JFA Blog — Justice For All

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impact reports

An Update from The Executive Director

Dear Friend of JFA,

JFA volunteers often say that gathering the courage to show up to a JFA outreach event is the hardest part of their JFA training experience. For those who are willing, though, starting that first conversation can be the most important step in learning to dialogue. God seems to enjoy using that willing step of a fearful participant to create beautiful things from their conversations. After COVID-19 changed our outreach plans for the spring, JFA’s trainers were put back in the shoes of new volunteers as they focused on a new, intimidating form of outreach: creating conversations via social media.

Having little social media experience, JFA trainer Kaitlyn Donihue was not looking forward to online dialogue. Indeed, many on our team were disappointed with the prospect of exchanging productive in-person conversations for social media “equivalents” we predicted would be inferior in just about every way. Kaitlyn was willing, though, and like each of our new outreach volunteers, she initiated one conversation at a time and trusted God for the rest.

Recently Kaitlyn shared a story from a social media conversation that amazed our whole team. (Click here to read her story, “Nail Party Evangelism.”) Despite Kaitlyn’s fear and discomfort, God used Kaitlyn’s openness to create something surprising and beautiful. Are you willing to take the same step in hope of experiencing God’s work through you? See below to register for online workshops and our brand new “Encouragement for Conversations” program!

- Steve Wagner, Executive Director

Online Learning Opportunities


“7 Conversations in 7 Hours”

7/20-8/31: Mondays, 8-9 PM Central
7/22-9/2: Wednesdays, 10-11 AM Central
Makeups to be scheduled soon!

“Encouragement for Conversations”

Thursdays at 3 PM Central

“Having been in the pro-life movement since 1980, this training is nothing like I’ve ever experienced. At our local [pregnancy] center, we are making it essential for our Client Advocates (in addition to their regular training).”
— Mike Brady, Reflecting on JFA’s “7 Conversations in 7 Hours” Online Workshop Series

One Conversation Changes One Life

Impact Report - December 2019

Rebekah Dyer traveled to five states to participate in six JFA outreach events in 2019 (University of New Mexico in March, UCLA in May, Benedictine College and University of Kansas in September, University of Oklahoma and University of Arizona in November). She is a big encouragement to everyone on the JFA team. In this Impact Report, she tells about one of her favorite conversations from the year, in which God gifted her with a glimpse of the impact He was making through her efforts. Rebekah is also a prolific writer, posting regularly at the Human Defense Initiative. - Steve Wagner, Executive Director

Rebekah interacts with a student at JFA’s University of Arizona outreach in November 2019.

The most encouraging conversation I had this year was at the University of Arizona in November. I spoke with “Joe,” a young man who expressed his support for abortion being legal because he saw it as being a “necessary evil” that could prevent suffering in the future. When I began to ask him questions to further understand his position, I found out he had a close friend who grew up in foster care where he suffered abuse and needed therapy and counseling for the mental trauma he went through. It became clear that Joe wanted abortion legal because he didn’t want people to suffer. As misguided as it was, I realized that he was actually a compassionate person who didn’t want people to suffer like his friend. He was just channeling that compassion in support of something that is not compassionate at all—abortion.

Rebekah (center) and another JFA volunteer who traveled to participate, Enrico (left), are pictured here in conversation with a student at JFA’s University of Arizona outreach in November 2019.

I commended him for his compassion and desire to be a good friend and then I asked how his friend was doing. Once we spoke about things that were a little more personal, I then proceeded to gently make the case that suffering does not justify killing someone no matter what stage of life he/she is in. I asked him if he believed it would be okay to kill a two-year-old in foster care who we knew would suffer a lot? He said no. I then applied that to the issue of abortion: just because humans endure suffering and some grow up in horrible environments, it does not follow that someone else has the right to end that person’s life to prevent future suffering. Suffering does not diminish a person’s value or right to life. We should be caring for the suffering and vulnerable more; not advocating that someone should be able to decide that someone else should die at an earlier stage of life.

Rebekah interacts with a University of Oklahoma student at the JFA Free Speech Board in early November.

We exchanged a few words about our personal lives and then we parted ways. Later that day, I was told by a JFA staff person that Joe came back to the exhibit and told her he had changed his mind on supporting abortion after speaking with me!

It made me think of all the other people impacted by conversations that don’t come back to tell us. I don’t know what the tipping point was for him in our conversation. I do know that his change of heart was something God did. Not me. I am acutely aware that my words and what I say have no power in themselves to change anyone. Being able to see changed hearts on this issue is very rare. God is working behind the scenes in the hearts of the people in front of us. Every once in awhile, He allows us to see the work He is doing by the power of the Holy Spirit.

At a recent outreach event, Rebekah and JFA Director Steve Wagner spoke at length with a young woman who turned out to be very receptive not only to the pro-life position, but also to the possibility that knowing moral concepts like virtue, rights, and “ought” can be as real and “solid” (or, indeed, more “solid”) as scientific knowledge.

God uses all of our interactions with people—the good ones and the really hard ones. Oftentimes, it is very difficult to see His hand in the work up close as so many people seem so hardened in their support for abortion. It can be difficult to feel like I’m kept in the dark as to the results—to feel like no matter what I say and do, nothing changes for the most part. I need to remind myself that my feelings are often not good indicators of what is true. God is working in the hearts of people, and He will accomplish His purpose through imperfect servants who are willing to step out and have a conversation about a difficult issue.

Without Jesus, people are hopeless and lost. Wherever we are, and with whomever we speak, “we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us” (II Cor. 5:20). Only in Him are we set free. And when the Son sets us free, we are free indeed (John 8:36).

- Rebekah Dyer, JFA Volunteer

Five Days in Northeast Kansas

Impact Report, September 2019

Our team gathered from all over the country a few weeks ago (September 8-12) to train students from Benedictine College in northeast Kansas and to conduct outreach with those students both at Benedictine and at the University of Kansas (KU). This Impact Report gives you a glimpse of what our team accomplished during those five days. Please join us in praying for the students you see pictured here.

Sunday (Benedictine College): Kaitlyn Donihue speaks to 28 students (not all pictured) who attended the Sunday seminar. Ten returned on Monday night for advanced dialogue training.

Monday (Benedictine College): 28 additional students attended an evening workshop.

Tuesday (Benedictine College): From left to right, Tammy (light blue shirt), Grace (red hat), Kaitlyn (blue hat), Jeremy (blue shirt), and Jon (shorts) engage students in conversation.

Wednesday (KU): Eric (right), president of the Wichita chapter of Life Runners, talks with a KU student.

Thursday (KU): Tammy Cook (right) interacts with a passerby at KU.

Sunday (Benedictine College): Jeremy Gorr steps into the “blue box” as he helps students think through “who would be in and who would be out” if various explanations of equal rights were true.

Monday (Benedictine College): In our conversations during outreach at Benedictine, we encouraged students to join us for a workshop that evening at Benedictine and outreach later in the week at KU.

Tuesday (Benedictine College): Jon Wagner (right) introduces a student to a new JFA exhibit called “Stronger than Abortion,” an experience of art, Scripture, and reflective prayer. Click here to learn more or to book this exhibit.

