by Rev. Jeff Duncan, Director of Mission and Ministry
Struggling and tired. These are sometimes the thoughts of the often “invisible” Life Team/Life Chapter member as reported on several 2019 Annual Activity Reports. Though we pray for strength and a blessing from God for new, energetic, committed For Life recruits, it is often the case that congregations don’t see the Life Chapter activities or hear the Life Team speak out in support of our most vulnerable members of society.
This is understandable! Many of these members of LFL have been working tirelessly since the 1970s or 1980s. They have stood in the gap speaking up for the unborn. They have fought for legislation in state houses, filled baby bottles to support local pregnancy resource centers, and marched on capitol buildings and around street corners praying for an end to abortion. Their voices have echoed through years of LWML Rally presentations and congregational events with important speakers on topics from physician-assisted suicide to post-abortion stress syndrome. Through it all, it may seem that many recipients of their efforts have turned their backs on the For Life message.
For those who feel or experience that loneliness of “invisibility,” take courage, stand, and remember your special vocation as a child of God and citizen of our nation! Yours is the INDISPENSABLE voice that:
Continues to affirm the value and worth of every human life, whether inside the womb or in one way or another heading for the tomb.
Proclaims the Gospel of forgiveness through Jesus Christ our Lord to every hurting heart and blood-stained hand desperately making sense of their decision to participate in an abortion.
Gathers interest and support for recent legislative advancements providing more and more protection under the law for fetuses and the elderly.
Remember, it is your INDISPENSABLE hands that gather up all the coins from baby bottles, the diapers from diaper drives, and the layettes and baby clothes that keep pregnancy resource center shelves stocked and able to provide much needed support for a pregnant mother and father to choose life!
It is your INDISPENSABLE will and courage that inspire the next generation of For Life voices. You stood strong against the face of evil, against the powers of this dark world and culture of death. They have not prevailed! Through your years of hard effort, new seeds of life are sown. Even now they sprout and flourish on our high school and college campuses with young people ready and eager to join your voice and lend their hands of support for life! Thank you for powering through those days, months, and years of “invisibility” to share the INDISPENSABLE message that God loves life! God bless the days, months, or years He still provides you to continue in this cause for life in His name! You are not invisible to God or to His cause for life, but in Christ, you are the INDISPENSABLE conduit through which the Father distributes His grace, mercy, and peace of eternal life found only in His glorious name!