July 16 – 26 I will join other National Pro-life leaders in Washington DC to help train young people as part of Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust’s Summer Pro-life Training Camp. Find more info at ProlifeCamp.com
How Do You Answer Your Teenage Daughter When She Tells You She’s Pregnant?
I have spent close to 30 years standing outside abortion mills talking to men and women about alternatives to abortion, pleading with them to know that their child is a gift from God and no matter what got them in this situation their child is a blessing. When I first started to have kids I would bring them with me to pro-life events and dress them in pro-life t-shirts. I was the proudest father on the planet when my kids would ask me if they could protest abortion with me or ask me to help them write a paper in school about abortion.
I often talk to my daughters about how we must love everyone and make sure young girls who are scared know there is help for them and people who love them in their darkest hours. I witnessed my kids talk to people at our booths about how wrong abortion is and how every single child is a wanted child and needs to be welcomed in love.
I can honestly say that when they were young I never imagined that one of my own daughters would be that scared teenage girl who is terrified of telling her parents she’s pregnant. I just assumed that they would grow up, fall in love, get married and then have kids.
The day I walked into the hallway and saw my precious angel crying and afraid to tell me what I already knew was a difficult day. Not because I had to face the reality that my daughter is pregnant, but because I had to see that fear in her eyes and hear her say the words “Are you mad at me Dad?”
To be honest, anger was the last emotion I felt at that moment. I hugged my daughter tight and just told her I loved her. When she asked me if I was mad I said without hesitation, “NO! How can I be mad at you for blessing me with my first grandchild?”
Over the years I have talked to many kids from Christian homes, pastor’s daughters and even pastors themselves who were walking into abortion mills because they were afraid of how people would react. I have heard pastors talk about how they feared what their church members would say to find out their child got pregnant out of wedlock. I have heard young girls tell me they were afraid if their parents found out that they would be kicked out of the house and disowned. An angry father once threw me to the ground as he pushed his crying daughter into the abortion mill to make her have an abortion she didn’t want.
I am going to say something that may not sit well with many people; the abortion rate in churches is directly caused by those who forget the Mercy and Grace Christ shows us on a daily basis. It blows my mind that we would be more worried about hiding a sexual sin than accepting the gift of life. Instead of embracing the absolute grace of God we reject life itself destroy His image.
Pregnancy is not a sin; pregnancy is not a disease, and pregnancy is not something to ever be ashamed of. Every single child is a blessing from the Lord and should be welcomed and embraced with all the love in the world. When we react in anger and shame we reject grace and have forgotten the Divine Mercy Christ showed us when He gave His life for us. So many people choose to sacrifice the child to cover a sin that has already been paid for in full by the very God who gave created that child.
We live in a political atmosphere that was wants to de-stigmatize abortion and ask women to “shout your abortion” in order to normalize killing babies. The recent video of an abortion activist bragging to children about how her abortion was simply like a bad dentist appointment is an attempt to further open the floodgates of the deadliest holocaust our world has ever seen.
We hear politicians screaming about children being separated from their parents in one breath as they demand government funding for Planned Parenthood to permanently separate children by killing them. The very people who want to welcome all immigrants into our country with open borders refuse to welcome all children to migrate from the womb into their parent’s arms.
Many years ago I was told a story by Judie Brown of American Life League about the day her daughter told her she was pregnant. Judie told us that the first words out of every parent’s mouth should be, “I love you.” I learned this lesson when my daughter was still a baby herself and never really imagined I would have to put this into practice with her. Nineteen years later that is exactly what I had to do and I thank God for those wise words Judie taught me so many years ago.
When my daughter told me she was pregnant I was filled with joy knowing that I am now a grandfather. The following week I drove her to our local crisis pregnancy center where I was recognized immediately for my pro-life work. We were loved, welcomed and never once judged in the least. The day after Christmas I met my daughter at the doctor’s office where we found out she is having a little girl. In May I will hold my granddaughter in my arms for the first time and I cannot be more excited.
