Connecting the Dots

Impact Report, October 2024

As we watch results come in from the various election races and ballot initiatives over the next few weeks, let’s remember one essential activity that must continue behind the scenes, no matter who is in office or which state laws protect unborn children: connecting the dots. Let me explain. Regarding abortion, many people have an assortment of facts (or lack thereof) and viewpoints which they’ve never considered systematically. As Kaitlyn illustrates in this Impact Report, the work God has given us to do is to come alongside each person and help her spend the time necessary to reflect on the facts and arguments, put them in order, and see the truth clearly. Through the interaction, Kaitlyn saw “Alice” change opinions about the legality of abortion. What’s more, every Christian can be trained to be that person who comes alongside to help someone “connect the dots.” Thank you for helping us to train more Christians through your generous giving, and if you haven’t sent a gift recently, please consider supporting our work today.

Stephen Wagner, Executive Director

Kaitlyn (center) helps MiraCosta College students connect the dots at a recent JFA outreach event while Kristine (left) listens.

I was standing next to our free speech board at Colorado State University. A young woman I’ll call Alice walked up and began reading the comments other students had left on the board. I asked her, “Do you have thoughts on this issue?” She nodded. I said, “What are your thoughts? Do you think abortion should be legal or illegal or somewhere in the middle?” We talked for quite a while and our conversation went something like this:

Alice: I don’t like abortion, but I really don’t know what we should do about the law.

Kaitlyn: I’m hearing you. I’m curious: why would you say you don’t like abortion?

Kristina helps a student connect the dots at Mankato State University.

Alice: Because the unborn is a human being.

Kaitlyn: I’m with you. I agree that the unborn is a human being, and science is on your side, too. It is clear that the unborn is a human being when we look at biology.

Alice: [nodding]

Kaitlyn: You mentioned that you aren’t sure what we should do when it comes to making laws. Is that because choice is important to you?

Fall 2024 intern Alora Tunstill (right) helps a student to connect the dots at MiraCosta College.

Alice: Yes. We live in a free country, and people have the right to make the choices they want.

Kaitlyn: I definitely agree with you that choice is really important and that we should generally have the choice to do whatever we want. When I think about choices, there are two categories that come to mind. One is choices that don’t harm anyone. Choices like where we go to school, or how we cut our hair, or what to eat. The second category is choices that harm someone. Choices like rape and murder. It seems like, even though we think most choices should be legal, we don’t think those choices should be legal because they harm someone.

Rebekah Dyer helps a student at California State University San Marcos to connect the dots.

Alice: Yes, that’s true.

Kaitlyn: If the unborn is a human being who is killed through abortion, do you think we should make the choice of abortion illegal because it harms someone?

Alice: That’s a really good point. I think we should.

Alice and I talked a little more. She shared with me that she is a Christian and that she really wants to help protect unborn children from abortion. She listened in to some other staff members as they talked to pro-choice students. Afterwards she came back to me and asked me to help her think through some questions those conversations had raised in her mind.

There are many people around us like Alice who are pro-life for themselves but don’t know if it is right for them to tell someone else not to have an abortion or to outlaw it. These people need help to think through this issue. Often a few simple questions will help them rethink their position and take a more solid stance against abortion.

– Kaitlyn Donihue, for the JFA Team

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Go Deeper: In this story, Kaitlyn put Tammy Cook’s “Two Buckets” dialogue tool in her own words when she discussed “two categories” of choices. You can find more stories utilizing this tool on our website.

More Pictures: See more recent events (Colorado, etc.) at the online version of this letter (jfaweb.org/oct-2024) and on Instagram (@picturejusticeforall).

Setting Starfish Free

Note: Catherine Wurts served as a JFA Trainer from 2009 until 2017. In this “Classic Reprint” of her June 2014 letter, “Setting Starfish Free,” Catherine tells one of my favorite JFA stories. In the story of “Anthony,” Catherine both makes a persuasive case for the value of unborn children and seeks to help a young man realize his own worth as “one loved by God.” She also illustrates the heartbeat of the JFA community, seeking whenever possible to open a door to deeper reflection on spiritual things, in hopes that starfish will by the Holy Spirit allow our conversations to nudge them to “dive in.” When you support JFA, you support this heartbeat on the campuses and in the churches where we train and conduct outreach across the country. Thank you for considering a special gift to JFA this month to help us train more Christians to “make a difference for even one.” - Steve Wagner, Executive Director

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Catherine (right) interacts with a student at the University of Georgia (UGA) in March 2014.

My colleague, John Michener (bottom photo, center), often illustrates JFA’s mission by referencing the story of The Star Thrower, by Loren Eisley:

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?” The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

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John Michener (blue tie-dye) engages Arizona State University (ASU) students in dialogue in Feb. 2014. John served as a JFA trainer from 2010 until 2014 and now directs Oklahomans United for Life: www.oklahomansunitedforlife.org.

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!” At this, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, “I made a difference for that one.”

Who are our “starfish”? They’re the thousands of students streaming by our university Exhibit outreaches on their way to class. Many of them have had or are going to have abortions. Many others are pro-life Christians who are either silent or unloving when the topic of abortion comes up. Many, many of them are blind to the inherent dignity of the unborn – and of born people – because they have no idea how valued and loved they, themselves, are by their Creator. One significant difference between us and the boy on the beach, however, is that our “starfish” have free will. We can take them to the ocean, but they have to choose whether or not to dive in. [Editor’s note: We are not intending here to weigh in on the precise nature and interrelation of human choices and divine providence.]

