'Bella' Movie Saves Over 400 Babies From Abortion!

"“What the movie does is touch the women where we can’t,” said Tracy Reynolds, program director of Bella HERO in an interview today with LifeSiteNews. “It really shows her what her opportunity would be either to be a ‘mom’ or to ‘choose adoption’ and give that child a home.”

Reynolds compared the film to a “mega ultrasound” which allows a troubled pregnant mother to really see the possibilities in choosing life."

Click HERE to read stories of women who changed their mind on having an abortion because of watching this movie! What a beautiful outreach tool this popular movie gives us. We use this movie occasionally in our offices as well. Even the workers often enjoy watching it. I'm sure you've already seen it, but on the off chance you haven't, it's a must for sure.

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/445-babies-saved-from-abortion-by-free-bella-movie-popcorn

NYC Churches Unite to Protest Discrimination

Thursday morning I stood with two other fellow interns and representatives from churches all over NYC in the chilly rain outside Morris High School in the Bronx. We were there in solidarity to protest a local Christian church being kicked out of a space in a public building they had been using for worship. 

Obviously such a move brought together Christians from all over who have either experienced the same discrimination or were worried it could happen to them as well. 

There was a pretty good turnout of people and many were being arrested for crossing the street to protest in front of the school entrance. They were there for hours and there was public prayer, along with praise & worship songs sung. We met a pastor and Greg was interviewed by a Manhattan reporter. Everyone was very positive and in good spirits. It was getting pretty cold with the drizzle but the people were resilient.

Visiting Friends Save Lives

Over the New Year I was blessed to have some friends visit from back home in Michigan. They were interested in the work we do here and came to see it in action. They wanted to learn about the counseling, pro-life work on the frontlines, and see the sights in NYC. They came eager, energetic, and hopeful. They were open to anything and simply wanted to help out. But this isn't just any good work that we are doing; when we go to work lives get saved. Just as actually as if they had pushed someone out of the way of a stray taxi on the busy streets of NYC, they went to help at our centers and they came away having saved the life of at least one child.
A vacation that changes lives, a trip that yields a whole lot more than good pictures (and there were some pretty good pictures!). It was such a joy to have them here and they have made a difference that will last a lifetime (at least one more than expected, in fact).

Lost Motherhood

One of the more noticeable language isms in NYC, at least in the areas we work in, is the term 'Mami' (sp?) used to refer to any young woman. It's kinda like saying "hey you" or "girl" to get someone's attention or when talking to a stranger. It took me a while to get used to because I didn't understand why everyone was calling each other "Mommy". It was especially striking because I was working with so many abortion minded people and coming to understand what a lost sense of motherhood most of these women have who were being called "Mommy" on a regular basis.
Then it kinda struck me. Almost like a desperate cry for help, it felt like all of broken, deprived parents going about the city were expressing their sense of lost motherhood. As if there was a great loss of mothers in their city because of the great loss of children.
Now, I know that's not what anyone is thinking, but it's incredibly ironic that both the tragedy of abortion and the common usage of "mami" and "papi" exist so prominently within the same population.

40 Days for Life Coming Soon

Our bi-annual tradition of hosting the 40 Days for Life in NYC continues this spring! Mark your calendars to join us or pray from where you are to support those who will be keeping vigil outside Dr. Emily's abortion clinic in the South Bronx. If you are able to make a weekly commitment, it would be a huge blessing to all those women and the community. For more information and to spread the word, visit our site at: www.40daysforlife.com/nyc.

Just Life in NYC

This isn't directly related to pro-life work, but the reality of where these women come from and what kind of baby daddys they have makes it pretty relevant i think: 
I was out getting some lunch one day (we were trying to clean and board up the house against a rat, so I couldn’t use the stove) and I decided to try and find a pizzaria in an area I hadn’t checked out before. I found a nice place (it had cheese fries!) and while I was waiting for my order, I leaned against the wall and listened in on the conversation that was going on around me. A group of black guys were hanging out (seemed like one of their normal gathering places) and started talking about their plans for the weekend. There was some discussion of whether any of them would be arrested and then when the best time to be arrested would be. It used to be Friday night was bad, but now there is apparently court on Saturdays, so that would actually be the best time. Saturday night is bad though obviously, because then you have to wait for Monday to get out. One said when he was arrested they had written “crack dealer” on his report. He was laughing, how did they come up with that? Another said he never knows when he’ll get arrested, could be for just walking down the street. Cop stops you and you say “wha’d I do?” and he thinks you look like a thug, just because you’re black.  That’s normal life for them. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never thought to plan my weekend around when the best time to get arrested is. I came away from that pizzaria with a lot more than I expected (and not just because I found cheese fries).

Believe It or Not

Have I lived a pretty sheltered life up until this point? Yes. But what kinds of things was I unaware of and am now discovering? Some pretty shocking and horrible ones. I think I appreciate my upbringing a little more the more I learn I was not exposed to so early on. Sometimes my fellow interns bring home new and crazier stories every day. After all we’ve heard, we still all stand there with our mouths open, shaking our heads and at a loss for words. Helps that we are in NYC too. Sometimes the stories don’t even involve our work.