Wednesday (KU): Catherine (left) was one of nine Benedictine College students who participated in the outreach at KU.

Thursday (KU): Paul Kulas (center) and volunteer Rebekah (second from right) interact with students near the poll table at KU.

Thursday (KU): JFA staff members and volunteers paused for a quick photo at the end of our second outreach day at KU. Among them are three Benedictine students who traveled more than an hour each way to spend about an hour at KU with our team.

The Power of Common Ground

By Jeremy Gorr, JFA Trainng Specialist

August/September 2019

One of the most important things we teach people is to find common ground when possible—and it is almost always possible! A great example of the power of finding common ground was a conversation I had with Taylor at the University of North Texas.

Taylor was writing on our free speech board (shown in picture). From what he wrote, it may be hard to imagine that I would have had much common ground with him. It seemed like we had totally different worldviews.

It turned out, however, that finding common ground with him was easy! Our conversation started like this:

Jeremy: Do you think there should be any restrictions on abortion at all?

Taylor: I don’t think it should be used as a form of birth control, but that’s about it.

Jeremy: I don’t think that abortion should be used as a form of birth control either. I agree with you about that! Why do you think abortion should be available for other reasons?

Taylor: If the child is not going to have the quality of life he or she should, it should be up to the parent to figure out what’s best for the child.

Jeremy: I agree that it’s tragic when children don’t have a high quality of life. I also agree that parents generally should have freedom regarding how to raise their children.

Notice how I first found something I could agree with after each statement he made. But also notice that I did not agree with everything he said. Even though I agreed with many of his sentiments, I made sure never to agree with him that abortion should be allowed in the circumstances he raised.

We call this finding “common ground without compromise.” We can find much to agree with and never compromise our position to do so. Finding common ground early in the conversation really opened the door to a thoughtful conversation with Taylor. If I had not shown him that we had so much common ground, he might have assumed I was a “Nazi” (see picture above) and not had much to say to me, much less have wanted to listen to me. Using common ground, I was able to establish that I was an empathetic, caring person just like he was.

It was truly amazing to see how these initial points of common ground opened the door to his coming around to agreeing with me on more substantial matters:

Jeremy: Imagine if there were a two-year-old child that had many of the same problems that you believe create a need for abortion, such as a low quality of life. Could we kill the two-year-old?

Taylor: No. Ideally he could be adopted or something, but you can’t kill him. By that time he’s a human being.

Jeremy: I agree. And if the unborn is also already a human, like that two-year-old, can you see how it would be equally wrong to kill her?

Taylor: I understand your argument that she’s a human and it’s not right to kill her. However, I think if you think about what’s best for her life, it would be better if she didn’t exist at all.

Jeremy: I can understand how you feel it might be better if some children didn’t exist at all. However, the question with abortion is very different. Abortion doesn’t prevent a child from coming into existence; it kills a child that already exists.

Taylor: I agree with that. That makes it much more complicated.

Taylor and I had a 20-minute conversation about the humanity of the unborn, human rights, and the immorality of abortion. He agreed with most of my arguments. As we talked it became clear that he was the type of person who would not change his mind on the spot, but definitely will reflect on the new information he learned. There may be many people that you feel have extremely different worldviews and with whom it is difficult to connect. Common ground “without compromise”* is the key to building a genuine connection and reasoning together on the issue of abortion.

* The book Common Ground Without Compromise, written by JFA Executive Director Steve Wagner, is available for free at www.commongroundbook.com.

Smaller-Scale Events Help JFA Reach More Leaders

JFA has been known for using very large exhibits to train Christians to become leaders in their communities, creating dialogue that changes hearts and minds on abortion. While we are still willing to use any of our three large exhibits when training large groups, we now also have many small-scale signs in our tool kit that allow us to divide into smaller teams and visit more regions and campuses, and sometimes we even have events happening in different cities on the same day. (See our “JFA Events at a Glance: Spring 2019” list for a complete list of events.) In this Impact Report, we show just a sampling of some of these smaller-scale events and the leaders they allowed us to train and encourage. Some of our volunteers even joined us multiple times in one semester!

A Four-Year-Old Helps Save a Life

Impact Report, June 2019

In this Impact Report, we share a story that’s been passed down from the early days of Justice For All. The lead character is a four-year-old we’ll call “Rachel” (name changed for privacy). If Rachel was able to help save an unborn child’s life, can’t we do the same?

In the story, Rachel makes use of video footage captured using a technique called embryoscopy. At the time when the story took place, embryoscopy footage was rare and rarely seen. But now the Endowment for Human Development (EHD) has made embryoscopy footage free and readily available through a stunning website, EHD’s amazing apps, and through a new short film (see video below).

JFA recently released a K-4 lesson plan for free on the web (sign-up for updates required). The lesson plan features the video footage from EHD with the hope that we can enable thousands of churches, schools, and families to teach their children (and adults!) to do what Rachel did so naturally: speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves. - Steve Wagner, Executive Director




When “Rachel” went to preschool, she just had to tell her teacher what she had seen.

Rachel had recently climbed into her daddy’s lap as he was preparing the next day’s lesson for his ninth grade biology class. Together, they watched rare footage of very young unborn children, captured using a technique called embryoscopy. Unlike the sonography of the time, these video images were crystal clear. They watched the heart beating through the semi-transparent skin of the embryo. They saw the young fetus move her hands and legs. They watched unborn children open and close their mouths. Rachel was electrified.

As JFA’s founder, David Lee, paraphrased the story years later, here’s what happened next:

Soon after seeing the video with her father, Rachel told her preschool teacher that she had seen babies in their mother’s tummies. She described them in detail. Of course, her preschool teacher knew that wasn’t possible and gently scolded Rachel: “While that is a fun story, it is not really a good thing to make up stories.”

When Rachel’s mother came to pick her up, the teacher felt it necessary to inform Rachel’s mother that she had scolded Rachel for not being entirely truthful. Rachel’s mother replied, “On the contrary, she did see that, sitting in her father’s lap, because he was going to be showing it to his biology class.”

Of course the preschool teacher felt awful. But what might have been the end of a slightly embarrassing story was only the beginning. Not long after, the teacher was entering her apartment, unlocking the door, when she was tapped on the shoulder by her neighbor in the apartment building who was holding a pregnancy test. The neighbor said, “Can you help me read this? I’ve never done this before.”

The teacher was a little embarrassed by the situation, but as a Christian, she decided she must help. She welcomed the young woman into her apartment. Together, they read the test. Her neighbor was pregnant.

The neighbor could only say, “Would you help me go to get an abortion?”

The preschool teacher was shocked and said, “I could never help you do that. I couldn’t help you kill your baby.”

Then it was time for the neighbor to be shocked as she said, “What do you mean, a baby? I’m just four or five weeks pregnant. How could it be a baby?”

““What do you mean, a baby? I’m just four or five weeks pregnant. How could it be a baby?”

The light went on in the preschool teacher’s head: This young woman needed to see the very same footage that Rachel had been talking about at the preschool.

The teacher talked to Rachel’s mother and shared the story about the neighbor who was pregnant and intending to get an abortion. “May I borrow the video to show my neighbor?”