Next week I will join hundreds of thousands at the March for Life in Washington D.C. and the following week at the Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco. While these events are a call for an end to child killing they are also a call for us to show love and mercy to all and teach the world how to embrace the gift of life and reject the lies that lead so many to abortion.
Every child is a gift from God and every pregnant girl needs to be told how loved she is.
Thirty-One Years Ago I Heard The Silent Scream; Will I Finally See The End Of The Abortion Holocaust I Have Been Fighting Since That Night?
It was a warm August night in 1987 when four young kids took the stage at a church in Anaheim, California, and changed my life forever. I was only a week into my Christian journey and just looking for some good music to listen to that would encourage me in my new faith. I was not expecting to find my calling in life that night, but that is exactly what happened when the band The Crucified began to sing a song entitled “The Silent Scream”.
I left that concert with a cassette tape that I listened to over and over and over. I took to heart the words of the song and the words that Stacey, the drummer’s then-girlfriend, now-wife, shared with me about abortion and what it really was. I could not stop thinking about what was going on in our world that I had been blind to for so many years. I could not erase the thought of a baby screaming for life while a doctor was intentionally killing a human being he was trained to heal.
Over the next few years I began to speak out against abortion, wearing pro-life t-shirts and putting stickers on my scooter and helmet. I began to collect and distribute pro-life literature. My journey to full-time pro-life activist had begun but I had not yet realized this was my life’s calling.
It was a couple years later when my friend Chris invited me to a pro-life event in downtown Los Angeles. We met up with a my friend, Elisa, and her mom at an abortion mill where a giant protest was taking place. I had a Mohawk and tattoos and most of the pro-abortion protesters thought I was one of them. They asked me to stand and guard the door, and to hold it open to allow women in to get an abortion.
I had heard about Operation Rescue and how its members would sacrificially sit in front of the doors in prayer to buy time for counselors to offer women an alternative to abortion. They would be arrested for laying their lives down for the sake of the precious children scheduled to die that day.
When I saw that young woman walking toward the door I was holding open, I had no choice; I had to do something to try to protect her child from what was about to happen. In the middle of hundreds of screaming pro-abortion activists, I slammed the door shut and linked my arms to the handles as the crowd around me realized I was actually pro-life.
I was hit, kicked and spat upon. They screamed, “He’s OR, He’s OR” as the girl turned and left and the police came running in to arrest me. I was walked out of the crowd in handcuffs as they all cheered. I was released later that day when pro-life activist Jeff White negotiated my release and within an hour I called my boss and told him I could no longer work on Saturdays. I knew that my Saturdays from then on would be spent standing up against abortion.
Over the years, as I got more involved with the Rescue movement, I began to dream about mixing my two passions, music and pro-life. I had been involved with Christian rock, working for many bands while also doing pro-life activism. In 1993 I was undercover at an abortion mill and I actually witnessed an abortion. That night, when I was crying out to God about what I saw, He gave me the vision and call on my life. I heard the audible words, “Bryan, save my children”. He gave me the vision to start Rock for Life and be a booming voice for life in the middle of the culture of death.
I began to organize concerts featuring bands like POD, Sometime Sunday, Focused, Precious Death, The Blamed and so many more. I was invited to tour with Lollapalooza in 1994 and I had a pro-life booth at every stop of the tour. I joined forces with Erik Whittington of the band Sometime Sunday to build Rock for Life into a full-time pro-life organization, mobilizing young people to stand up and call for an end to abortion.
Erik and I had a passion for creating cutting edge pro-life t-shirts, stickers, music and more. We wanted to not only educate and activate this generation but to equip them to be bold with the message. The first big shirt we did was a simple design with the words “Abortion Is Mean. This design became one of the most popular pro-life shirts every made. By the early 2000s you could not walk through a Christian concert festival without seeing this shirt everywhere you looked.
The back of the shirt had a message that resonated with our generation, a proclamation that so many took to heart. “You Will Not Silence My Message, You Will Not Mock My God, You Will Stop Killing My Generation.” This became an anthem for Christian youth as the youth pro-life movement began to explode.