Meet Anthony (name changed), a “starfish” at the University of Georgia, Athens (UGA). I met Anthony on a very rainy day in front of our Draw the Line kiosk on his campus last fall. He is a pre-med student from Egypt and has only been in the U.S. for a short time. We spoke for a while about abortion – he considered himself generally pro-life but thought abortion should be allowed in cases of rape and other difficult circumstances. We established a lot of common ground about needing to be compassionate to women and to provide resources for them. Also, he said he thought the logical argument I laid out for why abortion is not justified, even in these tough cases, was consistent and probably true.

Then he asked me, “Are you religious?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

He smiled as though he’d “got” me. “It seems like everyone I’ve met who’s pro-life is religious.”

“Well, I know of atheists who are pro-life,” I said, “which makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it, if the unborn is a human being? If we think about it, does a person have to be religious to recognize that murder, rape, and child abuse are wrong? The question is, ‘Is abortion a similar injustice against a human being?’ There are atheists who would say that it is.” *

Anthony agreed this made logical sense. He went on to explain that he’d been raised in an Orthodox Christian home in Egypt, but when he came to the States he put all of that behind him. He had started to think that morals are relative and that perhaps God doesn’t exist.

We talked for a while, him sharing some of his disillusionment with Christians, and me sharing that I’d had similar doubts and concerns when I was in college. I told him I admired him for asking the tough questions he was asking. Then I challenged him to look more deeply into the claims that Christianity makes before rejecting it – and before rejecting Christ. I suggested he begin by reading C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity. He said he would, but I thought, “How many times have I intended to read something and never gotten to it?” Then Anthony left for class. I guessed he wouldn’t read the book, and felt sure I wouldn’t see him again.

Come March of this year, I found myself in the same quad by the student center at UGA standing in front of the JFA Exhibit. I was talking with another student who was sharing very similar things with me to what Anthony had shared, but this student was decidedly more antagonistic, sarcastic, and unwilling to dialogue. All of a sudden, I noticed Anthony standing next to us, listening in! He smiled and when the other student left, Anthony said he’d come to tell me that he’d read Mere Christianity and talked a lot with his uncle. As a result, he had decided to come back to his Christian faith.

He’s started attending an Orthodox church in town and doing some service projects with them. He told me, with a huge smile on his face, “When I met you, I was obsessing about these questions about life and about God. When I would eat my food, I would be thinking, ‘Is there a God?’ Everywhere I went I was worrying over it. But I’m not obsessing anymore! I am happy!” St. Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, wrote, “For freedom Christ set us free, so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” Anthony, like the little starfish, had been set free. Praise God. Please pray for him as he continues on his journey with the Lord.

- Catherine Wurts, June 2014

* For example, Secular Pro-Life (SPL) is both strongly pro-life and explicitly atheistic. See JFA’s blog post featuring a list of links to SPL posts every pro-life advocate should read: www.jfaweb.org/secular-pro-life.

Aha Moments for Henry

Impact Report, May 2024

In this Impact Report, we feature a reflection from JFA trainer Andrea Thenhaus along with pictures of JFA trainers and volunteers at recent outreach events.  In early April, Andrea had a memorable conversation with Henry at Grand Valley State University near Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Although many people with whom we interact on campus don’t reveal their inner thought processes, Henry was kind enough to give Andrea a glimpse of how the conversation was changing him.  Aha moments are a joy to witness, but whatever the results seem on the surface, we thank God for helping us speak for those who cannot speak for themselves (Proverbs 31:8).  We thank God for you and for your partnership as we seek to be faithful in each conversation.

-Steve Wagner, Executive Director

Andrea (center) and volunteer Kalen (left) at Adams State University in Colorado (April)

Our team was nearing the end of our second day of outreach at Grand Valley State University. While the team started taking everything down, I remained available for conversations.

About this time, a student I’ll call “Henry” walked by our exhibit. I asked him if he had time to share his thoughts on the issue of abortion.

Henry replied that he was on his way to class and could not talk. Then a minute later, he turned around and said, “Actually, I have a few minutes to talk.” Our conversation went something like this:

Andrea: Okay, awesome. Do you think abortion should be legal or illegal?

Henry: I think it should be legal mainly for cases like rape, health of the baby, and life of the mother.

Andrea: Those are all hard cases for sure. Rape is such a horrific thing. Even if the woman does not get pregnant, it is still a traumatic experience. Then if the woman gets pregnant, things get even more complicated.

Kaitlyn (sitting), Kristina (center), and Seth (right) at University of Cincinnati (March)

Rather than jumping right into challenging Henry on his viewpoint, I was taking the time to slow down and show compassion for people who have been raped. Pro-choice and pro-life people all agree that rape is horrific, and it is helpful to find that common ground in our conversations. After spending a few minutes meeting the relational challenge inherent in discussing the topic of rape by acknowledging how difficult that situation is, I went on to intellectually respond to the questions he raised.

Andrea: For these specific circumstances that you mentioned, do you think abortions should be legal for all nine months of pregnancy or for a certain period of time?

Henry: Definitely a certain period of time. I believe the unborn are living human beings, so abortion should be legal for only the first trimester.

Andrea: Okay. Do you know anyone who has been affected by rape?

Henry: No, I do not. I just know it happens.

Andrea: Yeah, for sure. Here’s one way I look at it. Imagine there are two women who have been violated through rape. Both women have gotten pregnant. One of the women has given birth to her son. He is two months old now. The other woman is two months pregnant. If I asked you if both women have the right to kill their child, I think you would say no.

Henry: Right! Of course the woman with the two-month-old should not be able to kill her child.

Steve and volunteer Kim (right) at University of Arizona (February)

Andrea: I totally agree. If the unborn are human beings like the two-month-old, then we should protect the unborn even if they came about through rape, right?

Henry: You made a good point there! That makes sense. And why should the unborn be punished for the wrong that was committed?

Andrea: I agree.