To make a long story short, she did show her neighbor and the boyfriend that video. And there’s a baby whose life was saved, in part because a four-year-old saw video of unborn children and shared it with her friends and her teacher.

If a four-year-old can learn about unborn children and speak up for them so naturally, we think elementary school students (and the rest of us) certainly can watch similar video footage and share what they’ve learned. We think we’ll see lives saved as a result. That’s why JFA has just released our first elementary school lesson plan for widespread use: “The Baby’s Heart Beats Like Mine.” Please click here to access it, download it, share it, and teach it!

Although the lesson can be fun for any age, it’s intended for use with students in kindergarten through fourth grade. As for older students, why not encourage them to help you teach the lesson to your younger students?

In this lesson, K-4 students identify with unborn babies through a series of experiences, including feeling their own heartbeats, seeing the unborn baby in the womb, naming similarities they share with unborn babies, making a bracelet that reminds them of when the heart begins to beat, and narrating what they learned to their parents. The goal is to help them value all human beings including the smallest ones and to get conversations about unborn babies started in churches, schools, and the broader culture.

This K-4 Lesson Plan is well-suited for one-to-many instruction in religious elementary schools, Sunday school environments, and homeschool co-ops, and it's also well-suited for use by parents and grandparents in teaching their kids and grandkids one-to-one.

Justice For All makes this copyrighted Lesson Plan available to anyone to use. To share it with anyone anywhere in the world, use the address www.jfaweb.org/heart-beats-like-mine. You’ll be directed to sign up as a "JFA Content Subscriber." That's free. It's just our way of making sure we can keep in contact with folks using the lesson plan. (Or, you can share this lesson plan summary and letter using the link www.jfaweb.org/june-2019.)

I Didn't See This Coming

May 2019 Impact Report

Kaitlyn Donihue shares the brochure in a conversation at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado in March 2019. (Photos shared in this story courtesy of Master Plan Ministries)

Our team was conducting outreach at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado in March 2019. A young man came up and signed the poll table. I asked him whether he thought abortion should be legal throughout all nine months of pregnancy, or just for a window of time in pregnancy.

“Definitely all nine months,” he said.

“Ok. I am really curious. Women get abortions for a lot of different reasons. How do you feel about a circumstance in which a woman wants a boy, but realizes that she is pregnant with a girl—should she be allowed to get an abortion for that reason?”

“Yes,” he said emphatically. “Women should have choices.”

“So you think that abortion should be legal through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason at all? Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

JFA volunteers dialogue with students at Fort Lewis College in March 2019. (Photo courtesy of Master Plan Ministries)

At this point, I wanted to go talk to someone else. I did not want to talk to someone who was that staunchly pro-choice, but instead I said,

“I agree with what you said a minute ago. Women should have the freedom to make choices. Freedom is so important. I am so glad that I live in a country where I have rights and freedom. There are many countries around the world where I, as a woman, would not have rights.”

JFA volunteers dialogue with students at Fort Lewis College in March 2019. (Photo courtesy of Master Plan Ministries)

“Now, this is going to sound strange,” I said, “But I am also glad that I do not have some rights. For example, I do not have the right to walk onto this campus with a gun and start shooting people. My rights end where your rights begin. So I think the question we have to ask with the issue of abortion is, ‘What is the unborn?’ If the unborn is not a human being and abortion does not kill a human being, then I think you are right. If that were the case, then abortion should be legal through all nine months for any reason. But if the unborn is a human being and abortion actually takes the life of a human being, then even though there are really difficult situations in which women find themselves, I don't think those situations can justify taking the life of a human being. What do you think? Do you think the unborn is a human being?”

I pulled out the JFA brochure and showed him pictures of development.

“Yes. Yes, I think it is a human being. You’re right. This is wrong. We can’t kill human beings,” he said thoughtfully.

“Do you think that abortion should not be legal?”

“Yes. I don’t think it should be legal.” He was staring at the pictures of development.

One conversation during the recent outreach at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado (Photo courtesy of Master Plan Ministries)

“The next page of this brochure contains some graphic pictures of what abortion does. Would you mind if I showed them to you?”

“No. That would be okay.”

I opened the brochure, and we stood there in silence for a couple of moments. He was very thoughtful.

“This should never be legal,” he said.

Through this conversation, I was reminded that I cannot really know another person or his beliefs until I take the time to ask questions and hear him out. I never know what God might do, even in the heart of a student that seems closed off.

Growing Up with Justice For All

One of the most critical parts of our work is training Christians to have conversations about abortion so that they can change people’s hearts and minds. It is always great to see this process working in the real world. I saw it recently at a seminar I gave in Phoenix when one of the participants, Rylei, told me her story.

This is Rylei after a conversation at her first outreach event at Colorado State University in 2017.

We initially trained Rylei as a junior in high school at Faith Christian Academy in 2017. Often when we train Christian students, they tell us that they don’t know who to talk to because all of their friends are pro-life. One of her high school classmates commented, “Because of our culture, I rarely even considered abortion and its morality. This [experience with JFA] really helped show what it is and the impact it really has in America.”

The value of our training, however, lasts throughout these students’ lives. In Rylei’s case, she is now a student at Arizona State University with two pro-choice roommates.

I asked her how her JFA training helped her talk to her pro-choice friends about abortion.

Most of my pro-choice friends haven’t thought through their position very much. I was writing a paper for my class on the pro-life position, using the same arguments you guys gave me. While writing the paper, one of my roommates saw me watching a video of a pro-life person having a conversation with a pro-choice person, and said, “Wow, he is really destroying her pro-choice arguments.” So she’s hearing the arguments as I’m researching my paper. So I find ways to naturally bring up the topic of abortion with them.

Rylei also has a passion for doing outreach at her campus. That passion was born from the outreach she did with us in high school. I am always thinking of how difficult it must be for a high school student like Rylei, who was 16 her first time doing outreach, to engage college students on a difficult topic like abortion.

Rylei’s first exposure to Justice For All was during our seminar at her high school in 2017. Here JFA trainer CK Wisner (center, curly hair) leads her mentor group in interactive exercises and discussion as Rylei (facing CK) listens.

That is what makes outreach such an important part of our training program. Once someone overcomes the initial fear of talking about abortion, this newfound confidence can even last a lifetime. One of her classmates at that first outreach experience said, “Outreach taught me that getting uncomfortable is a really good thing. When God is with you, you don’t have to fear.”

I asked Rylei about her outreach experiences during high school.

I love it. Every time. It is so rewarding, honestly. I know the first time I was super nervous, [and] I got thrown right into a conversation. But after you get through the first conversation I feel like it gets a lot easier.

During her senior year in high school in 2018, Rylei joined us for outreach again, this time at Metro State University in Denver.

Rylei is a living example of our training program in action. Rylei left high school with good arguments for the pro-life position, good skills for conversations about them, and courage to actually have conversations about abortion with those who disagree with her position. She was totally equipped for dealing with her pro-choice roommates and reaching her largely pro-choice campus.

Because of your support of Justice For All, we were able to be there to help Rylei each step of the way. She attended a JFA seminar and then an outreach event at CSU in 2017. She participated again in 2018 at Metro State University. And just last week because of a JFA seminar event, we had the privilege of encouraging her to become active at Arizona State University, where she is now a student. Thank you for partnering with us as we serve students like Rylei, so that they can become effective advocates of their pro-life position to their future pro-choice friends—many of whom will face an unplanned pregnancy in their future.