Erik and I began to mobilize young alternative kids who did not fit the norm to come to the March for Life in D.C. It was amazing to see hundreds of kids marching together with Mohawks, dyed hair, tattoos and piercings alongside people you would never expect to see standing for the same cause. It was a revolution for life like no one had ever seen before. It was a beautiful sight.
Years later, with my new organization, Stand True, I launched a new shirt with a prophetic message that I 100 percent believe. “I Survived Roe vs. Wade, Roe vs. Wade Will Not Survive Me”. I have often been asked if I truly believe this message, do I really believe this is the generation that will abolish abortion.
Yes! Yes I do believe this! When people ask me questions like, “Do you believe we can actually see Roe vs. Wade overturned,” I say, “Don’t ask can we, but when will we see this happen?”
That brings us to today, an historic moment in our nation, the turning of the Supreme Court to a conservative majority like we have not seen before. I have not been fooled into thinking that the nomination of Justice Kavanaugh is a guarantee that we will see the end of Roe soon, but I am encouraged to know we are a step closer.
The truth is we have probably not seen the last nomination from President Trump; in fact there could actually be two more Justices seated on the bench before he leaves office.
While we must remain cautious and vigilant in our fight for an end to abortion, I do believe that we can also take encouragement in the direction our nation is heading. It is true that even if Roe is overturned, it will not bring about the end of abortion, but it will bring us one giant step closer.
Even when we do see abortion outlawed again, something I believe will happen and needs to happen, we must continue to fight the culture of death. Just like all other evil attacks on humanity that have been made illegal, those things still happen. Just because as evil will still exist does not mean we don’t fight to outlaw that evil.
So here I sit sipping my coffee on a hot July morning about thirty-one years after I first heard about the silent scream, thinking about that concert that woke me up. Before I began to write this, I wrote a thank you to Jim and Stacey Chaffin on Facebook for being a huge part of inspiring my calling in life.
My message remains the same, my passion remains the same and my drive remains the same. This is the generation that will abolish abortion and Roe vs. Wade will not survive this generation.
Bryan Kemper
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Will You Lose Your Voice For A Day For Those Without A Voice? The 14th Annual Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity – Oct 16th 2018 #silentday
#silentday #prolifegen
The momentum is building right now in the fight to end the most deadly holocaust in history. The pro-life movement is growing in strength and resolve as Planned Parenthood is being exposed as the merchants of death that they are. The Supreme Court is made up of a majority pro-life justices and could see a challenge to Roe V Wade soon. Every day people are asking me, “what can I do to stand up for the babies who are being killed by abortion?”
On October 16th, you can stand out and be a voice for them by being silent for the day.
In the spring of 2004, a student from McNeese State University asked me, “What can I do to work in solidarity with other students around the country to help end abortion?”
I hear things like that all the time from the students I speak to. “What can I do? I have ideas, but I don’t know what to do with them. Can I really make a difference? I’m just one person.”
When this student asked me, a spark went off in my head.
I replied, “What if we got students to not only act in solidarity with others, but also with the children that are dying every day?” As soon as I said it, I knew God had set something in motion inside of me.
At the time, I was one person working from the basement of my home with a computer, a web site, and a small e-mail list that I had been collecting for a few months. I wasn’t really sure what could be accomplished with that, but I offered it to God and started sending out emails.
#silentday #prolifegen
We asked the students to take a vow of silence for a day, wearing red duct tape with the word “life” or “silenced” and to pass out fliers explaining their silence to fellow students. We asked them to wear pro-life t-shirts or make custom shirts with the pro-life message or wear red armbands to identify themselves as participants.
Now, something that started its first year as just a few thousand students from 300 campuses has grown into a world-wide outpouring of love and action. Tuesday, Oct 16th will mark the eleventh annual Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity, and ever year we have students from thousands of campuses in dozens of countries stand together in solidarity. We have heard of over a thousand girls who have cancelled abortions because of this day every year.
