JFA Blog — Justice For All

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Pray with JFA

Pray with JFA for “One Person at a Time”: 

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See our November Impact Report titled, “2,017+ Conversations in 2017” for the names of hundreds of people with whom we interacted at our outreach events and in “everyday life” conversations in 2017. We suggest praying slowly through each name, asking God to cause the seeds planted in the heart to bear fruit. Pray for each person to love unborn children and their parents in action. Pray for each person to grow in the love of God through Jesus Christ.

Pray for God’s Provision During the Year-End Giving Period: 

Please pray with us for JFA’s friends, volunteers, and readers, as they consider giving to JFA at the end of 2017 to help JFA train more advocates to create more conversations in 2018. Do you have a friend with whom you would like to share JFA’s mission? Pass along the links below. Are you able to give a gift? Thanks for taking a few minutes to pray about these things with us.

Featured Resource - "See Baby Pregnancy Guide" App

Most people don’t identify with very young unborn children, and consequently, they lack the affection and empathy that would cause them to suffer ridicule or discomfort in order to speak up for them. One of the best ways to help ourselves and others identify with the unborn child, that we might develop affection and empathy for her, is to see the child. There is no better tool for seeing the unborn child than the free “See Baby Pregnancy Guide” app from the Endowment for Human Development (EHD). The app allows you to see clear video images of very young children in the womb. Please use the app and consider giving a gift to EHD to make sure the app continues to be available as a valuable resource for conversations.

Conversation Starter - "See What Baby Jesus Looked Like at 4 Weeks."

To start a conversation about unborn children and Jesus in a natural way during Advent, we suggest sharing the post, “See What Baby Jesus Looked Like at 4 Weeks.” The post includes a link to clear video imagery featuring the unborn child’s heart beating at four weeks and four days (from fertilization). We hope the post will encourage curiosity and conversation about both the unborn child and the incarnation of Jesus.

See What Baby Jesus Looked Like at 4 Weeks

Many people are curious to know what Jesus looked like.  Though it may be difficult to know what Jesus looked like when he walked the earth, it may be easier to see something of what his appearance must have been like when he was a four-week-old baby in Mary's womb.  And what better time for this than the season of Advent?  Click on the EHD page below to reveal video of a baby at four weeks and four days from fertilization.

Click to make the blurry image crystal clear.

Click to make the blurry image crystal clear.

To see this imagery on your smart phone, we suggest downloading the stellar "See Baby Pregnancy Guide" app.  Once you do, you'll have the ability to scroll through video images from very early on (like the video above) until late in the baby's development.

(HT: JFA staff member Bubba Garrett shared this idea with me this week.) 

We Thank God for You

I've received a whole raft of Giving Tuesday emails today encouraging me to give to all sorts of important things I care about.  We here at JFA have no ill will towards the Giving Tuesday phenomenon, but for a variety of reasons we haven't made much of Giving Tuesday in recent years.

I did, however, just have a thought that I wanted to share with you.  It's about your answer to the following questions:

Did you pray for one of our events this year?

Did you pray regularly for us?

Did you lead your church in praying?

Did you host a JFA staff member or volunteer in your home during an outreach trip?

Did you provide a meal for us?

Did you give to our Intern Scholarship Fund?

Did you give a monthly automatic gift to our Training Program Fund or to support the work of one of our missionaries?

Did you set up a speaking event for one of our staff in your community?

Did you make an appeal to a pastor to consider partnering with JFA?

Did you call or email a JFA staff member to encourage him or her?

Did you volunteer at a JFA event and create conversations with pro-choice advocates?

Did you use JFA's monthly Resource Bulletin or other materials to create conversations with people in your everyday life?

Did you speak up when someone in your everyday life brought up the topic of pregnancy, unborn children, women in distress, or abortion?

Often I worry that you, our friends, feel like you are not truly contributing to our work unless you give money.  I worry that you may put any giving that is not financial in a sort of "second-class" category.  Giving financially is certainly one important way to partner with JFA, but all of the activities I've listed above are essential, and I do mean essential, to our work of training Christians to create transformative conversations that can help save the smallest humans on earth (and their parents) from abortion.

It may be that we cannot do our work without financial support, but we trust God will provide the support we need.  In the same way, we simply cannot do our work without these other gifts you have given this year.  Without host homes, our team wouldn't be able to create conversations on campuses across the country.  Similar things could be said about every item listed above.  And we trust God to provide these needs, and he has provided for us mightily through you.

Consider this: none of our conversations will have any impact on anyone without God moving in each person's heart before, during, and after our interactions.  When you pray along with us, you place your trust in God as the one who brings about change.

I just wanted to take this moment to say thank you for partnering with us so faithfully through these very real gifts I've listed above.  The stories we've shared this year are very truly your stories.  Thank you for your many sacrifices in so many different forms this year.  We consider you to be such an important, "first-class" member of the JFA team.  We thank God for you.

If you're so inclined, I'd love to hear your thoughts about JFA's work and ways you've been able to partner with us this year.  You can click the link below at any time during the year to share your thoughts with us.

I mentioned our Resource Bulletin above.  It's one of our best resources for making abortion unthinkable.  Each month, we post specific, practical ways you can pray for conversations, prepare for conversations, and start conversations.  Check it out!

Baby Eleanor and Baby Logan - Perinatal Hospice Stories

The two videos below document the birth stories of Baby Eleanor and Baby Logan.  Both Eleanor and Logan were diagnosed with lethal fetal anomalies, and were assumed to be "not compatible with life" after birth.  Instead of turning to abortion, their families received support from the perinatal hospice team at Choices Medical Clinic (Wichita, KS), and were empowered to embrace whatever time they could have with their babies.  Witness their incredible stories for yourself, in the videos below.