Henry: Abortion should only be legal for the health of the baby and the life of the mother.

I addressed these issues, and by the end of the discussion, Henry responded:

Henry: Wow! Those are good points. This has given me a lot to think about.

Before Henry left for class, he thanked me for the conversation. I could tell that God was working in his life. Henry realized that since the unborn are living human beings, they should be protected even if they may not live very long or if they were conceived through rape.

Our trainers and volunteers often have opportunities to gently challenge pro-choice students and point out the inconsistencies in their views by asking them questions that help them think through the issue themselves. Thank you for your prayers and support that allow us to have conversations with students like Henry.

Masked Conversations

February 2024 Impact Report

When our team conducts campus outreach, we start conversations with people of all different types. What’s pretty common among all of this diversity, though, is the tendency for people to hide behind various kinds of masks. On Halloween every year, these masks are visible. On all other days, the masks are invisible but nonetheless present.

In this Impact Report, JFA trainer Rebekah Dyer tells the story of one conversation that had both the visible type of mask and the invisible type of mask. In the conversation, she modeled an excellent approach each of us can use as Christian ambassadors to build trust in order to help people come out from behind their masks and partner with us in finding truth.

Steve Wagner, Executive Director

Rebekah spoke with another masked man on Halloween at the University of North Texas (UNT) in fall 2023.

On Halloween last year, I was at the University of North Texas, and I noticed a man in a scary, tan-colored mask with no mouth and black eyes. He was looking at our embryology pictures.

I asked him what he thought about abortion. He shrugged and motioned to his mask. An interesting interaction ensued as I asked him questions, and he tried to answer with hand motions. Here’s the gist of the conversation that followed:

At UNT, a banana signed “No, abortion should not be legal.” Seth (hat) is visible talking to another student.

“Wait,” I asked, “can you not talk in the mask?” He nodded. “Is it that tight?” He nodded again. “How long have you been wearing it?” He made a motion with his hands. “You’ve been wearing it for twenty-one hours?” I asked, surprised. With an exasperated sigh he motioned again. “Two and a half hours?” I guessed again. He nodded vigorously. “Wow!” I said. “Well, if you want to chat, I’ll be around.”

“This is gonna look bad, but I’m going to sign,” said the Grim Reaper to JFA trainer Kristina at UNT. Then she proceeded to sign “Yes” on our poll.

I stepped away to make some notes about another conversation I had had that day. A few minutes later the student took off his mask, and we began to have a normal conversation. “Landon” told me he was in the middle on this issue. As I asked him questions, he shared that he thought abortion should be broadly legal so that women who have life-threatening complications during pregnancy have access to abortion. He shared that he had a friend who had been raped and had gotten pregnant at thirteen years old. This friend had also had seven abortions. Landon also told me people should be educated about abortion so that they know that it kills another human being.

As we spoke, I was hearing some conflicting things from Landon, so I asked the following question to help clarify some of the confusion:

Rebekah: What if we could have a law that made elective abortion broadly illegal, but had an exception for cases where the life of the mother is in danger?

Landon: Oh, that’s brilliant!

Rebekah: That’s what the current law is in Texas.

Landon was surprised and told me he agreed with the current law. As our conversation began to wind down he confessed something to me:

Landon: I need to apologize to you. I lied to you earlier. I can talk just fine in this mask. I was worried that you were going to yell at me when I walked up. I wanted to check out the signs, but I didn’t want to talk to anyone.

Rebekah: Thank you for telling me. I forgive you. I can understand why it might feel intimidating to come up to this display if you have that fear.

During our conversation, he shared with me that he was a Christian. Whenever someone tells me he is a Christian, I always ask him what he means by that. Landon answered by referencing the Nicene Creed.

This conversation highlights a few important things. First, if we jump to challenging people the moment we hear something with which we disagree, we can easily talk past them and address a view they don’t hold. In every conversation, it is crucial that we ask good questions and listen in order to understand the other person’s views. Landon went from sounding like he was in the middle on this issue, to sounding very pro-choice, to finally clarifying that he was actually opposed to the vast majority of abortions. If I hadn’t slowed down and asked Landon questions, I could have missed what he was trying to communicate.

Second, many people are unaware of the abortion laws in their own state. There is also a lot of apathy and ignorance surrounding what abortion is and what it does to another human being. When we have conversations about these things we have the opportunity to inform people and help move their hearts toward loving forgotten human beings, especially the unborn.

Third, many people are understandably uncomfortable talking about abortion. They are afraid of being verbally attacked, yelled at, and ridiculed. I understand that fear because I’ve had those experiences, and it affected the way I felt going into some future conversations. I’ve learned that acting against my fear and discomfort is necessary and something I’m called to do as a Christian. God meets us in those places of fear, and He empowers us to engage in the midst of difficult situations. By treating people with kindness and gentleness, we can invite others to engage in the conversation in spite of their fears.

In my experience, most conversations about abortion are not hostile. When people see that I want to have a civil conversation about an important issue, they are open to engaging in a respectful way. I think we can give people a gift on multiple levels. We can give them a good experience in a conversation about a difficult topic by asking questions, listening, and truly understanding them. Then we can help them get closer to the truth by challenging them to stop tolerating the killing of innocent children in the womb.

Should We Flip-Flop When Someone Flips Out?

JFA trainer Kristina Massa was surprised when an angry young woman lashed out at a poll table sign at our outreach event at Boise State in the fall. She was even more surprised at the conversation that followed. Through her retelling in a recent letter, “Flipping Tables in the Courtyard” (enclosed, or see www.jfaweb.org/jan-2024), Kristina provides a great model for deciding “what to say when,” and she illustrates the sort of balanced approach all JFA trainers aim to exhibit in every conversation. Please read her letter, and then I’ll explain.