A few months ago one of the workers came home and was in a fairly worked up state. She was all excited and in some state of disbelief. It took a little bit to understand what she was trying to explain. She said that one of her girls (that’s how we refer to our clients) had carried her baby to term but it had died before she gave birth. Those are such incredibly rough moments. Like a double heartbreak. But that wasn’t the shocking part of the story. When it happened, the mother was so upset, she said she didn’t want to see the baby. As soon as she got home and was able to sort things out though, she began arranging a funeral and went back promptly to request her baby’s body. She was told she couldn’t have it. She persisted, but they refused. Someone with her overheard the medical personnel say to another that there was no way they could give the body back because the eyes had already been removed and sold (or “donated”) to research.

The Magic Sonogram Bus

For the past few months I've been working exclusively on administrative/fundraising endeavors so it's been an unusual experience to be so far removed from the frontlines work. At the same time I still run into those who are working on the sidewalk and in the centers on a regular basis. While I'm sitting at the desk, a fellow worker may walk in at some point throughout the day and give me an update on what happened that morning. "We had two saves today" was what one told me after a morning outside Dr. Emily's. Two saves....that's two lives saved in one morning. It's not about the numbers, it's about the impact of two children being saved from death in one morning. It's the best kind of news that I could receive while I'm working away at the computer.
Multiple times a week I'll receive these kinds of updates. Our mobile sonogram bus is a miracle worker. So many children are walking around today because of that miracle of modern technology. And since I work where it is parked at the end of the day, I get to hear so many of the great stories it has to tell. 

Top 5 Most Influential Pro-Life Celebrities of 2011

It doesn't feel like we have a lot of support from the more influential areas of pop culture sometimes, but here is a great article about how, in fact, we have more than we may have realized. Some of the most well known celebrities of today are openly, and some even actively, pro-life. Maybe society is trying hard to make us look "un-cool", but here are some hot shots who know that standing up for the lives of the unborn is worth the risk.

http://liveaction.org/blog/top-five-most-influential-pro-life-celebrities-of-2011/

Unofficial EMC Internship Promo Video

Abby and I were having some fun and put together a little "promo video" (as we like to call it) or memoir of the experience of being an intern for EMC. It's like a tribute to all the interns of past and present as well as some insight into what brings us here in the first place. New York has been, I think for all of us, a place of adventure and a non-stop series of new experiences. On top of that, and more importantly, our time with EMC has been eye-opening and life-changing for all of us in many ways. We have pretty much concluded that there is no other work quite like this one and we want to share what we've learned with everyone else who is fighting the good fight or perhaps is being led by God to begin.

Again, this is non official, it's just for fun. Hope you enjoy!

5 Pro-Abort Female Celebrities (You May Be Surprised)

Who's your favorite actress? Do you know what her stance is on life issues? Unfortunately, one of my favs made the following list of outspoken pro-abortion celebrities. Guess I'm going to have to be more careful what movies I support. I don't know about you, but for me, to know that a highly successful and beautiful actress is using her popularity to support and encourage the spread of abortion makes her a whole lot less attractive. Maybe it won't be so hard to boycott after all.

http://liveaction.org/blog/5-female-celebrities-im-boycotting-and-why/

Stories from Seasoned Warriors

As I am working exclusively in fund raising now, I am able to see a different perspective on pro-life work in NYC. At the offices and clinic we see the up front and immediate world of the pro-life vs. pro-abort struggle. While visiting the veterans of this work at their homes, we get to hear the stories of how efforts have changed and evolved since the first moments of abortion becoming legal in New York.

These people are truly warriors and heroes. They have been put in jail, ridiculed, put their money and their homes at the disposal of the needs of pregnant women, and many have even adopted children, some of whom were in danger of being aborted. They have been hard at work from day one and continue to be involved in whatever area of the city they live. Trips to the March for Life every year, fundraisers for local pregnancy centers, praying outside abortion clinics (and they report all those have closed in succession over time), spreading awareness for life...the list really does go on and on. As I've mentioned before, it's so uplifting and encouraging to hear about their struggles and victories and to know of their support and prayers. In the future I will try to recount specific experiences they've shared.

LUMINA Part 2

A while back I wrote about one of the organizations that, though completely separate from ours, is essential to our work. They are a group focused on ministering to post-abortive women. To get a glimpse of the powerful work they are involved in along with the life changing impact of abortion and post-abortion healing, check out this video from a great group of local filmmakers, Grassroots Films in Brooklyn.

Please share so we can support their beautiful work and reach more women who are living with brokenness and regret from a past abortion!

World Youth Alliance

World Youth Alliance

I just had the pleasure of attending a local conference on life and love. One of the presentations was by the former president and founder of World Youth Alliance, Anna Halpine. She spoke on all the incredible movements that are going on around the world, in a number of different countries, in support of the dignity of human life. They have some great programs they're working on in order to counter legislation proposed in some countries that will promote more widespread use of contraceptives and abortion.

We know how those two things contribute to the disintegration of relationships, the family, and society, so it is important not only to fight them, but to find effective ways of educating women on how to naturally and safely monitor their health and fertility. This is what WYA is working on and it's quite inspirational to see.

