, who will help them?
We cry out indignantly against the pro-abortion movement’s constant downplay of fatherhood’s rights and dignity, and we accuse them of trampling a sacred and irremovable part of every family. And rightly we should. But do we also often forget fathers? Do we, through our forgetfullness, unwittingly assist the abortion industry in burying the importance of fathers in the lives of their children?
Abortion in America is built on two main pillars: lies and silence. One of the favorite lies is, of course, that fathers have no rights or say in the lives of their unborn children. And silence on this issue greatly helps to furthur the lie. Now if we too forget to speak up constantly in the defense of fathers and offer them help, what are we doing to combat such an evil combination of lies and silence?It’s easy to forget the fathers, in our efforts to reach out to the mothers whose babies are threatened by abortion. But if we do, we only furthur the anti-fatherhood cause that the pro-abortion movement has worked so long and so hard to uphold. They know that once fathers are given back the rights that are theirs, abortion won’t stand a chance. Because it is the nature of fatherhood to fiercely protect their children.
Why else would the pro-abortion movement so tenaciously guard the lie that fathers have no rights in regards to their children? Without the shield of this lie, abortion is pretty much gone.
So we can’t for one moment forget the importance and rights of every father in the lives of his children. Not only must we expose the pain of abortion for fathers, but also the responsibility and rights that they have, and that no one can take these away from any father.
The abortion problem is, if we think about it, largely a father’s issue, since in every family it is the father’s duty to protect and guard his wife and children.
Notice the almost unbelievable skill of the pro-abortion movement in effectively furthuring their cause: one of the first things they did in legalizing abortion back in 1973 was too strip fathers of their rights!
It’s up to us to come back in full force against the lies that are destroying the sacredness, duties, and rights of fatherhood! Lies that use a most despicable way to furthur the murder of innocent children! Terribly shameful!
But what else would be so effective a shield for the pro-abortion movement? It is one of hell’s worst deceptions!
Let us do our best to constantly combat one of abortions most supporting lies. And so, it is not, “Abortion: One Dead, One Wounded.” It is, “Abortion: One Dead, Two Wounded”!
Monday, June 09, 2008
Show the Truth Washington Wraps Up Spring Tour
[We are honored to announce we have a guest blogger at AIW --Christina from Mossyrock, Washington. She is a homeschooler and a fervent pro-lifer. Christina and her family have been generously and lovingly warning the women and men of Washington about the dangers of contraceptives and abortion for many, many years. She is also a blogger at Generations for Life and we look forward to reading her wonderful insights and reporting that will help us shine the light of truth on Washington's abortion industry. God bless you, Christina! -- Mary]
Report On Our Pro-Life Tour
by Christina
The pro-life tour across Washington State with Show the Truth was absoutely great! We went from Olympia to Spokane over a period of five days, stopping at abortion mills, colleges, and universities along the way and holding signs and passing out literature.
There were seven of us teenagers along on the tour, and each of us had a wonderful time and really loved every bit of it! It was very inspiring to see all these kids taking time off school and work in order to dedicate some time and energy to saving babies. I think also that we learn very much on these tours!
One college that all of us really like to visit on our tours is The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
This college is known in Washington for some of its students who are strongly and aggressively active in furthuring the Culture of Death. By no means are all of Evergreen’s students involved in such things, but those who are have made a name for their college.
And of course these students wouldn’t all congregate at Evergreen if the college was not friendly to their cause in the first place.
So The Evergreen State College is a stronghold for the Culture of Death and those who promote it, and we love to go there and educate the students about abortion and its consequences.
If we arrive there later in the day, we will almost surely have a pretty fantastic counter-demonstration and debates with the students. During Show the Truth’s first visit to Evergreen a few years ago, there was quite an uproar. The pro-life people had their signs spray-painted and punctured, and an excited crowd of students were totally unglued about the visit. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and hopefully the students learned about abortion. And Show the Truth made a resolution to return again to Evergreen.
Since that first visit, things have somewhat smoothed out, and the students are accustomed to seeing our display. However, there are still many good discussions between us and the students. During my very first visit to Evergreen, I seriously felt like losing it! I’d never been in any such situation before, and the taunts of the students were almost overwheming. I was fifteen, and they’d say things like, “I hope that you grow up and go to college someday and learn that you are wrong”. The good thing is, I didn’t lose it, and since then I feel like I’ve come such a long way in knowing how to talk with people and keep cool and really help them with their difficulties. We always hold graphic signs of aborted babies when we are at Evergreen. We also hold a few graphic signs of live preborn babies. And I found that the students really like to see such positive graphic signs; they like to be told what they can do. While holding aboption signs, I’ve had several students come over and thank me for holding that sign instead of a sign with an aborted baby on it.
