Sidewalk Advocacy Training Comes to Ann Arbor

by Iris Hanlin

10:00 a.m. on a hot June Saturday, and twenty pro-lifers gathered in the parish center of Christ the King Catholic Church in Ann Arbor for a few hours of training, specifically geared toward those pro-life folks interested in sidewalk advocacy, that is, having a loving and vocal presence outside of abortion-providing facilities, whilst remaining peaceful, prayerful, and abiding by the law.

The morning began with a welcome from Sidewalk Advocate for Life (SAFL) representative Michael Vacca. "Thank you for being here," he said, "and God bless each of you. It's going to be exciting to see how God works through this."

Vacca then distributed an invitation for another, shorter evening of training to take place on July 19.

The day commenced after Paul Dobrowolski, former regional director of 40 Days for Life Ann Arbor, who hosted the event along with other members of the Christ the King Pro-Life Committee, expressed the local pro-life desire for the presence of two advocates on the sidewalk outside of the Planned Parenthood on 3100 Professional Dr. in Ann Arbor, for every hour the clinic is open. "This is the next step, another tool after 40 Days for Life," said Dobrowolski.

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The 4-hour video training was led by Lauren Muzyka, an attorney by trade who has devoted the majority of her adult life to counseling women away from abortion facilities. As the Dallas-trained, founder and executive director of Sidewalk Advocates for Life national (hopefully international, soon), Muzyka trains fellow to-be counselors in this cross-denominational program using what she calls "the heart method," ensuring all counseling activities to be peaceful, prayerful, and law-abiding.

According to Muzyka, the focus of the SAFL ministry is to do all things with love, whether praying on the street corners, or in direct contact with the men and women who are at the abortion clinics. From practical advice as to what advocates should or shouldn't wear to personal advice as to how the abortion facility client be approached and treated, the course of training was in-depth instruction for how to do just that.

From the SAFL website:

VISION & MISSION

To train, equip, and support local communities across the United States and the world in “sidewalk advocacy”: to be the hands and feet of Christ, offering loving, life-affirming alternatives to all present at the abortion center, thereby eliminating demand and ending abortion.

SPIRIT OF THE PROGRAM

Sidewalk Advocates for Life takes a peaceful, prayerful, law-abiding approach to reaching out to those servicing the abortion center. We seek to be the hands & feet of Christ and to ‘stand in the gap’ for those who, ironically, may feel they have no choice. While we provide crisis intervention on the sidewalk to women in unplanned pregnancies headed into the abortion center, we recognize that our outreach can only go so far: we must offer her real, ongoing help or crisis management. Our interaction never ends without offering her life-affirming alternatives such as help from the local pregnancy resource center(s) and other organizations in her local community.

MAIN ELEMENTS OF THE PROGRAM

• Sidewalk Advocacy – Sidewalk Advocacy refers to crisis intervention in front of the abortion center. It involves actively encouraging a woman to choose life, empowering her to leave the abortion center, and ministering to all present to bring about a conversion of heart from a culture of death to a culture of life, thereby ending abortion.

Traditionally known as “sidewalk counseling,” sidewalk advocacy is a re-branded term that emphasizes the peaceful, prayerful, law-abiding methods of this ministry with love as its centerpiece.

• Prayer – Prayer provides the foundation for everything we do, for apart from God we can do nothing (cf. John 15:5). We encourage local communities to match a prayer partner to every sidewalk advocate, and for sidewalk advocates to counsel together in pairs. We also encourage local communities to hold an opening and closing community-wide celebration at the beginning and end of every quarter, to invite prayer for the sidewalk advocates and the program and celebrate all God has accomplished with their cooperation.

• Community Support – We bring together the Body of Christ, cross-denominationally, to pray for and support the local sidewalk advocacy program. Community members are invited to become sidewalk advocates by attending a local sidewalk advocacy training every quarter. Additionally, at the beginning and end of every quarter, local communities are encouraged to hold an opening and closing community-wide, cross-denominational celebration to pray for the program.

For more information, contact info@sidewalkadvocates.org

2014-06-26 Upcoming Pro-Life Events & News Washtenaw County & Beyond

Partial list as of June 26th, 2014 Compiled by Sandie Weathers

Today, Thursday, June 26^th, the Supreme Court STRUCK DOWN the Massachusetts buffer zone law in the McCullen v. Coakley abortion clinic buffer zone case. The court held that the Massachusetts buffer zone violates the First Amendment of the Constitution by restricting pro-lifers' speech on public sidewalks -- a historic place of free speech. This is a HUGE victory for sidewalk counseling and the pro-life movement.

PRAY! PRAY! PRAY! Stay tuned for the Supreme Court ruling on Hobby Lobby HHS Mandate battle!

