hello ,

 

my wife and i own an all ages rock & roll venue in nh called GROUND ZERO.

 

we were blessed to grab a bunch of brochures and literature at soul fest from both stand true and rock for life agencies.

 

we took them back to the club with us and placed them on our free take one rack, and have gotten many new responses from the posters and cards.

 

we had a performer in this past week, who brought with him a close friend who was carrying a new little life that she was going to get rid of very soon.

 

when he told us about this, we obviously felt deeply sadened and at the same time motivated to get the truth into her hands.

 

we gave them the cards, we gave her our cell # , we told them we would stand with her in her time of need, throughout her pregnancy term!!.

 

i got a myspace message today from jamie , his friend is going to keep her baby and give birth to it in march!.

 

praise God for you guys and the amazing work both of your agencies provide to us all.  the ability to have your resources on hand at this all ages venue , is a blessing we cannot go without!.

 

we will be keeping you guys in our prayers

in Christ,

christian & starr skinner.

 

p.s. this girl has gone through with two prior abortions - from what we hear, so please pray for her & this new little one she will be keeping.

Campus Progress is a left-leaning web site with many pro-legal abortion writers and is a project of the abortion-supporting Center for American Progress. Interestingly though, they posted this non-biased video, filmed at the 2008 March for Life in Washington, D.C. At the very beginning, you'll notice a few RFLers distributing some of the thousands of "life." and "Face It, Abortion Kills" signs that were given out at the March.

We received this poem from a man who stopped by the booth at Kingdombound Festival in western New York state:

Where have all the babies gone?
Are they out playing on the lawn?
Did you hear them laugh and sing?
Have you felt the joy they bring?
They could be playing hide and seek.
Open you eyes go take a peek.
Look real hard they're not around.
They never even made a sound.

They weren't as lucky as me and you.
They never will play peek-a-boo.
They didn't even have a choice
to live or die; they had no voice.
No one to speak against their fate.
This is not Love, it must be Hate!
My heart cries out for those unborn,
with brains removed and bodies torn.

My mind keeps getting all contorted.
It can't be true, 47 million murdered and aborted!
That figures out to four thousand a day,
Since Roe v Wade said its OK.
Why were they killed, for no good reason?
Did Planned Parenthood say “they're in season?”

This is not right.
They had no sin.
Its just like killing Jesus again.
There's now a void that can't be filled.
An empty space from babies killed.
Is this civilized?
You know its not.
A heathen nation is what we've got.

A killing spirit is what it is,
that does not want babies to live.
This spirit of death is on the loose,
Don't get your head caught in its noose.
This spirit of death is not from man,
that wants to kill, its Satan's plan.
How long, O God, will this go on?
'til you strike us down with your great palm?

Will you turn their deaths into our fate,
from lack of Love and so much Hate?
Lord give us strength,
Stretch out your hand.
Help stop abortion upon demand.
Forgive us Lord, please hear my cry.
Do not let one more baby die.

“Vengeance is mine,” thus saith the Lord!
Help us change, bring down your sword.
Teach us how to speak your Word
with words of Life, that will be heard.
Forgive the mothers of those unborn,
who from their bellies had babies torn.
May all new mothers receive instruction,
to keep them from their own destruction.

Give them sight and future vision,
So they will make the right decision.
Let justice come behind the wall
Tear it down and make them fall.
Make their conscience bother them so much
that they'll be yearning for your touch.
Open their eyes and let them see
How beautiful babies can be.

Everett J Laud
Warrior Poet
8-1-07

Ashley, Phil and I were out on the road the past two weeks, hitting up Soulfest in New Hampshire and Kingdom Bound Festival in western New York. Dozens of RFL Report readers stopped by to say, "hi" and several of you helped out at the booth. The days were long and both festivals experienced numerous downpours (which led to a flowing river of mud at Soulfest), but we were able to talk to numerous people who shared their pro-life stories with us.  A notebook was left out on the table for people to leave comments, and passers by filled it with notes, suggestions, comments on our messages, poems, their personal testimonies, and numerous references to preborn children having fingernails.

A young woman repeatedly stopped by the booth, engaging us in conversation and bringing friends over. She shared with us how her mother had a drug addiction, and gave her up for adoption shortly after birth rather than abort her.  A pro-life family adopted her, and she has been encouraging those she comes in contact with to always remember that those “hard cases” that usually end in abortion do have a face – hers.