Note how Kristina doesn’t shy away from the young woman’s question about homosexuality and marriage. You might think this would lead to a distraction from the main topic. While controversial questions can be a distraction in some abortion conversations, in this instance addressing the topic turned out to be helpful.

Click here for the Printable Version.

Kristina answered the young woman’s questions directly and honestly, giving her the benefit of the doubt that she was asking in good faith and not intending to trap. Kristina didn’t try to hide her views on sexuality and marriage, even though she knew they were very controversial. She didn’t go weak-kneed or change her views because this woman had flipped out by “flipping tables” (her words). Instead, Kristina gave a straightforward answer with a reasonable explanation, and she also avoided expressing her views in an unnecessarily harsh way.

Then Kristina prayed with the young woman, banking on the fact that they shared similar backgrounds in Christian communities. Rather than focusing on the differences she definitely had with this woman regarding beliefs about God, Jesus, and how we should live, Kristina focused on the small sliver of common ground that this woman had implied earlier, that she did consider herself to be following Jesus.

With many people who vehemently disagree with us on difficult topics, we have found this approach to be disarming and bridge-building. In this case, I am guessing that this woman appreciated the fact that Kristina showed interest in a passion of hers. I believe the woman also felt dignified by Kristina’s decision to trust her with what she really thought.

Conversations with Helen and Lisa

Thank you for supporting JFA’s work this year. We’ve been especially encouraged by the efforts of our fall 2023 interns, Seth and Catherine. In this Impact Report, you’ll read first-hand accounts of their conversations with “Helen” and “Lisa.” You can see both interns in action in the banner image and at the end of this post. Catherine will continue to volunteer with JFA in the coming months, and Seth is now raising support to work full-time as a Training Specialist. We thank God for these talented pro-life advocates, and we thank God for your partnership that has helped them make an impact.

You can still give a year-end gift at www.jfaweb.org/donate, or you can give a year-end gift by mail using the enclosed giving form and envelope. To receive a 2023 donation receipt, make sure gifts are submitted online or postmarked by December 31, 2023. Merry Christmas!

-Steve Wagner

IF WE HAD NOT GONE…

By Catherine Gimino, Fall 2023 Intern

“Helen” was unsure of her words, not just because we had interrupted her morning walk to class with an unexpected survey on abortion, but also because she was a foreign exchange student and new to speaking English. Despite this added difficulty with an already culturally-loaded topic, she was very willing to talk. I began by asking her questions to understand her view on abortion. Her view was that the unborn is not human until birth and so abortion at any stage is acceptable.

I walked her through what biology teaches us about the unborn, showing her that they are human beings starting at fertilization. I used Trot Out The Toddler and the Equal Rights Argument, tools taught by JFA to keep the conversation focused and to show that the unborn are human beings with an equal right to life. My attempts to clearly lay out the arguments were far from perfect. Despite feeling discouraged by my lack of eloquence, I kept going.

I eventually asked my coworker Kristina to jump in. She asked Helen, “Based off of what you’ve heard, do you think differently about abortion?” Helen responded saying that abortion should be illegal through all nine months and that she would support pro-life laws!

After Helen left, we debriefed the conversation. I told Kristina that I thought I could have explained things more clearly, but Kristina refocused me on the big picture: “That was a total mind change! By talking to you she went from thinking all abortion is okay to being against abortion. That is really awesome!” Then I realized something. If we had not gone out to WSU and asked Helen to participate in a JFA survey, her usual walk to class would have remained uninterrupted, and she would not have learned the truth about abortion that morning.

I trust God will bring a lot of fruit from this “interruption.”

A Conversation at Mankato

By Seth Wiesner, Fall 2023 Intern

In October I was doing outreach with the JFA team at Minnesota State University in Mankato. I started a conversation with a young woman named “Lisa.” She quickly became angry and began raising her voice. Suddenly she exclaimed, “I wish I had been aborted!”

Sensing that this issue was very personal to her, I took a step back from the questions I typically ask in order to challenge a person’s view. Instead I simply asked questions to try to understand her perspective. Asking questions about her beliefs not only helped me understand her position, but also demonstrated my care for her as a person. It gave me the opportunity to learn about her background, and this helped me discover the unspoken reasons that influenced her position.

Using this approach, we discussed her views on many different topics including the resurrection of Jesus. By the end of our conversation, she had softened her demeanor and her pro-choice views considerably. She accepted JFA’s “Invitation to Dialogue” brochure when I offered it to her and told me she was open to being pro-life. Thanks be to God. (See www.jfaweb.org/brochure to view and download the brochure.)

There is a great need for people to understand the truth about abortion. There are many out there, especially young adults, who haven’t been taught well and need someone to help them see how appalling abortion is. My conversation with Lisa is an example of how asking questions with an open heart and listening to understand can change the course of a conversation and lead people closer to the truth.

One Person Can Change the World

Train One to Reach One, then Pray for Each One

In my October letter, I asked readers to make a monthly pledge, recommend JFA to a friend, and commit to pray for JFA. Read or share this important letter.

In this Impact Report, we share names and pictures of some of the people with whom our team interacted in 2023. Would you post this list somewhere in your home and pray that God will help each of these people to love the unborn, hate elective abortion, and accept God’s love?

To view more pictures and read recent stories of conversations, see our blog.

As you consider your year-end giving, would you make a special gift to JFA to help our team train many more Christians to reach the people God puts in their path? Thank you!

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Pray with us for…

Or, you can download, print, and post this list somewhere in your home to remind you to pray. 

