Face to Face

Christmas 2017

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Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1633 (see Mark 4:35-41). Image of the work used here for educational purposes courtesy of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston under CC 4.0. To read the fascinating story of this work's whereabouts, see the Gardner Museum's page dedicated to the unsolved mystery of the 1990 heist in which the painting disappeared.

Dear Friend,

Look at the face of Jesus in Rembrandt’s masterful Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee. It’s clear from his expression and the placement of his hand that he’s just waking up. The disciples are in utter despair at the mercy of a great storm, but they are about to see another convincing proof of “his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

Jesus is the Son of God, about to support that truth with evidence. Yet it’s striking that Jesus is face to face with this motley crew, physically present in the boat with them, dazed as he wakes from sleep just as they would be dazed in waking. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...” (John 1:14)

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Detail from Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1633 (see image above)

In becoming flesh, Jesus dwelt among the disciples in all of their mess. He was face to face with their fear and their lack of faith, present with them so that they could relate to his glory in a way particularly necessary for them.

Jesus related to people face to face. We aspire to imitate our Savior in this simple motion every time we step onto a college campus to try to help some of those who are far from Christ’s perspective come closer to the truth and closer to Christ. We aspire to imitate Christ every time we step into a workshop or seminar to lead a group of Christ’s followers in interactive exercises, preparing them to create conversations.

I invite you to look at the art, pictured nearby, again. Reflect on the very special miracle of Christ’s face to face relationship with his disciples which reveals a unique dimension of His love for them (and for each of us).

I invite you also to spend some time looking at the pictures from our recent events, reflecting on the striking image you’ll see repeated over and over in those photos, too: we are simply followers of Christ, humbly seeking to relate face to face with people in desperate need, hoping to save very small children and very desperate mothers from the tragedy and horror of abortion. Thank you for partnering with us to train Christians to make these face to face encounters common. Merry Christmas!

That all may behold His glory,

Steve Wagner

Executive Director

PS: You can still give a special year-end gift in 2017 using this link.

Pray with JFA - December 2017

Click the image to read the year-end report.

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

Click the image to see photos of recent conversations.

Last month, we published our year-end report, “2,017+ Conversations in 2017,”  featuring names of hundreds of people with whom we interacted in 2017. This month, we suggest using Steve Wagner’s Christmas letter and the JFA photos page as additional aids for reflection and prayer. Pray slowly through each name and picture, 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.

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

We continue to trust God to provide for JFA. You can help by praying with us and considering a special year-end gift.

Featured Resource - "See Baby Pregnancy Guide" App

Last month, we encouraged our readers to download the “See Baby Pregnancy Guide” app by the Endowment for Human Development (EHD). We’d like to feature the app again, but this time, let’s focus on the heartbeat counter built into the app. Consider Jesus as a 7-week embryo. How many times had his heart beaten by this point? We’re not going to tell you. Find the answer by downloading the app and scrolling to 7 weeks. In addition to the heartbeat count, the app features stunning video of unborn children throughout development. 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 7 Weeks."

Last month, we shared a post to encourage curiosity and conversation about both the unborn child and the incarnation of Jesus (“See What Baby Jesus Looked Like at 4 Weeks”). We thought that for this month the theme is worth emphasizing again, but this time asking the question, “What Did Baby Jesus Look Like at 7 Weeks?” Share the post using the links below. If Christmas has passed when you read this, don’t worry. You can still share the post as a celebration of the “Twelve Days of Christmas”! 

What Did Baby Jesus Look Like at 7 Weeks?

Click the image or this link to view high-resolution video of the embryo at 7 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 seven-week-old baby in Mary's womb.  And what better time for this than the season of Advent?  Click on the image nearby to reveal video at EHD of a baby at seven weeks and four days from fertilization.

To see this imagery on your smart phone, we suggest downloading the stellar "See Baby Pregnancy Guide" app.  In the app, you can find interesting facts about the embryo at different stages of development, including a heartbeat count.  How many times had Jesus's heart beaten by 7 weeks?  Find out in the app (or learn more here).  You can also use EHD's heartbeat calculator to compare your heartbeat count.

(HT: JFA staff member Bubba Garrett.  We featured a similar post about four-week embryos last month.)

