Pray for Conversations - July

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Catherine, right, prays for a woman at a Justice For All outreach event.  We have learned a great deal from Catherine’s focus on God and on prayer.  Please join us now in praying for her!

We thank God for Catherine Wurts and for God's work through Catherine's years of service with JFA.

Please pray with us for Catherine Wurts as she leaves JFA this month to pursue graduate studies.  As a JFA volunteer (2006-2008) and a JFA staff member (2009-2017), Catherine has directly impacted thousands of people through conversations during outreach events, through her public presentations, and through personal mentoring of participants in JFA’s Abortion: From Debate to Dialogue Training Program.  In addition to her roles as dialogue artist and trainer, Catherine served as JFA’s Intern Recruiter and Trainer Certification Specialist.  More importantly, Catherine encouraged our staff towards a deeper devotion to God and to prayer.  We thank God for the sacrifice and devotion Catherine has given to JFA’s staff, volunteers, and mission over these many years, and she will be sorely missed.  Please pray for God’s guidance for Catherine throughout her graduate program and beyond, and pray for the conversations Catherine will create in the coming years.  See Catherine's staff alumni page for some of the highlights from her work with JFA through the years.  In the comments section below, you can leave a note about what her work has meant to you personally.

(Note, see also our Event Calendar for a list of events about which you can pray, including upcoming major events in IN, MN, TX, and OK.)

Featured Resource: Stephanie Gray Featured on Talks at Google

Can you imagine a skilled pro-life dialogue artist speaking at Google headquarters?  What if that presentation then was posted by Talks at Google on its YouTube channel?  This is exactly what’s just happened.  We’re ecstatic that our friend Stephanie Gray has recently been featured by Google.  By watching, you can both learn from her moving presentation and help it surpass 100,000 views (as of this post, it has over 98,200 views).  In her talk, “Abortion: From Controversy to Civility,” Stephanie modeled powerfully how sharing stories, questions, and thought experiments can transform your conversations about abortion.  The whole talk is just over an hour long and is certainly worth watching.  If you’d like to start with a short segment, however, we’ve highlighted two minutes from the Q&A portion (53:26 - 55:26).  Listen for Stephanie's great advice on starting conversations in a pro-choice environment.  (Steve Wagner notes that he and Stephanie both look back to a support-raising retreat they attended in 2001, led by Scott Klusendorf, as formative in the pro-life work they went on to do and continue to this day.) 

Featured Conversation Starter: "Equal Rights for Whom?"

Use the post, “Equal Rights for Whom? — Stephanie Gray at Google” to start a conversation in a natural way with a friend who has any perspective on abortion.  The post is written with the pro-choice person in mind and features a two-minute clip from Stephanie Gray’s talk at Google in which she discusses the UN Declaration of Human Rights.  Then the post asks two questions that get the conversation started.  To view the post and share it on social media, use the links below.  If you use this tool to start a conversation, please let us know how it goes!

"Equal Rights for Whom?" - Stephanie Gray at Google (video clip)

Stephanie Gray speaks to the audience gathered for Talks at Google.

The question of women's rights and abortion many times is framed in terms of human rights.  In a talk at Google headquarters, Stephanie Gray discussed the concept of human rights and what this concept means for abortion rights.  During her talk, she began with a point of common ground on which many people agree: the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (21:07 - 24:41).  After watching, we suggest answering the following questions, preferably in dialogue with someone else:

"Do you agree with the UN Declaration's approach to human rights and personhood?  If you believe in human rights, on what do you think they are based - human nature or something else?"

(You can also respond using the comments section below or using the version of this post at our @7conversations Twitter feed.)

More on Stephanie Gray:

• View Stephanie's full talk at Google by clicking here.

• Visit www.stephaniegray.info to learn more about Stephanie and her book, Love Unleashes Life: Abortion & the Art of Communicating Truth.

An Example to Follow - Stephanie Gray's Talk at Google

[Video Starts During Q&A Portion] Stephanie Gray responds to a question from the audience during her presentation at Google headquarters.

[Full Presentation] Google's description reads: "Stephanie Gray, internationally renowned speaker and author, applies the Socratic method and storytelling to the debate surrounding abortion. She invites the audience to be 'pro-conversation' on a topic that can be one of the most divisive, and demonstrates that it is possible to be gracious and respectful when encountering different ideas."

We’re ecstatic that our friend, international pro-life speaker Stephanie Gray, has recently been featured by Talks at Google at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California.  In her talk, "Abortion: From Controversy to Civility," Stephanie modeled powerfully how sharing stories, questions, and thought experiments can transform your conversations about abortion.

This whole talk is just over an hour long and is certainly worth watching.  If you'd like to start with a short segment, however, we've highlighted two minutes from the Q&A portion (53:26 - 55:26).  Listen for Stephanie's great advice on starting conversations in a pro-choice environment.* 

In the coming days, we will highlight a few more short segments on our blog and our @7conversations Twitter feed.  However, these upcoming posts will be designed to share so that you can use them to start a conversation of your own.  If you use one of the upcoming posts to create dialogue, let us know how it goes!

Visit www.stephaniegray.info to learn more about Stephanie and her book, Love Unleashes Life: Abortion & the Art of Communicating Truth.

*Note:  Also included in this video clip is a response to the question of abortion in the case of rape.  Stephanie does a great job of compassionately and clearly addressing this topic in the short time format.  In personal conversations about abortion and the question of rape, you'll usually have a bit more time.  For additional suggestions on ways to approach this, see JFA's Abortion: From Debate to Dialogue - The Interactive Guide (pages 20-22).