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Because One Person Can Change the World

There are four senses in which “one person can change the world.” Ultimately, we believe Jesus Christ is the one Person who changes the world for the better. This is why we exist and why we train Christians to depend on Christ to make change. In addition, each person trained, each life saved, and each person listed below also represents one person who can change the world, by God’s power. Each person is worthy of respect and protection and investment, even if he or she may never change the world in a positive way. It is true, though, that each person JFA reaches could play a pivotal role in changing the world for the better. We thank God that we can partner with you in training Christians to reach one person at a time.

Answering the Hard Cases

August 2023 Impact Report

In almost every conversation about abortion, we can expect people to ask about “hard cases” such as rape, incest, and life-threatening pregnancy complications. In this Impact Report, JFA trainer Kristina Massa beautifully illustrates JFA’s framework for addressing these questions. Through the story of a conversation from our April 2023 outreach at Colorado State University (CSU), Kristina describes step by step how she began with relational sensitivity and continued in that mode while also offering intellectually satisfying answers. Thank you for partnering with us so we can train more Christians and pro-life advocates to use this framework. It gives our strong case against elective abortion the best chance of being considered by skeptical listeners.

Steve Wagner, Executive Director

I watched “Brad” have his first “aha” moment within a few minutes of starting our conversation. My team was set up at Colorado State University in the middle of the campus’s main plaza when I found Brad standing by the free speech board. He was staring pensively at the comments. “Do you have any thoughts on abortion?” I asked. He answered that since the unborn are not conscious, they do not have the same rights as born humans. To make sure I understood his view, I asked a few more questions and found common ground with him where I could. Eventually I felt like I had built enough rapport with him to challenge his perspective. Here is the gist of what followed:

Kristina: I agree there are many differences between the unborn and us. There are also many differences between you and me. I think the question we need to answer is whether these differences matter. For example, you have dark skin, I have light skin. You are taller than me, I have longer hair than you. I am older than you, you are probably smarter than me. It seems like in order to demand we should be treated equally, there has to be something the same or equal about us; something that adults and infants have, but animals do not. Since animals are also conscious, it seems like the quality that grounds our equal rights must be more fundamental.

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Kristina (right) talks to students at JFA’s Fort Lewis College outreach event in Durango, Colorado in April 2022.

That was when he had his first “aha” moment.

Brad: We’re all human beings.

Intellectually, he understood the pro-life position. Emotionally, there was still one roadblock hindering him from agreeing with it.

Brad: But what if a woman was raped? My mom was raped and became pregnant with my older sister. Do you think women should have a choice in a situation like that?

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Here’s a close up of the free speech board at the CSU outreach. It’s a concept we’ve been testing recently.

Brad asked me a yes or no question, but I was not going to give him a quick yes or no response. The scenario was personal to him, and I needed to meet him relationally before I could give him my answer.

Kristina: I am so sorry your mom went through that. Rape is one of the most heinous crimes. How is she doing now?

Brad: Yeah, it was really hard on her. Thankfully she was already married to my dad, and he was very supportive of her through it. He told her that he would help her take care of my sister.

Rather than immediately answering his question, I slowed the conversation down by expressing concern for his mother. I focused on meeting what we at JFA call “the relational challenge.” This answers the question, “What about the woman? Do pro-life people think the lives of women who have been raped matter?” After all, the woman we were discussing was not an abstract hypothetical character. For Brad, she was his mother.

Still, Brad wanted to know my answer to “the intellectual challenge:” Is abortion justified if the woman was raped? Should it be legal? To answer this, I used the dialogue tool Trot Out the Toddler. It went something like this:

Kristina: Can I share a scenario with you that’s related to your question?

Brad: Sure.

Kristina: Imagine a woman is raped, becomes pregnant, and gives birth to her baby. She’s hurting, and even looking at her baby overwhelms her with fear and pain because her child’s existence reminds her of her attack. This is a terrible and tragic scenario no one should ever have to face. But Brad, I am guessing you and I will agree on a few things about this situation: We both want this woman to heal. We also want her to have choices to go about her healing. But those choices are not unlimited. If she thought ending her infant’s life would be the most helpful way to heal her trauma, we would not let her go through with it. Would you say you share that conviction as well?

Brad: Yes, she cannot kill her baby. That’s a human being.

Kristina: I agree with you, and that is the significant thing. When we say she cannot kill her newborn, we are not saying, “I don’t care about your rape. I don’t care about your trauma. I don’t care about your child.” What we are saying is, “I care so much about you, and I want you to have choices. I just want you to have choices that will help both of you and don’t add violence to an already violent situation.” Since the unborn have a human nature like the infant in this circumstance, do you think it could make sense to protect the unborn in the same way we protect infants who were conceived in rape?

Brad paused to reflect. And then I watched him have his second “aha” moment.

Brad’s comment on the free speech board

Brad: I think you are right. Unborn human beings have the same basic rights we do, so they should be protected, too.

Then he walked back to the free speech board to write the following comment: “It comes down to how we value human life. As humans, we create criteria for what qualifies as a “human.” That is how I perceive the pinpoint of this argument. Perhaps if we come to an agreement for what is truly human, we could apply that criteria for everyone...”

Thank you for helping me make the abortion of all children – regardless of the circumstances that created them – unthinkable, one person at a time. In case no one has told you recently, your life matters, too!

A Changed Heart at Fort Lewis

July 2023 Impact Report

At Justice For All (JFA), we’re passionate about changing hearts and minds about abortion. We want to see thousands of Christians trained each year to do the work in their local communities of speaking up for those who can’t speak for themselves (Prov. 31:8). Even more importantly, though, we see ourselves as ambassadors for Christ, and we look for opportunities to encourage every person we encounter to be reconciled to God (II Cor. 5:20). We want to represent Christ in such a way that each person comes closer to giving his or her life to Christ. In this Impact Report, Rebekah Dyer shares about how God gave her the gift of seeing both a shift in belief about abortion and a new commitment to Christ in the span of an hour. Thank God with us! -Steve Wagner, Executive Director

Rebekah talks to Josh next to the kiosk at Fort Lewis College in April 2023.