Will you join us this year? Will you give up your voice for those who will never have one?
Hearts are being changed, babies are being saved, and women and men are being spared the trauma of post-abortive pain. People are coming together in unity to promote a culture of life. Personhood is being restored on campuses across the nation.
I really cannot take any credit for the success of this movement. It is only God who grants us the power to do this. I was one person who listened to God and, through Him, acted on the vision He gave me.
If you have an idea, a vision or dream, don’t be afraid to stand up and let your voice be heard. Don’t doubt what you can accomplish with Christ. Don’t think that because you are just one person you can’t make a difference.
#silentday #prolifegen
“I have a dream”–a statement powerfully spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and yet it is so much more than just words. He did not cower in the face of adversity. He spoke those words with passion and conviction. He challenged the world to stand up for the rights and equality of all men.
I, too, have a dream. I, too, will not cower in the face of adversity. I believe that through Christ, we can restore personhood to the most innocent of our brothers and sisters: the children in the womb.
Today, 3,000 of my generation will be silenced.
Today 3,000 of my brothers and sisters lives will be ended simply because of their age.
Today, I will stand up and share my dream, my idea, and my vision with the world.
Will you stand with me?
Will you join us this year? Will you give up your voice for those who will never have one?
#silentday #prolifegen
Please consider making a donation today to help support the life saving work of Stand True. Please click here https://give.cornerstone.cc/Stand+True and make a $10, $25, $50, $100, $1000 donation. Donations can also be mailed to Stand True – PO Box 890 – Troy, OH 45373 or call 540-538-2581 to donate by phone. What ever you can give will help us fight to end abortion.
Please share this with your fiends, family, pastors and priests.
Bryan Kemper
When Young Pro-lifers Raise Their Voice: Huge Victory in San Francisco, Planned Parenthood Loses “Medical Waste” Company.
My son and I recently returned from two weeks in San Francisco where he attended and I helped lead the Survivors Pro-life Training Camp. As a father I cannot be any prouder of my son right now as I watched him in action standing against abortion and being a witness for Christ in one of the darkest more liberal cities in America.
There is so much to talk about from camp but I want to focus on one particular chain of events that took place at camp. On a Friday morning my son was sidewalk counseling at a Planned Parenthood in Downtown when a truck pulled up in front of the building. We quickly realized this was a “medical waste” company there to pick up the bodies of the aborted children who were killed there.
I started to live stream from the sidewalk as we confronted the company, asking them if they knew what they were picking up. The man was visibly upset on finding out what he was picking up but did not want to talk to us, he was worried about his job. I pleaded with him, asking him if we can help find him a new job. He threw the containers in the back of the truck and drove off.
The following Monday we took the campers to the main headquarters of the company and a few of us went in to talk to the owner and ask him to stop doing business with Planned Parenthood. After talking with him for over 40 minutes he told us he would consider what we said and get back to us.
A few days later we received a phone call from him asking us to come back and talk to him. He met with us and shared his heart about how much he thought about this situation and sought counsel from many people. In the end he agreed to cut all ties with Planned Parenthood of NorCal, an account worth over $300,000. He mentioned that as of right now there are no other companies they can use and may have to stop doing abortions until they find a new company. Victory!
We know that Planned Parenthood will do all they can to remain open but we have made it harder for them and will continue to put pressure on any company who cooperates with child killing. One of the biggest lessons for these young pro-lifers was that persistence and hard work can pay off when fighting this battle. They were so inspired in their work and the outcome of this, they truly came away ready to continue the fight to end abortion.
I will write more soon about camp and share some other stories but I wanted to share this with you as the two week time frame he gave us is upon us and his contract is ending this week. Please pray for Rich and the rest of the staff at Barnett Medical Services as they make this huge sacrifice to break ties with Planned Parenthood.
I want to also thank Survivors and Pro-life San Francisco who were such a vital part of this camp and victory.