You Have to See Firsthand

Impact Report, February 2019

As a freshman at the University of New Mexico (UNM), Julia held strong pro-life convictions, bolstered by her faith and her own scientific research. Living in New Mexico, a state some have called “the late-term abortion capital” of the country, she was also aware that many people around her were hurting and severely uninformed about abortion. But Julia didn’t know what she could do to make a difference. Julia knew about the Students For Life club at UNM, but she missed the training seminar that the club had invited JFA to lead for pro-life students that fall. Julia did attend the outreach event JFA held on her campus that week, however, mainly to observe. In this Impact Report, Julia shares how compelling it can be to witness a different kind of conversation about unintended pregnancy and abortion firsthand. It was these conversations that motivated her to share the truth about abortion with her peers and help women facing unintended pregnancies on her campus. Have you ever experienced a JFA outreach event firsthand? If not, join us at any upcoming event and feel free to simply watch and listen. If you can’t make it in person, you can view a complete outreach conversation on our blog, right now! There’s nothing quite like seeing these unique conversations unfold before your eyes.

- Steve Wagner, Executive Director

Julia (far left, with backpack) observes conversations at a 2017 JFA outreach event at UNM during her first semester on campus. The transparent barrel under the yellow sign contains fetal models representing the children killed by abortion in America during the days JFA was on campus.

I first encountered Justice For All during my first semester on campus... It was the second day of outreach and I stopped by the display to listen to the conversations being had. I ended up staying for a couple of hours and witnessed several dialogues about human value, rights, and the reality of abortion. What amazed me was just how effectively and calmly the Justice For All leaders and Students For Life students were able to speak on such a controversial topic.

“I began to dialogue with [the group of pro-choice men] until...one of them began to yell at me for hurting women. It was then that a JFA leader stepped in...‘Look around...you all are so staunchly wanting to stand up for the rights of women, but you’re doing it by yelling at the only woman in this group.’”

Near the end of the day, a group of young men began to speak to each other about why they were pro-choice and were shocked when I, the only woman in the group of about seven men, said I was pro-life. I began to dialogue with them until about ten minutes went by when one of them began to yell at me for hurting women. It was then that a JFA leader stepped in to diffuse the situation and said something that made them all pause: “Look around...you all are so staunchly wanting to stand up for the rights of women, but you’re doing it by yelling at the only woman in this group.” I ended up speaking with a couple of the young men long after JFA had already taken down the display. It was then that I realized that it was this sort of outreach that was so necessary on our campus, and right then I joined Students for Life UNM and became the Pregnant on Campus coordinator which allowed me to offer support and resources to pregnant and parenting students on campus.

Justice For All returned to UNM in fall of 2018 where I got to attend my first actual seminar with them. What inspired me was how they stressed the importance of valuing the life of the person you’re speaking with enough to listen, ask questions, and to be calm, understanding, and kind, all while standing up for the dignity of the unborn. I strongly encourage our group and community members to attend JFA’s trainings because it made me feel like outreach was less about fighting with those who disagree with you in order to prove your point, and more about loving those people enough to take the time to speak to their hearts.

Julia talks with a fellow student during JFA’s outreach event at the University of New Mexico (UNM) in November 2018.

During the outreach days I had the chance to speak with a young man whose girlfriend had two abortions, at least one of them being his child. He at first was very much in support of abortion rights, but as we spoke, and after a couple of hours went by, he revealed just how much hurt and pain he and his girlfriend continue to endure due to the loss of their baby. The conversation began with an unshakable defense of their actions and ended with me giving him abortion healing resources and him thanking us for speaking to him.

Recently everything came full circle, and I was honored to have been named the new President of Students for Life UNM. I still give credit to Justice For All for being that push that changed my personal beliefs about being pro-life to a drive to share this reality with others. I am forever thankful for the work that they do, and we are looking forward to JFA’s next visit to the UNM campus in March!

- Julia
President, UNM Students for Life

Faithful in the Field

November 2018

This Impact Report features pictures of recent outreach events. We’ve been testing a new smaller type of sign as well as content from our new dialogue brochure.

To complement the pictures, I’ve asked each of our trainers to select the names of a couple of people you have helped us reach in the past few months. Let’s give thanks to God for each of these and many more we’ve had the opportunity to serve.

We are privileged to stand with you each month training Christians to create conversations that make a difference in how people think and feel about abortion. Our aim is always to stay faithful in the field, trusting God to bring change through our efforts, in spite of our weaknesses. Please consider continuing to stand with us through prayers and a generous year-end gift.

- Steve Wagner, Executive Director

Rebecca Hotovy (sitting) interacts with a student at KU. Volunteer Pauline listens.

“Thank you for helping me share with ‘Ben’ how valuable he is. He felt children with cleft pallet should be aborted because he had a cleft pallet and knew how society had treated him. He was very lonely. Thanks also for helping me mentor Ashley, pro-life club president at the University of Kansas (KU), during her third outreach with JFA!” – Rebecca Hotovy

Pauline volunteered again at OU. Here Tammy Cook and Pauline interact with a student near the Free Speech Board.

“One of the standout students that I mentored this fall was Nate. He said, ‘Loved this training today. It felt like I gained so much more knowledge. Definitely changed what I thought was supposed to be having a debate with someone, to genuinely caring and kind and having a conversation.’ A chain reaction has begun as Nate uses what he learned to make an impact for God’s kingdom. I’m also thankful for a student named Sarah at the University of Oklahoma (OU). Through her personal experience with losing a child, I was reminded to lean into the Holy Spirit in tough conversations, especially when discussing the topic of losing a child, whether to abortion or miscarriage. Thank you for your sacrifices that make our work possible.” – Tammy Cook

Steve Wagner (center) interacts at GMU.

“I thank God for the chance to interact with ‘Andrew’ at George Mason University (GMU) in Fairfax, Virginia. He really wrestled with what explains equal rights and whether the unborn should be included. I also talked in depth with a young woman at GMU who claimed to be a Christian but who believed women can get abortions because they have a right to their bodies. I had the privilege of mentoring and encouraging Sarah, a high-school student who courageously shared her faith and her pro-life view with students at OU for two days. Our team was also encouraged to see other volunteers, including Pauline, Lauren, Jasmin, Ian, Mark Bryant, and Mark Wood, join our team for multiple days of outreach this fall!” – Steve Wagner

At OU, we filled a large expanse of lawn with conversations sparked by content from our Art of Life Exhibit, our Stop and Think Exhibit, and our new Invitation to Dialogue Brochure.

Grace Fontenot (red sweater) interacts with students at UNT. Note the new poll question JFA trainers have been testing.