2,017+ Conversations in 2017

2017 Report

Note: This Impact Report is a bit different than others we’ve written. Rather than reporting a story of the impact that God brought about in someone’s life through JFA, we are sharing a sort of “big picture” view of JFA’s impact through names of people with whom we interacted. Each of the names, and each of the conversations associated with them, points to the “one person at a time” we’re so passionate about training Christians to reach. We love the person in front of us for the same reason we love the unborn child and her parents: each of these human beings has intrinsic, enduring value as someone made in the image of God. Thank you for supporting JFA financially and for praying along with us for each individual story represented by the names in this report. - Steve Wagner, Executive Director

This year we wanted to see how many conversations the JFA community could create, so we counted. We’re excited to report that we logged more than 2,017 conversations in 2017. More important than the number of conversations, though, is what’s at the center of each one: a person.

I just read through the reflections of one of our dedicated volunteers who participated in JFA events in Colorado, Indiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma this year. His name is Mark. Some of the 120 people with whom Mark spoke changed their minds and decided unborn children should be protected from abortion. Others seemed unmoved from their pro-choice positions. Yet Mark is not discouraged. He made a list of names and intends to continue to pray for each person with whom he spoke, believing that although good reasons and dialogue are important to helping people change, God is the one who moves in the heart of the person and causes the seeds Mark planted to take root.

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Click the image above to read the names.  Click here for the printable version which you can post on your refrigerator as a prayer reminder.

Our staff and volunteers (including Mark) worked together to compile the names of many of these people with whom we were privileged to interact this year. Some were pro-choice. Some were pro-life. Some were undecided or confused or searching prior to the conversation.

Please place your trust in God along with us, asking Him to grow in each of these people a strong and active love for those who are often forgotten—for the smallest humans on earth (unborn children), for women and men in distress (related to unplanned pregnancy or sexual assault), and for those whose appearance or worldview makes them difficult to love (such as pro-choice advocates). Pray that each person we talked to this year will take a next step to love the forgotten in the coming months.

Make Your Own Impact with a Year-End Gift

As you consider your year-end giving, please consider giving generously to JFA to help us train more Christians to create more conversations in 2018. You can give online or send your gift using the instructions at our Donate page. Your gift will help JFA plan more events, hire more staff, and reach more people. Here are just two examples: David Rodriguez and Susanna Buckley served as interns during the fall of 2017, and they have both committed to serve as interns during the spring of 2018. Your gift to the Training Program Fund will pay for their travel to and from outreach events, and it will help us continue to provide a place in the Wichita office where they can grow as dialogue artists and mentors of others. Your gift to the Intern Scholarship Fund will fund paychecks for them or other interns like them. Your gift to the Staff Support Fund or to support a specific staff missionary will fund the salaries of those who mentor these interns. Last month, we shared one beautiful story in which this mentoring made a difference ("Three Miracles in One Conversation"). Our “Invest in JFA” page gives you more detailed information on these and other ways you can make an impact with your gift to JFA. Feel free to use our Contact page to contact me directly to discuss JFA’s vision, strategy, and needs for 2018. Thanks for partnering with JFA!

What I Said on Giving Tuesday Might Surprise You

In case you missed it, please read my Giving Tuesday message to all of JFA's readers who serve behind the scenes by praying, supporting financially, providing homes and meals for our traveling team, volunteering during outreach events, creating conversations in everyday life, and supporting JFA in other ways.  This message provides important context to my request for year-end gifts above.

Helping the Skeptic

The article linked below was written by our friend Timothy Brahm, the Director of Training at Equal Rights Institute.  (Previously, Timothy served as a Training Specialist at JFA.)  He shares an interesting strategy for avoiding common, but unhelpful tangents in conversations about abortion.  It's a short read that explains this main point: Surprisingly, it's sometimes more helpful to the skeptic to not answer his or her hypothetical questions, but rather to ask what he or she actually believes.  

Live Broadcast Tonight: Steve Wagner on Common Ground

Click the image above to link to the live interview (Dec. 1, 2017 at 6pm PST).

Live tonight-12/1/17-at 6PM PST:  Listen to JFA's Steve Wagner, interviewed by Clinton Wilcox on Pro-Life Thinking.

They will discuss Steve's book, Common Ground Without Compromise, and answer this question: In the effort to make abortion unthinkable, why is finding common ground with abortion-choice advocates is so important?

Click here to listen live!

To listen to another recent interview of Steve's on Called2Action Radio, click here.