Killing People is Not a Comedy! Join Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, at one of these two Pickets of Pro-Abortion Comedy Movie--  Obvious Child.  On Friday, June 27^th, Michigan Theatre, Ann Arbor, 603 E Liberty St Or at the Main Art Theatre, Royal Oak, 118 N Main St. From 6 pm to 8 pm at both theatres. Please see the excellent review below and you’ll see why we need to protest this movie! http://www.lifenews.com/2014/06/20/i-saw-the-abortion-comedy-obvious-child-still-nothing-funny-about-killing-a-baby/. On the heels of  You Tube viral “Emily’s Abortion Video”  comes this movie, a so-called abortion comedy, that also portrays abortion as just one of those things women do, not a big deal, don’t even tell the father, have no doubts, no regrets, --sure—that’s what abortion is like—right?  And of course nothing is killed in an abortion—as the unborn child remains completely unmentioned, let alone visible. 

Sidewalk Advocates Training Last Call! Last call to make a reservation for the Sidewalk Advocates for Life Training Session set for this Saturday, June 28th from 10 AM to 2:30 PM at Christ the King Church in Room 3, 4000 Ave Maria Dr., Ann Arbor.  This training is a must for anyone who has been talking to abortion minded women and men or if anyone has an interest in this ministry in the future.  Please contact Paul Dobrowolski (40daysannarbor@gmail.com or 734-944-7790) to make your reservation or if you have questions.  The price is $15 which includes a workbook and lunch.

On Going: Protest at Providence Park Hospital every Tuesday! Hope to see you this Tuesday, July 1^st at Providence Park Hospital from 4:30 to 6 pm on the corner of Beck & Grand River Roads. Please DO NOT park at Providence. You can park at the Kroger grocery nearby and walk over to the intersection. This is an on-going and important initiative to draw attention to the horrible FACT that this Catholic Hospital has a number of abortionists on staff (they do the abortions elsewhere) including Glenn Taylor who is no less than the "medical director" of Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Ann Arbor. The ultimate goal is to urge St. John's to remove these killers of the innocent unborn from the staff--and to end the scandal of Catholic hospitals harboring abortionists all in contradiction to the very essence of Catholic health care!  For info contact Lynn Mills at lynnspl81@aol.com.

Come join Sidewalk Advocates for Life in celebrating our new international sidewalk counseling program. When: Saturday July 19 from 7-8:30 p.m. Where: Christ the King Catholic Church Gym, 4000 Ave Maria Dr. Ann Arbor, MI 48105. There will be coffee and desserts served and the national SAFL director, Lauren Myzyka will be discussing the mission of Sidewalk Advocates for Life and our life-saving impact. Ann Arbor will begin a 3 month Sidewalk Advocates for Life Campaign July 1^st, so this is a great opportunity to find out more about how you can save lives and support those on the front lines of the battle to save unborn babies. God bless you and hope you can make it. More info: Michael Arthur Vacca, (734) 582-3688 or michaelvacca7@gmail.com. Our mission: "To train, equip, and support local communities across the United States and the world in 'sidewalk advocacy': to be the hands and feet of Christ, offering loving, life-affirming alternatives to all present at the abortion center, thereby eliminating demand and ending abortion.

Right to Life of Michigan Educational Fund is hosting a Youth Infographic Contest for high school and college-aged Michigan youth. Prolife youth from Michigan ages 13 to 22 as of July 1, 2014, can create and submit an original infographic, and contest finalists will have their works shared on the RLM FB page and judged by a public vote to determine the winners. An infographic is a graphic or visual representation of information, data or knowledge intended to present complex information quickly and clearly. Contestants will be split into two divisions, 13-17 and 18-22 with a first division prize of $300 and second division prize of $500. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, July 1, 2014. For info and application go to: .http://www.rtl.org/faith_school/infographiccontest.html

Mark your calendars: Saturday, September 13^th is the 2^nd Annual National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children.

Register today at: http://rtl.org/events/conference/index.html, for the Right to Life of Michigan. 41st Annual Conference on Thursday, September 25, in Lansing. Ryan Bomberger, Emmy Award-winning creative professional and Chief Creative Officer for The Radiance Foundation, will be our guest speaker at the RLM annual conference.  Invite your friends and family & take advantage of the group rate. 

FOR UPDATES: Join the effort to call out the U of M on their exhibit:   "4,000 Years for Choice: Changing Culture, Creating History, and Honoring Stories of Reproductive Freedom"; The website is being revamped -  http://www.4000yearsforchoice.com/.  The exhibit sponsored by the OB/GYN Dept., The Institute for Research on Women and Gender and The Program for Sexual Rights & Reproductive Justice went up on Jan. 16^th and came down on May 29th, but voicing our disapproval cannot end then. For updates go to: http://pro-lifeactionnetworkblog.blogspot.com/

PREGNANT?  Know someone who might be? Find out for sure. Free and confidential services for all ages including pregnancy testing, ultrasounds to date and confirm pregnancy, pregnancy options counseling and post-abortion counseling. Where: ArborVitae, downtown Ann Arbor located at the corner of State and Liberty (below Starbucks) When: Monday and Thursday 9am-4pm; Tuesday 2pm-8pm How: Walk in or make an appointment online at http://arborwoman.com/request-an-appointment/Questions: Call 734-994-8863.

