“Thank You” note and illustration by one of the children I taught
Since I last wrote, I have had several exciting opportunities. I traveled to Minnesota and helped conduct two days of outreach at the University of Minnesota. Additionally, I helped lead Justice For All’s interactive workshop at a local church. During this workshop, I led a small group session for the first time, which was exciting for me. Another first: I got to teach our lesson plan for children called “The Baby’s Heart Beats Like Mine” at a Catholic school. The lesson plan is specifically designed for younger children, so rather than talking about abortion directly, it focuses on teaching children about fetal development and helps them understand that unborn babies are valuable human beings just like them. (You can download the lesson plan at jfaweb.org/kids.) The students were engaged throughout the lesson, and I had a lot of fun teaching and interacting with them. Sometimes it can be disheartening talking to so many college students who have very troubling lives and messed up ideas about human value, so it was refreshing to work with such sweet kids who have a natural, healthy understanding of how precious every human life is.
Teaching a section of our interactive workshop at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church (Minnesota, March 2026)
Another special opportunity I had recently was being invited by Crusaders for Life, the pro-life club at the University of Dallas, to give a workshop. It was a full circle moment for me to help lead this training because it was only last year that I was the president of Crusaders for Life and was inviting Justice For All to come train us. I’m so grateful for the many ways in which the University of Dallas formed me, so I was delighted to have a chance to give back to the wonderful community there.
I want to share a story from our outreach at the University of Minnesota. I was in the middle of a frustrating conversation with two women who were being rude and didn’t really seem to be at all open to hearing a different viewpoint, when I noticed a guy listening in on our conversation. I didn’t think anything of it because people listening in on conversations but not participating themselves happens pretty frequently at outreach. After my conversation concluded, I noticed the same guy listening to my co-worker Jeremy’s discussion with a group of students.
After a while, the group talking with Jeremy began to disperse. Before she left, one of the women aggressively told Jeremy and me that what we are doing is pointless and that we would never change anyone’s mind. About thirty seconds after she walked away, the student who I had noticed listening to both of our discussions approached us and introduced himself as “Liam.” He said, “I just wanted to let you guys know that you changed my mind.” Liam explained that he had previously thought that abortion was probably alright if it was done early on in the pregnancy, but after listening to us he said, “Abortion should never happen.” Liam said, “I realized that my peers’ pro-choice arguments were stupid and that your guys’ responses made a lot of sense.” His change of heart was so encouraging to me, especially in light of some discouraging discussions and comments that day. I’ve had many students listen in on my conversations, and I have no idea how it affected them. Liam is a good reminder that you can have a positive effect on someone without being aware of it.
Thank you to all of you who support me with your prayers and financial gifts, which make conversations like this possible.
