A former PRC director shares her experiences with Justice for All, an outdoor pregnancy outreach on the college campus.

“I was here yesterday and cried all night. I came back today to face my fears. I had a miscarriage last year and this was hard to deal with. I had no idea my baby was that formed already.”

These were the comments from Amelia, a young woman who walked up to me recently as she toured the Justice for All display on a college campus. I walked alongside her and eventually shared my testimony about my past abortion with her.

She asked, “How do you get over something like that?” I was then able to tell her about the love and healing I myself found in Christ.

I suggested that Amelia speak to the pregnancy center staff members working near the JFA display, because I knew they would probably have information on healing from miscarriage. She agreed, then looked into my eyes and said, “You have no idea how much you have impacted me today."

I asked Amelia if I could pray with her, and she quickly outstretched her hands to me over the free speech rail. After praying she said, “I just have to give you a big hug.”

She went to the PRC table and spoke to Kathy, an abortion recovery counselor. Amelia poured out her heart to Kathy, not only about her miscarriage, but also eventually about her two abortions. Amelia will soon be in their abortion recovery group.

I am aware of the arguments about graphic visual use with post-abortive women, fears of the trauma that may occur. I prayed extensively about this before joining the JFA staff. In the following paragraph, Scott Klusendorf addresses this well.

“People wounded by abortion desperately need to be brought out of denial and into confession so they can repent (and ultimately find healing). The fact that repentance is painful does not relieve us of our responsibility to teach it. "Godly sorrow," Paul writes, leads to "repentance" and "eternal life." (2 Cor. 10:7). True, we must always be gentle, but ignoring the reality of abortion does not spare a young woman guilt, it spares her healing. Unconfessed sin will keep her from full fellowship with her Savior. (See, for example, 1 John 1: 8-10, Proverbs 28:13)

Anecdotally, numerous post-abortive couples write me after seeing the film ("Harder Truth," which contains pictures of aborted babies). Each admits the difficulty in viewing it, but all agree it was a "necessary step for healing.”

The JFA Exhibit (www.jfaweb.org) attracts hundreds of students for debate and discussion. This presents numerous opportunities to meet abortion-vulnerable and post-abortive students.

As Pregnancy Center Liaison for Justice for All, I work to coordinate the resources offered by local pregnancy centers with our campus groups and JFA Exhibit events.

Participating in a JFA event will provide inestimable paybacks to your center and the students you serve. Open Arms PRC in Columbia, Missouri, for example, had 25 students sign up to volunteer at their center while they were on campus with JFA.

In our recent 3-day event in Denver, Riverside PRC had a resource table nearby and handed out 30 abortion recovery flyers to interested students, and two women signed up right away. The banner on their table simply read, “Women’s Resources”. The Alternatives PRC representative talked with several more abortion minded and post-abortive students.

At the University of North Texas in March 2004, Real Choices PRC was busy both days talking with students considering adoption, teaching how to talk to friends considering abortion, and praying with women in need of abortion recovery.

Although my training deals with all of these subjects, I cannot provide the long-term relationship needed in these situations, nor is it physically possible for me to talk with every student who needs help.

One concern is that we miss people who refuse to talk to us because we’re standing in front of a graphic picture. When a PRC is present, they provide another connecting point where students can process the meaning of the pictures. Having local PRCs represented on campus is vital to reaching these students through our pro-life outreach events.

I personally have seen many women and men "hit the wall of denial" and burst into tears when they see our exhibit. Often, like Amelia, they were lied to about their baby’s development and are finally faced with the truth.

JFA staff and volunteers are trained to immediately contact me or another trained counselor (if available) when they see someone crying or visibly upset.

An additional benefit of being on college campuses is the opportunity to speak to a substantial number of men affected by abortion. With trained counselors, available right where the students need them most, those with unplanned pregnancy or abortion recovery needs will have greater access to all of their best options.

Before experiencing our exhibit, some directors voice concern about their public relations with the campus or local community if they were to be associated with JFA. I understand that concern.

Sharon Hindman of Alpha PRC in Fort Collins, CO writes about her experience with JFA, “We have been very pleased with the results of their (JFA) efforts….They are calm, precise and caring…How many lives have been saved by these displays? How many young men and women have changed their thinking about abortion?

We have had no negative responses toward our pregnancy center but have instead seen an increase in clients, who have questions, want information about post abortion healing, or come in to get help for their current situations…. I would highly recommend that you consider their efforts to come to your campus.”

University campuses are ripe for the harvest, as they represent the age group with the highest rates of abortions (50% of abortions are on women age 16-24).

Planned Parenthood has had the foresight to be widely available to students on college campuses. "Campus NARAL" exists on almost every major college campus in America. For this reason, Justice for All encourages you to develop a relationship with your local university also.

In the future, I will be working with pregnancy centers to help establish a Pro-life student club or center on college campuses without any current PRC presence.

Speaking from the view of a former PRC director, I have never been involved in a ministry that touches so many people down to their souls the way Justice for All (JFA) does. I hope your center will be encouraged to become involved in this exciting endeavor if an exhibit comes to a college campus in your local area.

For further information about pro-life campus events in your area, contact Vicki Kane, Pregnancy Center Liason, at 989-224-4130 or [email protected] .