It might be a good idea during such demonstrations to have only a few signs with aborted babies and a lot of signs that show adoption and the life of the preborn child.
Another college that we were really hoping to be able to visit during this tour was Columbia Basin College in Ellensburg, Washington. This college actually has a public room inside their buildings, where people can put on educational demostrations and have great access to students who are on break from class.
Last spring Show the Truth was able to have their display inside this college, and it went wonderfully. We were able to hand out literature and fetal models to students and talk with them.
I remember two young guys coming over to our table rather hesitantly. They really wanted to see what we were doing. I said hi and kind of tried to welcome them over. They commented that I was probably wondering why they, being boys, were interested in preborn babies and pregnancy. I said, “Oh no, because you guys can be fathers!” They immediately approved of that and became comfortable. I found it very wonderful that they loved the idea of fatherhood and babies, and it was an eye-opener to see that the idea of abortion being a “woman’s issue” is only a falsehood that is forced on them; they do not willingly accept it and are eager to embrace their vocation of fatherhood, if only they would be allowed to.
We were not able to have a table inside this college again this year because the student who signed us up for last year is no longer attending that college.
When we arrived in Yakima, Washington, we went first to the Cedar River abortion mill there. Every year this particular visit is very interesting. The employees here all come pouring out of the mill to watch our demonstration. We usually have a couple of vehicles with large pro-life signs, and these really set the employees off.
Once we even had the abortion mill employees out on the street holding pro-abortion signs in retaliation to our signs! We figured that we were being really effective! There is a great little pro-life group that demonstrated outside this mill once a week. Every year they are faithfully there with us and are doing an awesome work.
And in Yakima, we always have one or more news people come out to interview us and take pictures. One of these is a Christian news station and is very wonderful and supportive of us! While in Yakima, we stayed overnight at a former seminary that is now the headquarters for Reach Youth Ministry. This is a group that does a very wonderful work of putting on retreats for young people in efforts to bring them closer to Christ. We love meeting the super kids that are in this Ministry, and they are always excited to see us.
It happened that one of the nights that we stayed in Yakima was the night for Reach’s annual fundraising dinner. We thought it would be great to go to this and give our suppot to their work. As it turned out, the dinner was spectacularly impressive and too much fun! They did a superb job on the whole thing, and everyone there (it was a full room) had a great evening! Some people gave speeches, and the Reach kids put on their own little skit. There were also some sweet little girls who put on this most wonderful little skit you ever saw! They sang beautifully and were totally confident up there on stage.
And wow! the Reach group really knew how to raise money! They gave us some great ideas for our pro-life fundraisers! We were very glad to have been able to attend this dinner and always look forward to returning to Yakima.
And now the abortion mill in Spokane, Washington. Whoa!! It’s aggressive there! We almost always have one or two aggressive incidents while we are in front of the Planned Parenthood there.
People will come up screaming at us, and stop short of physical abuse. So we keep our cameras ready, and are grateful for all the men that we have in our group!
The Planned Parenthood is situated on a fairly busy street right next to a very busy intersection, so we get great coverage for our signs. And the strange thing about this particular Planned Parenthood is that the building right next to it is a daycare center!! Why in the world?!And even stranger is the fact that the women who staff the daycare center come over to us and complain about our graphic signs. Yep, this is one of our easiest cases to argue.
I didn’t get the chance to speak with any of these women, but if I would’ve, I might have said something like, “What would you expect to see if you worked at a daycare built right next to Auschwitz?”
There is a really wonderful lady who puts on pro-life demonstrations at the Spokane Planned Parenthood every week, and she is doing a terrific job. She has definitely met with some aggressive and angry retaliations from passersby. Her husband is a lawyer and is thus able to help her very much with any cases involved with pro-life. He is also Show the Truth’s lawyer.
Several years ago, my mom was able to talk a little with one of Planned Parenthood’s escorts while we were there on a tour. A short time later, one of these escorts quit this job, and we believe that he was the same escort who mom talked with. This was very exciting and great news for us!