I saw “Josh” looking at our kiosk. He started to put his headphones back on and walk away when I approached him and greeted him. I asked him what he thought about abortion, and we walked back over to the kiosk he had been looking at. He started out by telling me that as a man his opinion didn’t really matter even though he was personally opposed to abortion. 

I encouraged him that his opinion is important and equal to mine as a woman since the whole issue of abortion centers around the equal rights of human beings. Women don’t have more of a voice when it comes to child abuse even though they are the ones who give birth to the child. We all have an obligation to stand against that injustice since it harms a human being. It’s the same with abortion.

As we continued talking, I asked him when he believes human beings begin to have rights. I shared the equal rights argument and explained why unborn children should be protected from violence from the moment of fertilization.

I also asked him if he had ever seen pictures of what abortion looks like. He said no, so I asked him if he would be open to viewing some. He said yes, so I opened the Invitation to Dialogue Brochure and showed him images of a first trimester abortion. He was shocked and dismayed by what abortion does to another human being.

As our conversation about abortion was starting to wind down, Josh told me that I had opened his mind to new possibilities and said he appreciated the conversation because it was civil and comfortable. 

Austin and Rebekah pray with Josh at the end of the conversation.

Austin, a local campus ministry leader, came up and joined our conversation at this point. After I introduced Austin, he quickly and naturally began asking Josh about his spiritual beliefs. In response to the direction the conversation was going, Josh asked us, “How does one get into heaven?” 

“I’m so glad you asked.” Austin said. He walked Josh through a gospel tract that went over our sin, our need for a savior, and the salvation that Jesus offers. Part of the tract asks questions about who is on the throne of your life: you or Jesus? Austin asked, “Who do you want on the throne of your life?” Josh said, “Jesus.” It was so encouraging to see God working in his heart! At this point, Austin read him a prayer at the end of the tract and asked if that prayer expressed the desire of his heart. He said it did. So Austin asked him if he wanted to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior right then. Josh said, “Why not?” We all bowed our heads and Josh prayed for Jesus to save him and transform his life.

“JFA partnered with Master Plan Ministries to produce our Fort Lewis College outreach events in 2019, 2022, and 2023. Austin Krokos (right) is one of the Master Plan missionaries who was instrumental in making these events happen. Austin is a passionate advocate for the lives of the unborn, and he’s also passionate about helping people know Jesus. Partnering with Austin and Master Plan is a huge encouragement for us. Before we come, they help students reserve campus space and convince local churches to host our seminar. After we leave, they follow up with people reached through the event and continue to seek to change hearts and minds the rest of the year. That’s why we aim for the same sort of partnership with communities of Christians in every place that we work. It was a special joy to hear about Rebekah and Austin’s interaction with Josh, featured in this Impact Report. It gave us a glimpse of how we’re helping local Christians like Austin and his colleagues reach their campuses for Christ.” - Steve Wagner

We then prayed for Josh and introduced him to some other local ministry leaders who got his contact information so they could connect further. Austin also wrote in a Bible and gave it to Josh. As we closed out that outreach day, Josh helped us carry a lot of our equipment to the van before we left.

Since then, Josh has attended a Bible study with the local campus ministry and has met with the leader to talk one-on-one about his new found faith in Jesus. I’ve been told he has been like a sponge. He wants to learn everything he can about the Bible.  He told his uncle that he had become a Christian, and his uncle put him down verbally and asked why he would join a “white man’s religion”? Josh defended his faith and shared Revelation 7:9, which tells us that in Heaven there will be people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

Talking about abortion opens up natural opportunities to share the gospel. Abortion is wrong because human beings matter so much. But we only truly matter if there is a loving God who created us with dignity and purpose. As I talk with students across the country, I see a deep hunger to know God in many of them. At Adams State University two days later, I was able tell two other young men about Jesus and connect them to the campus ministry leaders there.

Please join me in praying for Josh and the other students that were so open to the gospel. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Luke 10:2 (ESV)

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

June 2023 Impact Report

In this Impact Report, JFA trainer Kaitlyn Donihue illustrates the approach we train all pro-life advocates to take during one-to-one conversations about abortion: when possible, show images of abortion, and do this with a warning and the consent of the person with whom you’re speaking. We need to change a massive number of minds in order to cause the culture to become completely intolerant of elective abortion, but we don’t think a strategy that treats graphic abortion images as always necessary or always sufficient will accomplish this. Since our culture has trained all of us to be highly visual in our way of learning and thinking about the world, though, images are certainly sometimes necessary for changing certain minds. Indeed, sometimes seeing an image appears to be the key element helping a person to change. -Steve Wagner, Executive Director

There is a debate among pro-life advocates about the proper use of graphic abortion images. Some pro-life people find them persuasive and display them publicly. Other pro-life people avoid using them all together.

At Justice For All, we sometimes publicly display graphic abortion images at our outreach events, and sometimes we do not. Most importantly, though, we remind pro-life advocates of common ground we all share on this topic: Whatever your views might be about graphic images of abortion in public, can’t we all agree that in a one-on-one conversation, when you warn and get the consent of the person with whom you are speaking, showing an image of what abortion looks like can be helpful and appropriate?

The reality is that sometimes an image of what abortion looks like is the only thing that can cut through the rhetoric and clarify what abortion actually does. This was the case at Texas State University in November.

