Justice Ride - Part 1

     I returned from Justice Ride last Saturday, March 17th. Today is Friday (Edit: Sunday, March 25th: I ran into a few technical issues and couldn't publish til today)...I cannot tell you how much this trip has impacted me. I cannot stop thinking about abortion. I cannot stop thinking about the brutality. I cannot stop thinking about the video of an abortion of a 20 week old I watched at www.abortioninstruments.com. I cannot stop thinking about how much people, especially Christians, are doing to fight this evil, among others. Not very much. Prayer is great, but it isn't enough. We, as followers of Christ, must reach out to these people. What we do to the least of these people, we do to Jesus too. These are a people who are lied to about the facts of abortion. We must be proactive. People see more in our actions than in our words or the facts, such as knowing that we are praying for them. We have a command, the Great Commission. Take a moment to read Ezekiel 3:17-21 NLT:

17 "Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately.18 If I warn the wicked, saying, 'You are under the penalty of death,' but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths.19 If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me.
  20 "If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths.21 But if you warn righteous people not to sin and they listen to you and do not sin, they will live, and you will have saved yourself, too."

     The italics above are my emphasis. With that being said, I can see why it's so important as a Christian for me to join Justice Ride. We are exposing the truth about abortion and the truth will set one free. It is an evil and we must let others know that they have committed a wicked act or are allowing the wickedness of brutal murder to happen. We will have blood on our hands if we do not go out and save the lives of the unborn from this brutality.

     Last October, I think it was, is when I decided to join Justice Ride. I had already been supporting Created Equal financially. I had already met Seth Drayer, the Director of Training and his wife, Aubrie and I had not met Mark Harrington, the Director. I did not think much about it; I just wanted to do something and join the fight against abortion. It was more of a leap of faith because I was scared. I didn't know how I'd do with communication with complete strangers, especially college students. I didn't know if I'd reach out very much or if I'd just wait until someone came up to me and I would have to answer them. I did not know what to expect. I had no training or any skills or much knowledge about how to answer questions or arguments. I later learned many things on the trip where I gained experience. That's where most learning occurs, at least for me.Hands on or on the field.

     I left Friday, March 9th. The Drayers were generous enough to let me stay the night at their home so I wouldn't have the make the very early morning drive from Indianapolis to Columbus, OH. I met their baby girl, Adia, the next morning. She was adorable! I got to hold her for a while and my anxiety for my nephew, Nicholas, to arrive, grew. His due date is March 25. Here are Adia and I. Check our her cheeks!:

     The team gathered at Mark Harrington's home. We all met each other and talked in a group about our expectations and what we look forward to. We also spent time in earnest prayer. Then it was time to go! We were all excited. Jan, Summer, Ian, Preston, Dale, Sheila, Collin, Brandon, Seth, Aubrie, Adia, Mark, and me. Here we are, but not in the order of the names above (minus Adia and Seth, who took the photo):

     A few stops along the way for fill-ups and snacks. We finally arrived in Birmingham, AL. We went to Terry Gensemeer's house for a great time. We met the other team with which we would be working alongside, the Survivors. Kristina, Sarah M., Sarah D., Jayne, Brianna, Vince, and Mary Rose. Check out their Facebook page. Burgers and hotdogs and conversations around the fire pit. Terry is the pastor of the Episcopal church and they let us stay in the gymnasium/school they had. It was a few miles away in Fairfield, AL. Sleeping on the gym floor was a bit hard, but I slept well, nevertheless.

     The next morning, we all went to the Episcopal church, also in Fairfield, AL. It was new to me and different. Very charismatic. Communion was given. The kids have flags of all sorts and were waving them all around. Quite an interesting crowd. Afterwards, we had lunch at the King's house, aka, Burger King. The guys just had to goof off and wear the crowns. I did. Here we are with the Survivors and the pastor at the church:

     After lunch, we headed to Birmingham to the Civil Rights Institute. It is highly recommended to anyone. It offers a great tour into the past when the blacks fought for their civil rights in the 50s and 60s. The tour begins with a movie of how Birmingham came into existence and continues into a museum filled with models and information explaining the progress of the civil rights war. Included is Martin Luther King's letter he wrote from his jail cell stating specifically his purpose for fighting for the rights of the blacks. Go there when you have a chance.

Created Equal and Survivors

     Once the tour was over (We didn't get to see everything and our time was limited), we headed out to Tallahassee, FL. We arrived in DeFuniak Springs, FL to stay at Tri State Campgrounds for the night. The people who hosted us were wonderful! Great food and time of fellowship. It didn't last very long though because we had to hit the sack quite early so we could rise and shine early at 5 am. We lost an hour of sleep...we had sprung forward in time. 

     Arriving at Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL, we began to set up the signs around the area we were to practice our right to free speech and defend the lives of the unborn. Note that for some places, there is a limitation in which one or a group could practice free speech. This is a violation of our rights. This was the case at Valencia College in Orlando, FL, where an allowance of one hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays was given. I didn't go there, but Seth, the Survivors, and Resound (another team we met at University of Central Florida) went there.