A middle aged woman chatted with us at Soulfest, confessing her abortion and how it drove her to weekly pro-life activism and sidewalk counseling. Having come through the healing process, she gave a name to her aborted child, and shared the remarkable story of how several years after that naming, a young woman came into her life in need of a mother figure. This young woman had the exact same name as she had given to her preborn child!

Another enthusiastic woman had no qualms about retelling her abortion experience, and was very excited to see us there. She took a bag full of literature, intent on “lettin' the whole town know” the truth about abortion and prenatal development. She kept repeating “if I only knew...,” claiming that no one told her abortion was wrong, and had they done so, she most likely would not have gone through with it. She encouraged us in our work, and said that she hopes that her spreading the word will encourage a young mother to choose life for her child.

A young woman told us how a representative with the March of Dimes had tried to convince her parents to abort her because she was going to be born without legs. Not only did her parents refuse to do so, she is now able to walk with the aid of prosthetics and has been a talking AND walking voice against abortion.

Perhaps one of the most striking relationships we developed over the course of Kingdombound Festival was a 29-year-old woman from Canada. Phil recounts the experience.

She stopped by the booth shortly after it opened, and was perusing the literature table, idly staring at one of the pamphlets. I felt something was amiss, and asked her if she had any questions. She replied with a soft negative, so I offered her a pack of more information.  She looked at it, then me, then looked down and said “I don't think I can take that.” I asked her why that was, to which she said that it was because she had something to deal with first, and just needed time. My thousands of hours spent working pro-life information tables aided me as I instinctively new what her body language was telling me. I reached below the table to a special copy of a previous issue of Celebrate Life magazine, handing it to her, pointing to the cover story “Freedom from Abortion's Painful Impact” and softly telling her that she may find some useful information within. She looked up at me and blurted out “I've had an abortion.” Over the course of the next half hour, she laid out the painful ten year aftermath of her abortion. Drugs and alcohol, multiple sexual partners and a former boyfriend who attempted to take her life were visible problems she faced, but no one else could see the intense emotional turmoil she was experiencing. Particularly interesting was how she said that every year she attended the festival, and every year she would walk past the Rock for Life booth, hating the fact that we were there. Over the course of the four day festival, she experienced amazing change, telling us that she realized her dislike of us had nothing to do with us or our message; it was just an internal struggle she was facing and it wasn't until she sought out help from pro-lifers that she could finally come to terms with what she had been going through. She had spoken to her family about it, and went from hating and avoiding our booth to stopping by every day! We gave her a pro-life T-shirt to wear, and she proudly took extra literature home with her. Before the festival ended, she took a major step in her road to healing, and allowed us to record a video of her post-abortion testimony, so that others may hear of what she went through. Afterwards, she cried and told us she felt like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders, and that she had healed more mentally in four days than she had in years. We wish her the best of luck!

Another volunteer attests to the low level of negative feedback we received.

Negative remarks were few and far between – in fact, we could count on one hand the disagreements folks had with us. One youth leader held up the “I love pro-life girls” pin and told us it was judgmental. When asked how such a positive statement could be judgmental, he told us that the opposite of love is hate, so if a pro-choice girl saw that pin, she would think that he hated her. He became somewhat belligerant and told us that we were too harsh and judgmental, and that he knew girls who were post-abortive who would probably feel judged (not that he talked to them, just that he THINKS they would feel judged). I responded with a a guarantee that I had come in contact with far more post-abortive women than him, and that hiding the issue would not help them – bringing it to the forefront does. I told him that if he really wanted to help his friends, he needed to educate himself on abortion and post-abortion help. He didn't think that was necessary, and in a haughty manner repeatedly refused my offers of literature. As he departed, I reminded him that he would never be able to help someone if he chose to remain in ignorance. As he stormed off, five people who had observed the conversation asked for literature packs.

Ashley told me that she noticed he had a “I [heart] Jesus” pin on his bag, and ran after him. She confronted him on this important point, noting the hypocrisy in his attack on us. He became agitated and angry, but Ashley's impeccable pro-life knowledge and reasoning skills shot down every single argument he made.

There's nothing like being judged by someone, telling you that you're too judgmental.  However, I would rather endure this ridicule and be actively making a difference than just complain about things, remain in ignorance, and make no difference at all.

We appreciated everyone who shared their personal journies with us, and we look forward to working with them in the future. Kudos to the volunteers and everyone who stopped by to tell us they read the RFL Report.  See you next year!