Justice For All

I returned from Justice For All outreach around 1:00 tuesday night (wednesday morning). JFA was an incredible experience. God really showed up. It was definately challenging, and frustrating at times. It had its ups and its downs, but God was good through it all. I saw him working through the lives of so many people. We had some amazing conversations and got people thinking about the subject of abortion. Much of my conversations were getting to know people, and understanding where their beliefs about abortion had come from.

Our bus pulled out around 12:30 Sunday afternoon from Focus on the Family. The bus that I was on broke down about 2 hours from Alberquerque, NM, so the majority of us squished onto the other bus, while about 20 people had to stay back in Las Vegas (New Mexico) for 5 hours at the local Burger King. I was on the bus that was able to continue on the Alberquerque.

Reading on the Bus to New Mexico

We arrived at a local church, had dinner, and then met up with our host families. My roomate and Jetta and I stayed with a sweet family (The Blain's). They had a beautiful home and a beautiful family. They were so hospitable and it was wonderful to spend time and get to know their family in the short time we had with them.

With the sweet Blain Family: Luke, Matt, Helen, Patricia, Peter, and Myself

Monday morning we were up early to head to our first day of outreach. I felt totally unprepared, and unequipped for what we were about to do. On our way to the University of New Mexico campus, I was trying to prepare in my mind what was about to happen. It was a battlefield we were about to enter. There was a were between life and death, and many people had their own opinion and believed their way was right. All I could do was bring the truth, and present the option of life.

At the end of the day, I realized that in my own strength I could do nothing. My words were weak and I would often stumble. It is when I completely rely on the Lord, that He works through me, and uses my weak words to speak to others. Some of the people that I spoke with on Monday had interesting ideas such as skin cells falling of our body and turning into a baby??? Who knew...

Many people were offended by the display of Justice for All. Many of the pictures are graphic and bring about lots of discussions and questions. The pictures show the reality of abortion and look at the stages of an unborn child and life. It is hard to miss the display in the middle of campus

A view of the Exhibit in the middle of campus. We gathered around there to talk with people about the pro-life issue.

Some of the crowd gathered around during the open mic debate.

A closer shot of the exhibit

Tuesday afternoon I was given the chance to speak with a 19 year old girl who had had an abortion when she was 15. We were able to speak for about 2 hours. It was one of the hardest conversations I have had, but it was also one of the most memorable conversations.

Along with the exhibit, we had a poll booth and free speech board. Both of these allowed us to have various conversations with individuals.

"Jesus" decided to show up to our exhibit and write on the free speech board.

He was dressed up in full costume, yarn in his hair, and Nike shoes on his feet.

Our group sitting and listening how to do surveys on campus.

My Friend Katie and I at the University of New Mexico!

Overall, JFA was an amazing experience. It stretched me. It is something that I normally would not have gone to do, and I learned a lot through it. I left there with a realization that many people do not value human life, and there are a lot of people who are uneducation and do not value life. It was definately hard to leave campus, because I felt like there was so much more work that we needed to do. I know that God planted seeds in the heart of many people, and we will probably never see the work He is doing, but I know and believe that He is doing something in the hearts of the at the University of New Mexico and around the world.