I was standing by the Free Speech Board greeting students and asking them if they had time to share their thoughts about abortion. A young man named “Ben” stopped to talk. I spent time getting to know his perspective and found common ground with his views. He was really concerned about people’s rights to make choices. After a few minutes, I began to gently challenge him. Here is how the rest of our conversation went:

Kaitlyn: I definitely agree with you that choice is really important. As a woman, I am thankful to live in a country where I have rights and the freedom to make choices. There are many countries where I, as a woman, would not have rights. This is going to sound strange, but I’m also glad that I don’t have some rights. For example, I don’t have the right to harm or kill someone on this campus and that is because my rights end where your rights begin. So with the issue of abortion, we have to ask, “Is the unborn a human being?” If the unborn isn’t a human being, then of course women should have the right to abortion; but if the unborn is a human being, then it seems like the woman’s rights should end where the unborn human being’s rights begin. What do you think about that question? Do you think the unborn is a human being?

Ben: I have never really thought about that before. I guess I don’t really know.

Kaitlyn: Do you mind if I share my understanding of what we know from the study of biology?

Ben: Sure.

Kaitlyn: If the unborn is growing, isn’t it alive?

Ben: Yeah, I guess it must be alive.

Kaitlyn: I agree with you there. If the unborn has human parents, do you think that means that the unborn are human?

Ben: Yes, I guess they would have to be.

Kaitlyn: If the unborn is living and human, then shouldn’t we protect them?

Ben: I just think choice is really important. Women should have the right to choose to do whatever they want.

Kaitlyn: I definitely agree that choice is really important, so we are on the same page there. Let’s imagine for a moment that we have two buckets. One bucket is for all of the choices that people should be allowed to make. We should all be allowed to decide what kind of ice cream we like, and what college we attend, etc. The other bucket is for the choices we shouldn’t be allowed to make. For example, we shouldn’t be allowed to choose to kill someone, or to rape someone, or to steal from someone. Which bucket do you think abortion belongs in? [See “Two Buckets” for more on this strategy.]

Ben: The first bucket.

Kaitlyn: Do you think the unborn are human beings?

Ben: Yes.

Kaitlyn: I agree with you. Do you think abortion kills those human beings?

Ben: Well, maybe abortion belongs in the second bucket, but I still think women should have the right to choose to do what they want.

Kaitlyn: Ben, have you ever seen pictures of what abortion looks like?

Ben: No.

Kaitlyn: Would you be willing to see some pictures of what abortion looks like? They are very graphic and hard to look at.

Ben: Sure.

Kaitlyn: These are pictures of what abortion looks like.

You can use JFA’s Invitation to Dialogue Brochure to show pictures with sensitivity just as Kaitlyn did. Click here to get a digital version for your phone (with hyperlinks) and to request the paper version of the brochure.

Ben got very quiet as he stared at the graphic images of abortion in our brochure (seven weeks to twelve weeks from fertilization). We stood together in silence for a minute. Finally I asked him,

Kaitlyn: Ben, do you think that a woman should be allowed to make a choice that looks like this?

Ben: No. This should not be legal.

Ben’s response surprised me. Students don’t often shift their perspective right in front of us this way. Many are not impacted by the images at all, but for others, the images help them process what abortion actually does to a human being. As Ben demonstrated, there is power in not just thinking abstractly about facts and arguments but also in seeing the truth about abortion.

Recent Campus Conversations

April 2023 Impact Report

In this Impact Report compiled by Rebekah Dyer, we share pictures from recent events, along with brief conversation reflections from Rebekah and two other JFA trainers, Kaitlyn and Andrea. In January, February, and March, we conducted outreach on 17 days at nine campuses in six states: CSU Fullerton (CA), Palomar College (CA), Univ. of Arizona (AZ), Univ. of Texas at Austin (TX), Texas State (TX), Univ. of Cincinnati (OH), Univ. of Texas at San Antonio (TX), Wichita State (KS), and Newman Univ. (KS). Thank you for partnering with us financially and for praying for our work. -- Steve Wagner, Executive Director

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CSU Fullerton (CA) — Jan. 2023 — Jon (left) and Rebekah (right) interact with students during our first outreach event of the year.

Experiencing the Unexpected

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Univ. of Arizona (AZ) — Feb. 2023 — Paul (blue sweatshirt) talks to students near the JFA poll table. (Also visible in background: Kristina and Rebekah)

“Have you had a lot of conversations about abortion before, and, if so, how have they gone for you?” I often ask this question on campus, and people’s answers give me important background information about their experiences talking about abortion. At the University of New Mexico, I met two students who were reluctant to talk to me because they had had such bad experiences voicing their opinions in the past. One young woman told me she felt like she was shaking at some point in our conversation. Another student told me he had never heard a good argument for the pro-life position, and he was only familiar with people yelling and holding signs. I asked him if he’d be open to hearing a good argument and when he said yes, I presented the equal rights argument. At the end of our conversations, both of these students thanked me for the conversation and how I treated them.

I was grateful for the opportunity to give these students a good experience talking about abortion. I hope it will help them to be more open to the next person God places in their path to continue the dialogue. Conversations about abortion are important because people inside and outside the womb matter so much. – Rebekah Dyer

Loving Those Who Differ

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Univ. of Texas at San Antonio (TX) — Feb. 2023 — Gavin (yellow) logged lots of conversations during eight days of JFA outreach from January to March. You can join us for a mission trip, too: www.jfaweb.org/mission-trips.