     I was nervous!! I got some signs and set them up and stood behind them. With tracts in my hands, I watched the students walk by. Some looking at the graphic images and some women covering their faces as they walked by. I observed the students very closely and tried to muster up the courage to call out and ask them what they thought about abortion. I didn't. I just waited and watched the students, observing everything about them, their reactions and whispers to their friends as they walked by. I didn't get any curse words thrown at me while at FSU. I cannot remember everyone I talked to, but I will try to recall some of them and the conversations. A young man was the first person I talked to. I think that he thought it was wrong, but the woman should have the choice. I told him that we didn't stand for that and that all abortions are wrong, that it was brutal murder of a people. These babies are equal with newborns, toddlers, children and adults. Just as we don't allow murder of those living outside the womb, we shouldn't allow the murder of those in the womb.

 
     Then arrives the issue of whether the fetus in the womb is a life, a person, a human being. I shared conversations with a few others, including a young woman who was adamant that a woman should have a choice to get rid of the fetus in the cases of rape, incest, or with the chance that the child would be born into unfortunate conditions. She would say the same thing over and over and never let any of us (yes, three others talked to her in attempts to get her to see our point of view) respond. Anything, ANYTHING, to justify abortion. She believed that even if abortions were banned, there would be criminal investigations of miscarriages because the woman may possibly have had an illegal abortion. She also mentioned a 9 year old girl getting pregnant and that the child shouldn't have to go through with it. Whereas it may be difficult for a 9 year old girl to carry to term, we still do not have the right to "medically" kill and remove the child within her. I explained to her that we should do our best to provide medical care for the girl and her baby. It is possible to remove the baby at around 6 months and put the baby under intensive care and try our best to keep it alive. If there are difficulties, the girl may die or the baby may die, or both may die, but we didn't intentionally kill the baby to save another life. We do not kill so others may live. Even in dire conditions of the second and third world countries.We let life live and let life die, even when we do our best to save them. All is in God's control.

     All the while, there were protesters. Pro-choice protesters gathered across from us. They were very weak in their presentation and looked as if they gathered what they could in a few minutes. Here are a few shots:

 This only one man that protests with this sign, but each man who protests here obviously have an opinion. Very contradictory.

 If you're pro-choice, you get a "free" hi-5. We try to free them by exposing the truth. "And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32 NLT

  As you can see, their presentation is poorly organized, but they probably did it at the last minute when they saw us. I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that they cannot see the truth and what the truth really is. I tell them that I have no right nor is it legal to kill them on the spot, but yet they support the legal killing these babies.

     A friend of the young woman mentioned earlier came along and joined the discussion. She sided with her friend, of course. I had talked to this friend earlier and she had told me that she wouldn't have an abortion herself, but she believed that it should be a choice other women should be able to make. So, I asked her if she would permit these other women to kill. Once again, justification. It's not killing, but for the sake of the mother and that the mother is not ready for child or complications, rape, incest, or health of mother. It can be frustrating at times to try to refute these justifications for murder. Here is the photo of us in discussion with the two young women. One has the purse and shawl and the other has the black hair, who was the one who kept repeating over and over about "social injustice" that can occur if abortion were to be banned.

     These are the cases while at FSU that I can remember. I was beginning to lose my nervousness and to gain courage to speak out for the unborn and to speak out against the mass murder, genocide, the American Holocaust. I understand that there is a plethora of other sins and wickedness we can fight against, but this is murder. Taking the lives of those God created with a purpose. These babies will grow into children and adults who will make the choice whether to love God or reject Him and serve eternity in heaven or hell. They have the right to choose life and to choose, through their free moral agent, to choose to serve God or mammon. Someone, a conservative Christian for a good many years, told me that these babies are better off aborted because they are unwanted, unloved, would suffer or came from illicit sex. I was surprised and wondered if his wife should have been killed so she wouldn't have to suffer the last few years before her death. I believed that he was indeed against abortion but I had to confront him and told him that he shouldn't tell another pro-abortionist this because it comes across as being supportive of legal abortion. Abortion kills many that are unwanted, most likely unloved, most likely to suffer, or have been conceived from illicit sex. In other words, the pro-abortionist agrees that these babies, or fetuses, are better off aborted (murdered), just like this Christian thinker.

     That was my day at Florida State and it was a little exhausting. I was learning and I was starting to get the hang of it. I was surprised at the courage I was beginning to gain and was ready for the outreach at U of Florida the next day. We loaded the trailer and van and left for Gainesville, FL. The hosts there were wonderful and hospitable people! They are a large family and several of the children and their spouses and children lived together on the same acreage. They loved to spend time together and feed us all. Food was plenteous and there was no lack of generosity. I slept in a comfortable bed and my laundry was done by Mrs. Redmond, a very motherly lady who loves people. Mr. Redmond also had devotions with us and read the 3rd chapter of John. We had prayer. I was looking forward to the next day, for our second outreach and I felt very comforted by our time in devotions and prayer.

     I miss them and I hope to see them again someday. They have told me that I am welcome back.I look forward to that! Mrs. Redmond told me that I could take one of the goats if I wanted to! Haha. She said that neither one have had a kid for three years and she cannot dry up their milk! I told her about my experience of working with a lady in making goat's milk soap and lotion. She was delighted. Here are the goats I petted quite a bit:

     We awoke early the next morning and grabbed a bit of breakfast and headed to Tallhassee, FL to the University of Florida. The ride was short and that gave some time to have my devotionals on my YouVersion Bible. I love that app! I follow several plans and it covers a few things at once. I prayed that I would be ready for the outreach at UF because I felt I was a little more prepared from what little experience I gained from the outreach at FSU. I had more courage and more determination to get the truth out there and to fight for the lives of the unborn. Part II will be coming soon.

God bless.