“This past October during JFA’s outreach at OU, I was able to mentor a high school student named Haven. Haven is only 15, but her passion for defending the smallest humans on earth is incredible. Thank you for making it possible for me to encourage and assist in honing her skills as an advocate. Thank you, also, for the gift of making it possible for me to meet Katie in Georgia. Our conversation began with her feeling discouraged and angry and ended with her feeling listened to as we discussed whether or not the unborn is human, what we can do to help women in difficult situations so that they don’t feel that they have to choose abortion, and whether or not Jesus Christ is God. These women are very different from one another, but what they have in common is that they were both impacted by Justice For All, so thank you for making it possible for us to pour into people like Haven and Katie.” – Grace Fontenot

“I am thankful for Howa who is passionate about her pro-life beliefs. I was thrilled to be able to tag-team conversation with her on campus. I am also thankful for the opportunity I had to share the truth about abortion and my faith with Abdul, a Muslim student at the University of North Texas (UNT).” – Kaitlyn Donihue

Kaitlyn Donihue (pink) creates conversation at OU. Note how the juxtaposed imagery of mother and child makes it clearer that we care about both.

Jon Wagner debriefs with Christian Heritage Academy students after outreach at OU.

“Thank you for helping me equip Haley last week in Denton, Texas. She was extremely thankful to learn how to take the abortion controversy from contentious debate to healthy dialogue. You helped me reach out to Eva at our UNT outreach event. Although she didn’t shift her view 100%, Eva was challenged by our pro-life perspective. She was thankful that I acknowledged the complexity of foster care. She admitted that abortion doesn’t fix the challenges related to foster care.” – Jon Wagner

Paul Kulas interacts with a student at UMN. New signs enhance JFA’s poll table outreach.

“Thank you for allowing me to train Kyra, a high-school student who joined JFA for outreach at OU. As I mentored her on campus, she was able to see firsthand how the training prepared her for real-life conversations with those of differing views on abortion. I am thankful for meeting Camden, a freshman pro-life student at OU, whom I was able to encourage and challenge to become active in the pro-life movement.” – Paul Kulas

Jeremy Gorr (right) interacts with students near our poll table at Kennesaw State University (KSU).

“Thank you for allowing me to train Max at Christian Heritage Academy who came to the University of Oklahoma (OU) with us and did a great job at outreach. Thank you for allowing me to talk to Matthew at the University of Minnesota (UMN) during outreach, which opened up an ongoing dialogue about abortion, God, and Christianity.” – Jeremy Gorr

Interns in Action

Susanna interacts with “Rachel” at OSU. See “Of Men and of Angels” below for the story.

Having driven from Virginia to Kansas to begin a JFA internship on September 1, 2017, Susanna found herself four days later in Indiana at Purdue University creating conversations. Sensing that conversation was a passion of the JFA team, she jumped in with both feet. By the time her internship ended in June 2018, she had logged over 100 conversations with students on college campuses. In one of those conversations, she talked with “Rachel” (pictured, right) at Oklahoma State University (OSU) and shared the story in her reflection, “Of Men and of Angels” (below).

Kaitlyn interacts with students at WSU in the first week of her internship with Justice For All.

These conversations didn’t happen by chance. JFA’s training team (supported by hundreds of monthly and annual supporters) worked hard to arrange all of the logistical details so that these events could take place.

Throughout her internship, Susanna also jumped with both feet into another JFA passion: training advocates. She learned to deliver the speaking for whole sections of JFA’s workshops and seminars. And she did it like a pro.

Susanna didn’t stop there. She went on to teach JFA material to 30 members of an outreach-oriented mission team at Boardwalk Chapel in Wildwood, New Jersey in July 2018 during three workshops she organized by herself. She’s now a student at George Mason University and one of the inaugural class of fellows in the new JFA Fellowship program. She’s working to partner with JFA as she creates outreach events on her campus.

More conversations. More advocates. Two passions. Susanna explored and exemplified both. That’s also our aim for Kaitlyn, the intern we just welcomed to Wichita a few weeks ago. In fact, during the first two days of her internship, Kaitlyn was with the JFA team on the Wichita State University (WSU) campus creating conversations with students. Now she’s preparing to teach sections of a JFA workshop on October 7 in Minnesota. Like Susanna, Kaitlyn has jumped with both feet into both of JFA’s passions!

Please pray with us for both Susanna and Kaitlyn. We thank God for their dedication to the JFA Internship program, to creating conversations, and to training advocates on into the future. We also thank God for your partnership that makes it possible for our interns to learn to change hearts and minds for a lifetime.

“Of Men and of Angels” by Susanna Buckley (March 2018)

Out of the corner of my eye by Oklahoma State University’s Chi-O Clock, I recognized her. Just moments before, she had walked past me. I had smiled and she had smiled back, but then she kept walking. Now, she was returning in my direction, slowly. I turned and smiled again, “Would you like to sign our poll table?” As if noticing it for the first time, “Rachel” agreed. (See a picture of this conversation on the reverse.) After she finished writing on the “Yes” side of the “Should Abortion Remain Legal?” poll, she waited around to talk to me about her view.

We introduced ourselves, and she said abortion should be legal because of the many difficulties that people discover along the way in pregnancy. I agreed that there are many possible complications and difficulties involved in pregnancy. Rachel then cautiously voiced her belief that the unborn isn’t human. She asked me what I thought about abortion.

Gently, I said, “Before I tell you what I think, can I ask you more questions?” She happily agreed.

“You said you don’t think the unborn is human. Do you mean that in a biological sense or a philosophical sense [i.e. that the unborn doesn’t share our intrinsic value or basic right to life]?”

She grinned. “I just came from a human development class, and I failed philosophy; so let’s talk about biology!”

Carefully and respectfully, she and I went back and forth for a few minutes while I clarified the specifics of her position. Through the answers to five questions, I discovered that she believes the unborn is just a mass of cells in the first two weeks of pregnancy. According to her professor, “You can technically get in there and find human DNA, but it’s not a human yet.”* We discussed this and ended up agreeing that the unborn is biologically human from conception. It was her understanding, however, that the unborn was not significant in value until the third week of development when the new heart and brain are in communication, and he or she starts to look more human in appearance.

I felt that we were getting into the territory of philosophy, so I transitioned us. “Rachel, you asked me what I think about abortion. I think we should value human life in all stages of development, even those humans in life stages to which I am not personally attracted. I cannot relate much to the unborn from conception to three weeks of age, but it is still important to treat it like the human that it is and respect life all the way through development, even to old age. That includes the two-week embryo, all these students around us, and you.”

She paused and stared at me for a moment. When she spoke, she said, “Let me just say, that is the most sensible pro-life view I’ve ever heard. Every other time I’ve had this conversation, the pro-life person just screamed expletives at me and derided me for being a ‘liberal.’”

I expressed sadness at the way she had been treated in the past, and I thanked her for sharing her experience. She went on to say how nice it was to disagree in a free way with me. She had grown up in a liberal environment, I had a conservative upbringing, and we were looking for truth together.

Thinking back on this exchange, I Corinthians 13 has new context for me. Even if I could speak with the tongues of men and of angels, having the most knowledge and scientific facts at my disposal, but I do not love the person I’m talking to, it’s more than worthless – it is that obnoxious sound that hurts, and you wish would just stop. For Rachel, I was the first person with whom she disagreed who had allowed her to express her opinion without attacking her. I hope I’m not the last.

Thank you so much for your support which enables me to create a different kind of conversation about abortion with students like Rachel on college campuses all around the United States.