To be added to the Prolife Action Network email group and receive updates for Life Chain,

Local Pro-Life Events and Religious Liberty Issues and Events

and to submit info on a Pro-Life event:

Contact Sandie Weathers prolifeactionnetwork@gmail.com or

Marilyn Geyer at 734-973-2422 or mgeyer@provide.net

Visit us on Facebook: Prolife Action Network

Pro-Life Artist and Graphic Designers Wanted! Help Us Light Up the Darkness!

If you want to see what all the fuss is about, please go to: 
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.778635145480290.1073741835.217877054889438&type=1&l=2167fbd2dc

Viewpoint: Bringing life to the debate from the Michigan Daily published April 16, 2014

So proud of Taylor Crookston! What a great article!

You can find the article posted at the new FB page: Students for Life at the University of Michigan and leave Taylor a comment
Don't forget to Like them while you are there!

https://www.michigandaily.com/opinion/04viewpoint-pro-life-debate17

Viewpoint: Bringing life to the debate

PRINT | E-MAIL | LETTER TO THE EDITOR

BY TAYLOR CROOKSTON

Published April 16, 2014

As an institution, the University constantly calls for total inclusivity, diversity and tolerance. Unfortunately, it fails to ensure such principles in a number of contexts. One glaring example can be seen within the conversation around abortion. As a leader of Students for Life, I have firsthand experience with the suffocating chokehold the University has placed on pro-life viewpoints across campus. I believe that the way in which the University blatantly supports abortion has extremely detrimental effects across campus. The only way this University can meet its full potential and live up to its promises is to allow its students to think for themselves in an environment where inclusivity, diversity and tolerance are genuinely celebrated and not smothered.

MORE LIKE THIS

• Women share personal experiences with abortion and Students for Life event
• Stepping across the protest line: What happens when a pro-choice student attends a Students for Life meeting?
• The Feminine Critique: Finding middle ground in what happens after
• Letter to the Editor: Diag exhibit was necessary to spark debate on abortion

Currently in Lane Hall, the University — more specifically, the Department of Women’s Studies and the Institute for Research on Women and Gender — is hosting a pro-abortion exhibit titled “4,000 Years for Choice” that has offended and ostracized many pro-life students. There are some students that are appalled that the University would use taxpayer dollars to fund such a one-sided display on such a contentious issue. Others are horrified by the exhibit’s claim that “abortion is a gift from God.” However, I have come to expect such things from my University. From hearing it link pro-life ideology and terrorism together to discovering that it offers practicum courses with volunteer time at Planned Parenthood, at this point, it is hard for the University to shock me with its sponsored partisanship.

Still, this latest stunt is exceptional for a variety of reasons. “4,000 Years for Choice” is not an event; it is a constant stream of propaganda. It is on display in Lane Hall for an extensive amount of time, through the end of this semester and throughout all of May. Each student who enters Lane Hall during this time will immediately be bombarded with messages that we should “applaud” abortion activists and “praise” the illegal abortionists of the past. The exhibit even contains directly political overtones by its call to “celebrate Roe v. Wade.” In addition, it propagates insanely paradoxical statements that abortion is “life-affirming,” “a gift from God” and that “religious freedom = abortion access.” This exhibit belongs at Pro-Choice America fundraisers and National Abortion Federation conferences (where, unsurprisingly, its creator has had displays in just the past year alone), but it does not belong in Lane Hall. If it were to be on campus, students who support it should have brought it — not paid for with taxpayer dollars and officially promoted by the University.

The fact is that the University does not have the right — and it certainly does not have the ability — to create a consensus on campus that abortion is an accepted and moral practice. In fact, on a national scale, the exact opposite consensus is gaining traction. Gallup reported in 2012 that pro-choice Americans were at record-low numbers and that a majority of Americans now self-identify as pro-life. However, Gallup further reported that the majority of Americans hold the perception that the majority opinion in the United States is pro-choice. This misjudgment is directly related to institutionalized partisanship that can be seen in University-sponsored exhibits like that of “4,000 Years for Choice.”

Looking past this exhibit and into my own experience at the University, what really saddens, discourages and frustrates me is that the disdain the University shows for pro-life values converts a space that was designed for the flourishing of intellectual discussion and debate into an environment of exclusion, stagnancy and intolerance.

I am tired — as are the thousands of other pro-life students at the University — of being force-fed ideology.

Teach us how to think, not what to think.

Let us discuss and debate as students and faculty in community together, and allow genuine conversation to take place without presupposing the conclusion.

I am tired of my fellow students being too scared to speak up as pro-life in the classroom, in the Diag and in our social circles.

I am tired of being at parties and having peer after peer “confessing” to me in a whisper that they share my pro-life convictions. Students should not have to draw off some liquid courage before being able to speak about how they truly feel about abortion.

Yet the University ensures that pro-life students know that they and their beliefs are unwelcome here and I am tired of it. It’s time for the University to stop sponsoring events like “4,000 Years for Choice” that create a false sense of pro-choice unanimity on campus. The University owes it to us, its students and its own incredible legacy as a place of higher learning to stop dictating debate and thereby allow meaningful intellectual discovery and growth to take place.

Taylor Crookston is an LSA junior.