While in Spokane, we also stopped at Gonzaga University. We usually have a pretty good reception here. We noticed that the students there, though they don’t always agree with what we’re doing, are polite and caring. This is a breath of fresh air for us. Sadly though, I was told by a supportive student that our graphic signs are very needed at Gonzaga. I guess that a lot of students there support abortion. I expect better from a Catholic University.
One of our last stops was Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. We had a very satisfactory stop there, being able to hold signs and pass out some literature. We also were challenged by the campus security there, who said that we could not legally stand where we were standing with our signs. The director of Show the Truth handled it very well. He actually ended up calling 911 because the campus security officer was getting out of hand and needed to be put back in line. It was comical seeing the police arrive to help take care of campus security! But it all worked out and there were no arrests.
Our second to last stop was at the Planned Parenthood in Olympia, Washington. This was on Friday, when they do abortions. They usually do around eight abortions on Fridays, but on this Friday we believe that they did one abortion. We are hopeful that we prevented the other average seven!
And when we were there on Friday, Planned Parenthood actually called in counter-protesters. And one of them was the former head of NARAL!! So they must be getting desperate. It can be an interesting time at the Olympia Planned Parenthood because we sometimes encounter students from The Evergreen State College. They usually don’t give us too much trouble, but recently someone (who looks like he comes from Evergreen) wrote vulgar graffiti on the pro-life sign on Show the Truth’s truck.
Our last stop on our tour was at the Planned Parenthood in Centralia, Washington. This went extremely well, do in large part to the vast support for pro-life in this area. We were able to hand out a whole bunch of fetal models to passing cars and had an impressive display of signs in front of Planned Parenthood.
Altogether it was a fantastic tour, and we are all very pleased with it! We got to do some great work for life, and we got to meet and work with some absolutely wonderful people in the pro-life movement. We also learn so much on these tours!
Our very special thanks to all the great people who helped us, who joined us, and who hosted us at their homes on this tour, and for all the prayers for us and our work; and a very, very big thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Sauley who organized the tour. We love seeing you and working with you, and you are each a huge blessing! God bless and love you all!
And before I finish this somewhat lengthy account, let me tell you of a very unique and very wonderful little incident that happened while we were at the Planned Parenthood in Centralia. I can’t resist telling you all about it! It was one of those things that don’t happen very often, and it was also one of those things that only those in the pro-life movement get to see!
This is what happened: We all suddenly noticed that, a ways down the street from where we were standing, there was a young man standing with a cardboard sign. He had a mohawk haircut dyed pink, and was wearing black clothes with all kinds of silver chains, buttons, and other trinkets. We couldn’t see what his sign said because he was standing with his side facing us, but we (most of us) immediately assumed that he was holding some kind of sign that was against us. However, we did wonder why he was standing so far away from us.
The director of Show the Truth decided to go over and take a picture of this interesting guy. But then we saw him cross the street and shake hands with the guy and start talking. I thought, “Wow, Mr. Sauley (the director) is great at being able to talk and get along with just everybody!”
After a little bit Mr. Sauley came back and told us about the guy standing over there. He said the guy’s parents came over from Russia in the 1960’s, and his dad was a punk rocker. The guy also is a punk rocker like his dad. The guy also said that his mother hates him, sadly and strangely.
So after telling us these things about the guy standing over there, Mr. Sauley asked us, “And do you know what his sign says?” We said, “What?!” It said, Thank God Mommy didn’t abort me.
Report On Our Pro-Life Tour
by Christina
The pro-life tour across Washington State with Show the Truth was absoutely great! We went from Olympia to Spokane over a period of five days, stopping at abortion mills, colleges, and universities along the way and holding signs and passing out literature.
There were seven of us teenagers along on the tour, and each of us had a wonderful time and really loved every bit of it! It was very inspiring to see all these kids taking time off school and work in order to dedicate some time and energy to saving babies. I think also that we learn very much on these tours!
One college that all of us really like to visit on our tours is The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
This college is known in Washington for some of its students who are strongly and aggressively active in furthuring the Culture of Death. By no means are all of Evergreen’s students involved in such things, but those who are have made a name for their college.
And of course these students wouldn’t all congregate at Evergreen if the college was not friendly to their cause in the first place.