While the JFA team was doing outreach at Texas State in San Marcos, a young man I’ll call Mark stopped by. Mark was reserved and quiet. When I asked him if he had thoughts about abortion he said he didn’t want to get into it. I nodded and began asking questions about his life to show him I cared. I asked what he was studying and where he was from, if he had a community on campus, and what his dreams were for the future. Through these questions I learned that he is intelligent and thoughtful but very shy and deeply lonely. I also gained his trust. Eventually we did begin discussing abortion. We also talked for a long time about Christianity and the gospel. Early in our conversation Mark seemed tentative, and I thought he might leave at any moment, but as I listened and asked questions he relaxed, and we talked for over two hours. It became clear that he was starved for conversation and compassion. Many of us struggle to start conversations because we assume people don’t want to have this kind of conversation. Over and over I have found the opposite to be true. Like Mark, many people in our culture are deeply lonely and would love to have a real conversation with someone who cares. – Kaitlyn Donihue

An Open Heart Towards the Gospel

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Univ. of Cincinnati (OH) — Feb. 2023 — Mary (grey, facing away from camera) and Kaitlyn (right) engage students at our outreach event in Cincinnati.

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Univ. of New Mexico (NM) — Mar. 2023 — JFA trainers Jeremy (left, red) and Andrea (center) interact with students in Albuquerque.

At the University of New Mexico outreach, Isaac was standing at our kiosk looking at the images of the unborn. I approached him and asked if he had any thoughts about abortion. Isaac said he believed that abortion should be legal, especially when a child is not wanted. I asked him questions, and we talked through the “Trot out the Toddler” analogy, as well as evidence from biology showing that the unborn is a human being. I then shared images of abortion with him. As the conversation progressed, Isaac agreed that the unborn are living human beings. I challenged him by saying, “We just agreed that the unborn are living human beings, so if that is true, would you agree the unborn deserves equal rights, at least in the basic right to life?” Indicating that his heart and mind were changing, he responded, “Yes, I would agree with that.” We then proceeded to have an extensive conversation about his spiritual beliefs. I had the opportunity to share the hope of the gospel with him, and I gave him the gospel of John. He was excited to read it and told me that he was going to journal about it afterwards. – Andrea Thenhaus

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Do you receive email updates from JFA’s prayer team coordinator, Mary Biegler, with specific prayer requests for upcoming events? See www.jfaweb.org/pray to sign up.

Father, Please Give Me a Glimpse

March 2023 Impact Report

The Justice For All team is on a mission to train Christians to change hearts and minds about abortion, and along the way, we use the conversations we create to challenge people to take Jesus Christ and the Christian worldview more seriously. While our trainers report progress in some conversations, the progress of other conversations many times remains hidden.

When I read the reflection below from Kaitlyn Donihue, JFA’s trainer based in Ohio, I wanted to share it with you. It represents a sweet gift from God in giving her a glimpse of how He is using JFA’s work. May this spur us on to continue to be faithful in the work He has given us to do. And let us be thankful both when He does not allow us to see what He is doing and when He does. -Steve Wagner, Executive Director

Have you ever opened a novel to the middle, read a chapter, and put it down again? Neither have I, but that is what outreach often feels like. Through our conversations with students, we get a glimpse into their stories and hopefully have the opportunity to impact their lives, but it is a brief glimpse, and usually we don’t get to see how their stories play out. We don’t know whether our words made a difference or not. We don’t find out whether the story ends in joy or tragedy.

Not knowing the ending is hard. I often leave campus with a heavy heart because I care about the students with whom I talked but don’t know what will happen to them, and I can’t do anything more for them.

Last month as I got ready for our trip to Texas, I struggled with whether we are doing any good. I asked God to give me a glimpse of how He is using our work, and He graciously answered that prayer.

Halfway through our first day of outreach, our whole team was hot and tired. Several students were standing by the free speech board reading the comments. I walked over to one and asked him whether he had any thoughts about abortion. He barely gave me a glance as he said, “Not really.” “Okay,” I said. “Do you think it should be legal or illegal or somewhere in between?” “I don’t really care,” he said and walked away.

I stared after him for a minute feeling discouraged. Then I turned to another student who was standing nearby. “Do you have thoughts on the issue of abortion?” I asked him. I noted as I did that he was wearing a T-shirt that said, “Unashamed Follower of Jesus.”

“Yeah,” he said, “I think abortion is wrong. It kills a human being.”

“I agree with you. I’m Kaitlyn by the way.”

“I’m Sam,” he said. “I work with a campus student ministry, and I have been discipling a young man. Last semester he wasn’t following Christ, and he was pro-choice, but he talked to you guys when you were here before and that conversation was really significant to him. He has since become pro-life and made a full commitment to follow Christ because of that conversation. I wanted to come by and tell you that. God is using you guys. Thank you for what you are doing.”

“He has since become pro-life and made a full commitment to follow Christ because of that conversation.”

I was overwhelmed by the goodness of God. Because of His great love, He answered my prayer and gave me just a glimpse into what He is doing in the life of one student.

Hearing about this student was such a gift. It gives me courage to believe that God is at work in the lives of the other students with whom we talk even if we never get to see the ending of their stories.

As our outreach in Texas drew to a close, I began praying a new prayer that I have prayed many times since: “Thank you, Father, that though these students may now be out of my reach, they are not out of Yours.”

One Person at a Time

In this Impact Report, we share the names and pictures of some of the people with whom our team interacted in 2022. Please join us in praying that God will take the seeds we planted and change the world, one person at a time. Pray each person would love and protect the children in their care. Pray for healing from past hurts, and pray each heart would become open to God.

Would you join us in committing to pray for each of these people in the coming months?

You can use the images below (7 total) to pray through the list from your phone or other device with us this year?

Or, you can download, print, and post this list somewhere in your home to remind you to pray.

Click on the image or click here to download a pdf (both pages included) you can print and post in your home to remind you to pray with us.

Click on the image or click here to download a pdf (both pages included) you can print and post in your home to remind you to pray with us.

To view more pictures and read recent stories of conversations, see other recent posts on the JFA blog.

There’s still time to give a year-end gift to help Justice For All train many Christians to reach one person at a time in 2023. Thank you for supporting our team and for praying along with us.