March-April 2017 Newsletter
Posted By cmbuuck on May 11, 2017
Life Affirming News
HUMAN INTEREST
By Newsroom / Feb. 10, 2017
After an abortion reversal that saved her son, Amy says: ‘Every time I look at him, I’m just so thankful’, A Colorado woman, Amy Mendoza, shared her amazing story of abortion reversal with Denver’s Channel 7. After initially believing it wasn’t the right time in her life to have a child, Amy regretted her abortion decision. She heard her son’s heartbeat and recalled seeing something about abortion reversal on Facebook. Amy quickly searched online to find a way to save her son. She found a health center, Bella Natural Women’s Care that was able to reverse her abortion. Amy describes the joy that her son, Cruz, brings her: “Every time I look at him, I’m just so thankful.”
NATIONAL NEWS
Steven Ertelt / Feb 18, 2017 / Washington, DC
Norma McCorvey, who was the Jane Roe of the infamous Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court case legalizing virtually unlimited abortions, passed away today. McCorvey never had an abortion and eventually became pro-life and dedicated her life to overturning the horrible Supreme Court decision that bared her pseudonym. McCorvey died today at an assisted-living facility in Katy, Texas. She was 69. “I think it’s safe to say that the entire abortion industry is based on a lie…. I am dedicated to spending the rest of my life undoing the law that bears my name,” McCorvey says.
STORIES OF SACRIFICE
Pastor Robert Fleischmann / <pastorfleischmann@christianliferesources.com>
This past Valentine’s Day got me thinking about the true nature of love. It’s more than mere emotion, right? Consider the following.
On February 3, 1943, a German U-boat torpedoed the American transport ship SS Dorchester on its way to Greenland. As panic set in and the ship began to sink, four Army chaplains distributed life vests, cared for the wounded, and guided frantic servicemen to lifeboats.
When the life vests ran out, these chaplains gave their own to others and went down with the ship while praying for the safety of the survivors.
“It was the finest thing I have seen or hope to see this side of heaven,” one witness said.
These four chaplains demonstrated true love – not merely emotional attachment, but concern for others ahead of themselves. This was sacrifice.
We see such love in the sacrifice of a mother who values the life of her unborn baby above her own convenience, in the husband who patiently cares for his ailing wife, and in the family who accepts God’s timing in the death of a loved one.
And we demonstrate this love as we give of our blessings to benefit others. We sacrifice because we are the beneficiaries of the greatest sacrificial love this world has ever seen. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
This is sacrifice. This is love.
The Lord Blesses as the Life Movement Grows
Karen Blank, President of Fort Wayne Lutherans for Life
The National March for life celebrates its 44th year and continues to grow. This is also true of the LCMS Life Conference that followed on Saturday and Sunday across the river in Arlington, VA. Tim Goeglein observed in his dinner address to the LCMS Lifers that there are more young people, college age people in attendance at the conference and the National March for Life than he has seen previously. He also observed that movements in our country have a pattern that is necessary for the success of the movement. The movement usually begins with the intellectuals and slowly but surely broadens out to include the middle class if it is to succeed. Tim attests to this pattern coming to fruition in the Life movement.
Before the march up Constitution Avenue to the Supreme Court building, the National Right to Life presented a program of speakers that lasted about one and a half hours. The appearance and speech of the Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States, was a defining moment for the March. In his address the former Indiana Governor mention at least three times that our nation needs a culture of Life. He charged us/all citizens to be active in that endeavor. Many other speakers echoed his charge to us. We do not give up or give in. We will continue to affirm life from the womb to the tomb. We thank and praise our Creator, our Savior Jesus for raising more and more young people who will carry the banner when we older ones have completed our tour of duty.
All people of faith are charged to continue to pray the Lord Jesus that He will protect the lives of the pre-born whose lives may be snuffed out by abortion and pray for their parents who are also victims of abortion. We also need to pray for those people who would choose physician assisted suicide. LCMS President Matthew Harrison and ethics professor John Pless reminded us that suffering is not evil in itself. One does not live very many years on this earth without realizing we will endure our share of suffering. Our suffering is very little in comparison to our Savior’s birth, His life, and His suffering and death on the cross.
Saint Paul assures us in Romans 8:18, 23b-25: “For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. . . . but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
Perhaps this is a sidebar but it is worth noting. The people I met in the March as well as people I met on the subway train back to the hotel in Arlington, VA where the conference met, all seemed to share similar opinions about the majority of people in our nation. We are hard-working people who are concerned about our rights, i.e. life, religion, speech, etc. Also, it seems that most of us do not believe what we see and read in the national media outlets. The National March for Life has proven for 44 years who and what our country is truly about. We believe in our God given right to life on this earth even with its sufferings. We live our God-given lives with a zest for life and appreciate the sounds of a crying baby, exploring teens, young parents learning about sacrifice, middle agers waiting for the first grand baby, and seniors delighting in their grandchildren and great grandchildren. In all of these ages we worship and glorify our Creator, the Lord and Savior of all people.
Kyle Was Saved From Abortion and Adopted at Birth. Now He’s Saving Others From Abortion
Gayle Irwin / Mar. 1, 2017 / Washington, DC
Kyle Gudger is like most 10-year-old boys—he enjoys Legos, robotics, and playing drums. However, he is also unique. Kyle is among the one percent of children whose birthmother made an adoption plan when she faced an unplanned pregnancy.
His biological mother’s choice to not abort eleven years ago, and her story is a primary reason Kyle participated in the Baby Bottle Boomerang, a winter fundraiser for True Care Women’s Resource Center in Casper, Wyo.
“I want to give kids the same option I had—I want to give them the chance to live by helping the moms,” Kyle said. “Putting a couple of coins in can change the course of history. That person [saved from abortion] could become famous, could become president, could make a difference in the world.”
Kyle collected just over $24 and put the bottle of money into the basket with other coin-filled baby bottles his church presented to True Care last month.
Seeing youth like Kyle participate in events and other ways to help True Care is inspiring, said the organization’s president.
”Helping the pro-life organization has a special significance to Kyle Gudger, who turns 11 on March 14—his adoptive parents’ wedding anniversary. His birthmother went to a pregnancy resource center, and he knows she could have made a different choice.
“It’s a privilege to be adopted,” he said. “I think it’s important for a kid to have a father and a mother and to feel loved. I wouldn’t be sitting here if it hadn’t been for my birthmother and the decision she made. I’m thankful.”