* Explore biological evidence for the humanity of the unborn at JFA’s “What Is the Unborn?” page, and learn why this professor’s statement was problematic on two counts. (Biologically, it’s false. Also, “human” is ambiguous.)

Worth the Interruption

Spencer Stewart, a high school teacher and long-time JFA volunteer, is passionate about the training opportunities that JFA provides to Christian communities like his school (Veritas Christian School in Lawrence, Kansas).  In recent years, Spencer has invested personal time and effort in equipping his students for dialogue during class time.  In March, after teaching students using JFA materials, he brought twenty students to our University of Kansas outreach event to watch JFA mentors in conversation and to give the students an opportunity to join in.  In this Impact Report, Spencer and several of his students share about their experiences.  (Student quotations have been edited for length.)  We are always eager to come alongside teachers like Spencer who have a heart for discipleship, providing the tools and experiences they can use to help their students “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” (Prov. 31:8, NIV).  - Steve Wagner, Executive Director


Spencer Stewart talks with a University of Kansas (KU) student at a JFA outreach event in April 2015.

I have attended about a dozen Abortion: From Debate to Dialogue seminars by Justice For All, often in order to bring new volunteers, as well as multiple outreaches on different college campuses.  For two years now, it has been my privilege to teach JFA’s material to juniors and seniors in my Worldview and Apologetics classes over the course of the week leading up to a campus outreach.  They have eagerly engaged with the training.  I love that the Three Essential Skills (asking clarifying questions, listening to understand, and building common ground without compromise) prepare them to be better humans and better conversation partners on any topic.

All of my students know that they should be pro-life, but I love to see lightbulbs switch on as they learn more precisely why – and how to help others see it for themselves.  At the outreach, we pair students with an apologist with Justice For All so they can listen in on and pray through the conversations taking place.  Having received the training in class, they are able to track with the JFA apologist and better learn the nuances of these kinds of dialogues.  Some of our students even jump in and engage in conversations of their own.  All of the students have been enthusiastic about the experience.  It opens their eyes to the diversity of thinking on campus, and they all benefit from JFA staff members modeling both kindness and conviction in the midst of a controversial issue.  The juniors always want to do it again the following year. The hope is that the second time around will help them internalize the approach and increase their confidence to lead this kind of conversation.

Spencer (left) talks with a University of Kansas (KU) student at a JFA outreach event in April 2016. Students whom he brought to that outreach event listen in.

It obviously interrupts the flow and takes a chunk of time away from our regular content, but I believe it is worth it, without a doubt.  In terms of scope and severity, I consider abortion to be the greatest injustice on the planet, and God’s people are called to partner with Him in seeking justice, especially for the weakest and most vulnerable among us.  With this issue, I believe partnering with Justice For All is the best way to do that, especially because they also work to connect students who are considering abortion (or who need healing from one) with local pregnancy care centers.  We are wired to be heroes, and we can literally save lives at these outreaches, and in our daily walk, once we have been prepared in this way.  I pray that more and more churches and schools will open themselves up to be blessed by JFA and equipped for life on mission.

- Spencer Stewart, Veritas Christian School Teacher

Spencer (right) listens to a conversation at one of the first JFA outreach events in which he participated, at Wichita State University in January 2012. 

[The JFA in-class preparation] taught me how to communicate an important point with someone in a non-threatening way, and it made me really think about my reasons for being pro-life.

- Marianna, Veritas Christian School Student

Spencer (right) and his students listen as Rebecca Hotovy describes JFA’s Art of Life Exhibit at the recent University of Kansas outreach event in March 2018.

The JFA outreach was beneficial to me because I have never gotten the chance to talk to a stranger about my beliefs and ask about theirs.  It was great to [hear] someone else’s belief, and for them to hear mine.  Using the finding common ground technique worked great because they felt differently about the message we were sending after we talked.

- Rondre, Veritas Christian School Student

The JFA [in-class preparation] showed me how to better listen and not just attack a person based on their opinion.  It helped my confidence when speaking to non-believers about scriptural things.  The JFA outreach was super cool to be a part of because we were doing the work of God.  Watching older, wiser people listen and have Godly conversations was helpful spiritually.  The JFA outreach showed me just a glimpse of some of the opinions on campus, and the need for God.

- Quinton, Veritas Christian School Student

JFA impacted me by helping me understand the facts about abortion and how to talk to people in a relational way about this topic.  It strengthened my reasoning for what I believe and opened my eyes to other people’s views.

- Leandra, Veritas Christian School Student

The JFA training impacted me by making me feel more prepared to share about abortion with others and get into meaningful conversations.  The techniques they taught us were very helpful and will be useful going into next year.  The JFA outreach was different than what I thought it was going to be, but in a good way.  The exhibit [was] very thought provoking and a good way to get people to ask questions.

- Emma, Veritas Christian School Student

The JFA [in-class preparation] made me think of most debates or disagreements in a different way.  It gave me a different method to approach them.  The JFA outreach was interesting because it showed the actual beliefs of real people, not just hypothetical responses and answers.

- Anonymous, Veritas Christian School Student

You Can't Learn This In a Classroom

Introductory Note:  JFA training is not just theoretical.  JFA volunteers are able to immediately put what they learn into practice.  Once equipped through a JFA seminar, volunteers start their practical training by watching their JFA mentors in conversation, observing how they use JFA dialogue skills with pro-choice advocates.  After that they create their own conversations alongside a JFA mentor who can offer feedback and support.  Volunteers are enthusiastic about this unique, active learning experience, one that can’t be replicated in a classroom.  In this Impact Report, featuring conversation stories from Rebecca Hotovy and Paul Kulas, you'll see how JFA mentors supported outreach volunteers at our recent University of Kansas (KU) outreach, praying for them, modeling good dialogue, and participating with them in their first conversations.  - Steve Wagner, Executive Director


I was mentoring a young woman named Maya, the president of the Jayhawks for Life club that had invited JFA to the University of Kansas (KU).  I had been praying for her throughout the trip because I wanted her to be able to be encouraged by the conversations that she was going to witness while we were mentoring her.  She’s someone who really desires to go out and create conversation. 

Maya (right) talks to a fellow student at JFA’s Art of Life Exhibit outreach at the University of Kansas, an outreach she helped to organize.  See the JFA Photo Archive for more photos from the KU outreach event.

One of the first conversations she witnessed was actually one that she started.  She saw a young man, “Will,” standing next to the Art of Life Exhibit, and when she realized that he was just standing there looking and that no one else on our staff was able to engage him, she walked up to him to ask him what he thought.  When she started to ask him questions, Will revealed that he actually didn’t know yet what his thoughts were about abortion.

She didn’t know where to go from there, so she asked if she could introduce him to someone who could guide him through the pro-life position.  Once she found out that Will was open to a dialogue with someone, she ran and grabbed me, brought me over, and introduced me to him.

Rebecca (left), Maya (hidden, with pink cap), and another volunteer interact with students (not Will) at JFA’s Art of Life Exhibit at KU.