Not So Different After All?

It's usually a pretty interesting conversation starter when someone asks us what we do in NYC. I'm not sure anyone has ever expected the answer we give them. Some people get confused, others quiet, others excited. Most people have never heard of work like this before, or at least not largely staffed by a small band of young, long-term "interns".

As we know, the subject of abortion is usually polarizing. So, while a large portion of our society is relativistic and tries to politely not step on your toes, even when they think you are dead wrong, we still get a lot of cautiously suspicious and even quietly hostile responses. People may consider themselves too accepting to argue with you about your beliefs, but you can still tell when you are being scratched off someone's credibility list when you staunchly support something they consider ridiculous.

Some of the common reactions are a careful 'That's interesting..." followed by a "So, you are trying to convince the women to keep their babies?". To which we always have to clarify that we are primarily trying to educate and the education "persuades", if you will, by itself. Once you know what abortion is, you can hardly in your right mind support it; and once the women know what abortion is, they often realize they are in for a whole lot more than they were led to believe.

So, we absolutely believe an abortion isn't going to help any woman, any day. The wary listeners who are worried about our work often need to defend their position with "But it's really the woman's choice, in the end..." to which I can wholly agree; there is really no doubting that. That seems to surprise them. Maybe, if they were as informed as we are on what abortion is and seen all the girls in person affected by it as we have, they would realize that in their heart they do not believe something so different from us after all.

Wait, How Many Lives Have Been Saved??

I've been doing a lot of fundraising related work recently and a part of what I have to write over and over again is the phrase "over 200 babies are being saved every month...". I knew the statistics, that EMC has saved about 30,000 babies or more since starting 25 years ago, but after writing that phrase so many times, suddenly it really struck me: we've saved 30,000 human beings.

I come from a tiny village of 1,000 people. Sounds incredible to people used to New York City. In this city, maybe 30,000 isn't such an impressive number, but where I come from, that number of people could populate 3,000 of my towns. Now, that's impressive.

What if one little baby in one of those little towns was aborted? Like..me?

We aren't about the numbers. We are about the people. 

Blessed Friendships

People come to EMC for the work and if they stay, that is generally likewise their motivation. It teaches and changes everyone. There are a lot of sacrifices involved, one of the greatest sometimes being our life in community, but in exchange for all the difficulties, God gives so many of us a very great and unexpected blessing: good friendships.

We have lived and worked with people from all around the country and around the world. Most people who come probably don't realize they may be meeting people from Spain, England, Africa, Ireland, Mexico, or some other country. Though we may vary in ages from about 17 to 70 and we all come from different backgrounds, our fraternity is strengthened by our faith and our work. Friendships are formed that I never would have expected or hoped for.

Another sign that we are truly doing God's work here.

Happy Birthday to A Lost Child

There are a lot of things you want to say to someone who is planning an abortion. Things to say to the mother and to the father. You want them to understand what an abortion is and how many risks they are exposing the woman to. You want them to realize the value and realness of the life that is at stake, not to believe all the crazy, unscientific lies they may have heard. And especially, often most difficult of all, you want them to step outside the present moment of fear and panic to think about what their future will be like after they have carried out that decision. Here is a video that expresses exactly that, from the Father's perspective. He didn't realize what they were doing at the time...and now he has that loss forever.

It's a beautiful song, I hope you enjoy and share.



"What I thought was a dream...was as real as it seemed."

New Pro-Life Video Site Launched

There are so many facets of pro-life work here and around the world. So many videos swimming around the Internet, YouTube, Facebook, etc. With all these avenues it can be really hard to know what to look at or how to find it. That's why a friend of EMC recently created a website that has many of the top pro-life related videos that you are probably looking for all in one spot.

Everything from National news to personal testimonies can be found on this site, which will probably be kept updated regularly. Check it out and share the site, or even just the videos, with those you know who want or need to know what's going on.

Life is a Right.com

Do you know of other good, helpful pro-life videos? Please, let us know. God bless your work!

Helping Women in Any Way We Can

It takes a lot of time and attention to focus on the needs of abortion minded women who walk through our doors every day, but we aren't solely interested in keeping women from the pain of abortion, we also want to help them find healing for pain other abortions may have caused. We are about a lot of things, but the pain of abortion cannot be overestimated (try as society might to sweep it under the rug). So, along with our host of resources for struggling pregnant women, I have also been becoming more familiar with the local organizations that work specifically in post-abortion healing. There are so many women that we know who have been hurt by abortions. Maybe we don't know that's why they are wounded and maybe they don't make that connection in themselves either right away, but we know people who are hurt need healing and people who have been through the pain of abortion are hurt.

So, I have been learning more about ministries such as Lumina, which have a very beautiful and loving approach to women looking for help and healing. These ministries are vital and I try to encourage women to look into them. Maybe simply writing their name on a paper and giving it to them, knowing they can go home and do a Google search anytime when they feel ready to seek help. It's their choice to make the move or not, but with our support we pray they can find the healing and hope that will make them feel whole again.