So The Evergreen State College is a stronghold for the Culture of Death and those who promote it, and we love to go there and educate the students about abortion and its consequences.
If we arrive there later in the day, we will almost surely have a pretty fantastic counter-demonstration and debates with the students. During Show the Truth’s first visit to Evergreen a few years ago, there was quite an uproar. The pro-life people had their signs spray-painted and punctured, and an excited crowd of students were totally unglued about the visit. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and hopefully the students learned about abortion. And Show the Truth made a resolution to return again to Evergreen.
Since that first visit, things have somewhat smoothed out, and the students are accustomed to seeing our display. However, there are still many good discussions between us and the students. During my very first visit to Evergreen, I seriously felt like losing it! I’d never been in any such situation before, and the taunts of the students were almost overwheming. I was fifteen, and they’d say things like, “I hope that you grow up and go to college someday and learn that you are wrong”. The good thing is, I didn’t lose it, and since then I feel like I’ve come such a long way in knowing how to talk with people and keep cool and really help them with their difficulties. We always hold graphic signs of aborted babies when we are at Evergreen. We also hold a few graphic signs of live preborn babies. And I found that the students really like to see such positive graphic signs; they like to be told what they can do. While holding aboption signs, I’ve had several students come over and thank me for holding that sign instead of a sign with an aborted baby on it.
It might be a good idea during such demonstrations to have only a few signs with aborted babies and a lot of signs that show adoption and the life of the preborn child.
Another college that we were really hoping to be able to visit during this tour was Columbia Basin College in Ellensburg, Washington. This college actually has a public room inside their buildings, where people can put on educational demostrations and have great access to students who are on break from class.
Last spring Show the Truth was able to have their display inside this college, and it went wonderfully. We were able to hand out literature and fetal models to students and talk with them.
I remember two young guys coming over to our table rather hesitantly. They really wanted to see what we were doing. I said hi and kind of tried to welcome them over. They commented that I was probably wondering why they, being boys, were interested in preborn babies and pregnancy. I said, “Oh no, because you guys can be fathers!” They immediately approved of that and became comfortable. I found it very wonderful that they loved the idea of fatherhood and babies, and it was an eye-opener to see that the idea of abortion being a “woman’s issue” is only a falsehood that is forced on them; they do not willingly accept it and are eager to embrace their vocation of fatherhood, if only they would be allowed to.
We were not able to have a table inside this college again this year because the student who signed us up for last year is no longer attending that college.
When we arrived in Yakima, Washington, we went first to the Cedar River abortion mill there. Every year this particular visit is very interesting. The employees here all come pouring out of the mill to watch our demonstration. We usually have a couple of vehicles with large pro-life signs, and these really set the employees off.
Once we even had the abortion mill employees out on the street holding pro-abortion signs in retaliation to our signs! We figured that we were being really effective! There is a great little pro-life group that demonstrated outside this mill once a week. Every year they are faithfully there with us and are doing an awesome work.
And in Yakima, we always have one or more news people come out to interview us and take pictures. One of these is a Christian news station and is very wonderful and supportive of us! While in Yakima, we stayed overnight at a former seminary that is now the headquarters for Reach Youth Ministry. This is a group that does a very wonderful work of putting on retreats for young people in efforts to bring them closer to Christ. We love meeting the super kids that are in this Ministry, and they are always excited to see us.
It happened that one of the nights that we stayed in Yakima was the night for Reach’s annual fundraising dinner. We thought it would be great to go to this and give our suppot to their work. As it turned out, the dinner was spectacularly impressive and too much fun! They did a superb job on the whole thing, and everyone there (it was a full room) had a great evening! Some people gave speeches, and the Reach kids put on their own little skit. There were also some sweet little girls who put on this most wonderful little skit you ever saw! They sang beautifully and were totally confident up there on stage.
And wow! the Reach group really knew how to raise money! They gave us some great ideas for our pro-life fundraisers! We were very glad to have been able to attend this dinner and always look forward to returning to Yakima.
And now the abortion mill in Spokane, Washington. Whoa!! It’s aggressive there! We almost always have one or two aggressive incidents while we are in front of the Planned Parenthood there.
People will come up screaming at us, and stop short of physical abuse. So we keep our cameras ready, and are grateful for all the men that we have in our group!