We started a conversation, and Will seemed pretty open to hearing why I believed what I did.  I asked him if I could see if there were areas where we could agree.  First we jumped into the topic of biology.  I told Will that I believed that the unborn is a human being from conception forward, and he said, “You know, I don’t believe that it’s a human being from conception on a biological level.”  I then found out that he was a biology major, so I first asked him, “Since you’re a biology major, would you mind if I would just share with you snippets from my understanding of biology, and then you can break those down, and tell me if you agree or disagree?”  He said, “Okay!”

So I took about two minutes to explain the sperm and the egg coming together.  We also walked through the “construction vs. development” concept.  (See our “Extending Your Learning - Biology” page to learn more about the way in which the unborn is not constructed like a car, but instead develops from within, more like a polaroid photo.)  He said, “You know, there’s nothing there I can disagree with at this point.”

Sean (right) and Benjamin (center) talk to their JFA mentor, Paul Kulas (left), about Benjamin’s first conversation at the KU outreach in March.

Then we walked through the idea that, from fertilization, the unborn is not part of another organism, but is a whole organism with its own functional parts.  I asked Will what his thoughts were on that, and he said, “You know, there’s nothing I can disagree with there either.”  So we came to the end of walking through how we know the unborn is biologically human, and he didn’t have anything to refute.

“Okay, so we agree that the unborn is biologically human,” I said.  “What does that mean with regard to abortion?”  After that, I walked through the Equal Rights Argument, and he seemed to be very responsive to that line of reasoning.  (Learn to defend the equal right to life of the unborn through real-life dialogue examples in our Equal Rights Argument Newsletter Collection.)

We had probably talked for about thirty minutes when Will looked at me and at Maya.  “That is one of the most logical arguments I have heard for the pro-life position,” he said.  “I am really going to have to continue processing this and thinking about this.”

When he walked away, Maya turned to me and said, “That was amazing!”

I was really excited because this seemed to be an answer to my prayers for Maya.  That was one of the first outreach conversations she had witnessed, and it walked through the seminar material in a way that would make it make sense for her.  It wasn’t a conversation about one of the more complicated topics that are sometimes raised at our events, such as “whether or not we know we exist” or “whether or not we can know anything at all.”  It was actually one of the more basic conversations, in which the person with whom we spoke was able to follow pretty simple ideas and logic.

- Rebecca Hotovy, Training Specialist

Three students from a Catholic high school joined the JFA team at KU as mission trip participants from out of state.  These young men were participants at the JFA seminar held just off campus and then came out to volunteer for the first full day of outreach at KU.  After they helped with exhibit setup, our team started to create conversations with KU students.  About an hour or two into the outreach, I noticed that these young men from my group were doing a good job of just observing JFA staff members’ conversations, which is what we had instructed them to do for the first portion of the day.

I was taking pictures, standing off to the side, when a KU student came up to two of the young men, Benjamin and Sean.  They were standing next to the new art table by the Art of Life Exhibit at the time, listening to one of Becca Hotovy’s conversations.  (See pictures of the art table created by JFA trainer Grace Fontenot, and other photos from the recent outreach at KU, in the JFA Photo Archive.)  Right after the KU student came up to talk to them, Benjamin started interacting with him.  The college student seemed to have an agenda, and he had a sort of steamrolling personality in the conversation.  I was within earshot, but not close enough to be in the conversation, so I slowly inched my way closer to listen and be available if I was needed.

The KU student shared that he had grown up in a Christian community in a small, remote town.  A 13-year-old girl in the town had been forced into an intimate, incestuous relationship by an older family member.  He said the girl had ended up getting pregnant as a result, and that the family had shamed this young woman for what had happened even though she was the victim.  The KU student ended up basically saying to the high schoolers, “What would you tell this woman who gets pregnant and wants an abortion?”

It was one of the hardest topics that ever gets brought up, and it was the first conversation in which these students had actively participated.  I didn’t know how Benjamin would handle it, but he did a really good job of showing compassion for the rape victim, balancing the relational and intellectual challenges inherent in responding to the question of rape.  (See “What about Rape?” in JFA's Interactive Guide to learn to meet both challenges and respond in a Christ-like way.)  I thought that with just one seminar under his belt, he actually did very well at staying on the relational side, focusing on the horror of rape and showing genuine sympathy.  He didn’t jump into intellectual argument mode, even though he was a very intellectually adept student.  I did end up joining in the conversation at one point to help out somewhat, but he had done a really good job of focusing on the right approach at the right time. 

- Paul Kulas, Director of Operations

Reaching Pro-Choice Christians

Impact Report, March 2018

By Joanna Bai, Training Specialist

Last October, I received an email from a college student named Ann:

...I chose the topic of abortion in Japan for my senior thesis and plan to research the various views on the topic among students and faculty at my school. I then hope to...encourage discussion among students.

“From conversations with a few friends I was surprised at the number of people who accept abortion as an option, especially during the early stages. If I remember correctly, I heard you were a part of the pro-life club at Wheaton. I realize it will be a bit different here, but I am curious...what approaches you took in your activities on campus.”

Ann (left), pictured along with her brothers, Luke and Benjamin

Ann and I grew up attending church together in Santa Margarita, a rural town near the Central Coast of California. I graduated from Wheaton College, a Christian college in Illinois, and she is currently finishing her senior year at Tokyo Christian University in Japan. As a high school student in 2014, Ann had attended a short JFA workshop that I gave at our home church. Following that workshop, she drove over two hours to attend a full-length JFA training seminar and a JFA outreach event which had been arranged through Right to Life of Central California. Years went by before I heard much more from Ann. Then I received her email.

It was true that I had led the Wheaton College pro-life club during the 2010-11 school year. I emphasized to Ann how much I wish, in retrospect, that I had had more courage to actively create outreach opportunities to engage fellow students on my campus. It’s often assumed at a Christian school that most people basically agree about abortion. Like Ann, however, when I did have interactions with Christian friends, I found a diversity of views. Many of my Christian peers did not know when to mark the beginning of human life, were comfortable with first-trimester abortion, supported abortion in the case of rape, or did not think their private views on abortion had a place in public policy. While at Wheaton, I had focused on speaking events and small group dialogue practice among club members, but never organized any outreach events to engage people in the broader community about their views.

Ann decided to learn from my omission and engaged her campus in dialogue.

Not only did Ann survey a total of 99 students, faculty, and staff members (more than one-third of Tokyo Christian University) about their specific views on abortion, she also researched the history of abortion in Japan, wrote a research paper, gave a speech on the topic to her speech class, and followed up with 23 of the people she had surveyed. She also organized a JFA workshop for her campus community, and she asked me to lead the workshop via video conference. She even planned a JFA-style outreach event on her campus for the day following the workshop. In a country where abortion is generally accepted and rarely discussed openly, Ann was using the JFA training she had received years before to spark much-needed conversation among Christians who can make a difference.

JFA trainer Joanna Bai (left, on screen) led the JFA workshop at Tokyo Christian University for 19 participants (not all in view).

I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with Ann throughout this process. She asked me for feedback as she prepared and planned, and she also asked me for prayer along the way. Her passion to reach her Christian peers re-ignited the similar passion I felt in college, and it was an honor to support her by leading the workshop event for her.