The Planned Parenthood is situated on a fairly busy street right next to a very busy intersection, so we get great coverage for our signs. And the strange thing about this particular Planned Parenthood is that the building right next to it is a daycare center!! Why in the world?!And even stranger is the fact that the women who staff the daycare center come over to us and complain about our graphic signs. Yep, this is one of our easiest cases to argue.
I didn’t get the chance to speak with any of these women, but if I would’ve, I might have said something like, “What would you expect to see if you worked at a daycare built right next to Auschwitz?”
There is a really wonderful lady who puts on pro-life demonstrations at the Spokane Planned Parenthood every week, and she is doing a terrific job. She has definitely met with some aggressive and angry retaliations from passersby. Her husband is a lawyer and is thus able to help her very much with any cases involved with pro-life. He is also Show the Truth’s lawyer.
Several years ago, my mom was able to talk a little with one of Planned Parenthood’s escorts while we were there on a tour. A short time later, one of these escorts quit this job, and we believe that he was the same escort who mom talked with. This was very exciting and great news for us!
While in Spokane, we also stopped at Gonzaga University. We usually have a pretty good reception here. We noticed that the students there, though they don’t always agree with what we’re doing, are polite and caring. This is a breath of fresh air for us. Sadly though, I was told by a supportive student that our graphic signs are very needed at Gonzaga. I guess that a lot of students there support abortion. I expect better from a Catholic University.
One of our last stops was Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. We had a very satisfactory stop there, being able to hold signs and pass out some literature. We also were challenged by the campus security there, who said that we could not legally stand where we were standing with our signs. The director of Show the Truth handled it very well. He actually ended up calling 911 because the campus security officer was getting out of hand and needed to be put back in line. It was comical seeing the police arrive to help take care of campus security! But it all worked out and there were no arrests.
Our second to last stop was at the Planned Parenthood in Olympia, Washington. This was on Friday, when they do abortions. They usually do around eight abortions on Fridays, but on this Friday we believe that they did one abortion. We are hopeful that we prevented the other average seven!
And when we were there on Friday, Planned Parenthood actually called in counter-protesters. And one of them was the former head of NARAL!! So they must be getting desperate. It can be an interesting time at the Olympia Planned Parenthood because we sometimes encounter students from The Evergreen State College. They usually don’t give us too much trouble, but recently someone (who looks like he comes from Evergreen) wrote vulgar graffiti on the pro-life sign on Show the Truth’s truck.
Our last stop on our tour was at the Planned Parenthood in Centralia, Washington. This went extremely well, do in large part to the vast support for pro-life in this area. We were able to hand out a whole bunch of fetal models to passing cars and had an impressive display of signs in front of Planned Parenthood.
Altogether it was a fantastic tour, and we are all very pleased with it! We got to do some great work for life, and we got to meet and work with some absolutely wonderful people in the pro-life movement. We also learn so much on these tours!
Our very special thanks to all the great people who helped us, who joined us, and who hosted us at their homes on this tour, and for all the prayers for us and our work; and a very, very big thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Sauley who organized the tour. We love seeing you and working with you, and you are each a huge blessing! God bless and love you all!
And before I finish this somewhat lengthy account, let me tell you of a very unique and very wonderful little incident that happened while we were at the Planned Parenthood in Centralia. I can’t resist telling you all about it! It was one of those things that don’t happen very often, and it was also one of those things that only those in the pro-life movement get to see!
This is what happened: We all suddenly noticed that, a ways down the street from where we were standing, there was a young man standing with a cardboard sign. He had a mohawk haircut dyed pink, and was wearing black clothes with all kinds of silver chains, buttons, and other trinkets. We couldn’t see what his sign said because he was standing with his side facing us, but we (most of us) immediately assumed that he was holding some kind of sign that was against us. However, we did wonder why he was standing so far away from us.
The director of Show the Truth decided to go over and take a picture of this interesting guy. But then we saw him cross the street and shake hands with the guy and start talking. I thought, “Wow, Mr. Sauley (the director) is great at being able to talk and get along with just everybody!”
After a little bit Mr. Sauley came back and told us about the guy standing over there. He said the guy’s parents came over from Russia in the 1960’s, and his dad was a punk rocker. The guy also is a punk rocker like his dad. The guy also said that his mother hates him, sadly and strangely.
So after telling us these things about the guy standing over there, Mr. Sauley asked us, “And do you know what his sign says?” We said, “What?!” It said, Thank God Mommy didn’t abort me.
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