The three-hour workshop we planned together took place last month. It was translated by a professor on campus because many attendees were not fluent in English. A total of 19 students, faculty, and staff members attended, hailing from Japan, America, Nepal, the Philippines, Indonesia, Uganda, and Canada. I first shared about the inhumanity of abortion, and, with a warning, showed images of the results of abortion. I emphasized the need to share the graphic truth about abortion because I knew that many in Japan have probably never seen graphic abortion images before; additionally, because Ann had interviewed a large portion of her community, I knew that many of the participants were likely on the fence about abortion in certain cases. Because several of those interviewed had mentioned rape as a case in which abortion may be acceptable, I also took time later in the workshop to address that circumstance in particular. Participants were even able to go through practice dialogue activities in pairs, thanks to the efforts of several people Ann had recruited for translation. Finally, I ended the workshop by emphasizing our Christian duty to “rescue those who are being taken away to death,” rather than remaining silent in the face of such injustice (Proverbs 24:11-12).

I was encouraged by the participants’ interest in the topic. One professor wrote on her comment card:

“This was my first time attending a training that addresses abortion in particular, so it was a good opportunity. Humans developing from the inside, unlike the parts of a car [being put together piece by piece from the outside]. I thought this is very important in thinking about life.” (See our “Extending Your Learning - Biology” page for more on this topic.)

Ann wrote to the JFA team to tell us about the outreach event she had held the day after the workshop. None of the participants ended up joining Ann for the outreach, but Ann decided to be an active example to her peers anyway. She started conversations with fellow students by herself, alongside her handmade JFA-style display showing images of the unborn at different stages before and after abortion. One of her conversations was with a student who had participated in the workshop. He said that during his time in America, he had heard politicians promoting the pro-choice position. Then he said, “Before the training yesterday I had always thought pro-choice was a good thing.” The workshop had opened his eyes to look past pro-choice rhetoric and take a hard look at the inhumanity of abortion. (Ann had another fascinating interaction about the word “human” in Japanese. Read about it in the blog post “Are We Talking about the Same Thing?”)

I was amazed at what Ann was able to accomplish through her project. Ann’s willingness to go to such lengths to raise the topic of abortion with her peers in Japan reminded me that every event we put on here in the States – every presentation, workshop, seminar, and outreach event – has the potential to spark an interest in someone like Ann, someone who can take that passion with her to places where JFA will never step foot.

This is how JFA’s work is designed. Our team is not here to take on the huge task of changing public opinion on our own. We are here to equip Ann, and to equip you, to become a different kind of advocate, having a different kind of conversation, with people we will never meet. Only together, and only with God’s help, can we create a different kind of world for the smallest humans among us.

Ann’s experience with her Christian peers was similar to mine, and, we think, similar to the state of affairs in many Christian colleges, churches, schools, and ministries. When we ask people within our Christian communities specific questions about what they believe on abortion, we find that they often hold pro-choice views. We are here to equip you, like Ann, to reach your community. You don’t necessarily need to go to a secular campus or have many non-Christian friends in order to make a difference. If you are wondering with whom you could possibly create a conversation about abortion, I have one simple suggestion: perhaps your church pew is the best place to start.

We Don't Deserve This

Impact Report, January 2018

My experiences at our outreach events over the past 15 years have taught me again and again a lesson we now emphasize to every person we train: you can’t judge whether or not you’re successful in a conversation by looking at the results.  Sure, if you get a bad result, it might be a clue that you are doing a bad job of articulating the truth or loving the person with whom you’re speaking.  It might be a clue you need to work on some aspect of being an ambassador for Christ.  There may be other reasons, though, that the results you saw were either bad or nil.  For example, the person may think things through privately when you are long gone.

When we share stories where we do see some specific good result or moment of impact, we try to keep this reality in mind.  Even still, we enjoy sharing stories where God seems to be making his presence clearer or when people seem to be especially open to our work of kindling affection for the smallest humans on earth and women in distress.  As we share these stories from JFA staff members Susanna Buckley, Jeremy Gorr, and Rebecca Haschke, we’re mindful that we don’t deserve to see what God is doing.  Stories like these are simply a special grace from our loving Father, partly shared with us and you for our encouragement.  Let’s enjoy his work! 

- Steve Wagner, Executive Director


Georgia, October 2017

While in Georgia, I had an amazing conversation with a young man who approached the exhibit.  We agreed that abortion should not be legal in the last two trimesters and should not be done for just any reason.  He said that a good reason to have an abortion would be if the unborn was diagnosed with a disability.  With permission, I shared with him the story of a baby with spina bifida who had received surgery in utero to fix part of the baby’s spine.  In the corner of my eye, I saw a lady in a wheelchair coming down the sidewalk in our direction.  I kid you not ― as we were talking, this woman approached us and interrupted our conversation. She passionately shared that she had spina bifida and was afraid for unborn babies with that diagnosis.  Many of them are aborted.  She said, “Never let disability be the reason you have an abortion.  Never.  We can have good lives too.”  The young man listened in awe as the woman told her story.  He left an hour later saying he had a lot to think about.

- JFA Intern Susanna Buckley

Oklahoma, November 2017

I met Sharon at the University of Oklahoma (OU).  She thought there should be no legal restrictions on abortion even though she personally believes the unborn are human and abortion is wrong.  She said it is situational, and even she may end up in a situation later in life where she would choose abortion, so she doesn’t want to take away the right from others who may be in tough situations.

I proceeded to “trot out the toddler” and tried to convince her that there are no situations that justify killing innocent human beings.  We talked about this for a while, and at the end of the conversation she said:

“This is a very eye-opening conversation.  I like this.  I see people on our campus all the time with signs I disagree with, and I pre-judge them and don’t speak with them.  And then I don’t have the opportunity to have conversations like this, where it really makes you question things and think about your own moral judgements.”

- JFA Trainer Jeremy Gorr

“Zoey” shared that she would never choose to have an abortion but that abortion should be legal because women need to be given the right to choose.  As I asked questions about what she believed, I discovered she didn’t have confidence that the unborn was biologically human at conception.  Throughout the conversation she asked me a lot of questions about the things that didn't seem convincing to her.  After that part of the conversation she agreed that the unborn was biologically human from conception.

Indiana, September 2017

We then discussed whether or not those human beings deserved equal treatment.  I used the Equal Rights Argument just as we teach it in the JFA seminar.  After that discussion, she agreed that abortion should not be legal for any reason throughout the entire pregnancy.  Of course, it was a joy to witness the fruits of our conversation, but it was the end of the conversation that surprised me:

Zoey:  Wow, I’m excited to finally have the same opinion as my family!

Becca:  I’m excited for you too. Are a lot of your family members pro-life?

Zoey:  Yes, they are all pro-life, and I’ve been the one who has the “different” ideas.  My aunt and my grandma have tried to talk to me about this but it never goes well.  You and I had differing opinions but I felt safe asking you the questions that I had because you didn’t get mad at me.  This conversation was different because you helped me process through the information to help me understand your position.

What a surprise it was to find that Zoey actually wanted to have the same opinion as her family and that it was a relief to her that she could now honestly hold the same view her family held.  This conversation was a reminder that I can’t conclude that someone is close-minded just because she holds a view that is different from mine.

- JFA Trainer Rebecca Haschke