Urgent: While camp was a huge success, we are now in a tough spot after two weeks doing non-stop activism in San Francisco. As of today the Stand True bank account is actually $186 in the negative from unforeseen expenses from camp. We need your help TODAY!
Please consider making a donation to Stand True today as we are moving full steam ahead with plans for the 2018 Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity. Donate at https://give.cornerstone.cc/Stand+True today and help us catch up today.
For the voiceless,
Bryan Kemper
New Zealand / Australia – “Social Justice Begins in the Womb” Tour Story and Pictures
No sooner had I landed after 40 hours of traveling from Dayton, OH, to Auckland, New Zealand, than I was already getting ready to board another flight to my first stop on our speaking tour. I grabbed a coffee at the airport with Kate from Voice for Life New Zealand and Hillary from Hillary’s Law and we boarded a flight to Whangarei.
We started with a luncheon and talk for local pastors. I was greeted with a traditional Maori greeting and welcome songs. The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand and have a wonderful rich culture. The Maori hosts sang praise songs and prayed for me before my talk. It was an amazing way to start the tour.
After a great time with the pastors and an evening talk to the general public, I was feeling extremely encouraged by the reception we had there. Over the next seven days it was early morning flights to each city for lunch meetings with pastors and local leaders, then evening talks in each town.
My second day I was treated with a trip to the Hobbiton where “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” were filmed, then flown to North Auckland for my second evening talk. I was blessed to see a local pastor and his church so open to host a pro-life event and embrace the message and urgency of the movement. A young woman came with her two children and told us her eyes were opened that night and she has been going crazy on social media since — a very loud voice for life.
My third stop was in Taranaki on the North Island. This was honestly one of the most humbling and special nights of my life. After I spoke I was brought back up on stage where the local Maori people honored me with a ceremony draping me with a Maori Korowai, a traditional cape made of feathers reserved for Chiefs, Elders and Dignitaries. I was prayed over and given the Korowai as they embraced the message of life. I also met a young Maori girl named Rawinia who caught fire that night for the unborn. Her mother and her were friends of one of my hosts, Hillary, and have committed to being very involved with pro-life. Rawinia wrote to me when I got home and included a poem she wrote after being inspired at my talk. She gave me permission to share it.
Let me speak about abortion
Now please listen
Cause its something that needs to be heard
Its a life or death matter
So I’m hurt by our peoples actions
as if our vision is blurred
See I attended a pro life campaign
And thats honestly when my realization accrued
We’ve been so silent and misguided
That some of our babies miss out
On being nurtured
And that hurts…
It breaks my heart to think
A young girl felt so weak
It breaks my heart to know
That an innocent life
Is taken each week
It breaks my heart to see
That they don’t have a choice to speak
It breaks my heart to hear
That the truth is just a game of hide and seek
You know we just need some unity
Its time to unite
Hand and hand lets stand together
Its time to cease our moment to fight
Cause with gods love and gods spirit
We’ll fight this darkness with light
Amongst the heart break that I feel
I know theres a future thats bright
Baby girl just know theres help out there
Please realise your strength
Even if you feel uneasy and there was no consent
I know its hard
I know its scary
I knows its different for you
But baby girl just know you’re worthy
And with love you’ll pull through
I speak with love
I speak with empathy
I speak with the truth
I speak with soul
I speak with everything within me for healing our generations my goal
IF YOU’RE WORRIED
IF YOU’RE HURT
IF YOU’RE LOST
KNOW I’M HERE
AND IF YOU’RE FEELING ALONE
JUST KNOW THERE’S SOMEWHERE WHO’LL CARE
I don’t judge
I don’t critique
Because we’ve all got our battles
But may i ask you just one favor
Close your eyes and imagine that beautiful sound of a rattle…
Raawies Rose
The next four nights I was in Hawks Bay, Dunedin, Wellington and Christchurch, where we had amazing meetings with local pastors and filled-to-capacity evening events. Every stop was crowded with people who were excited to get involved with the pro-life movement in New Zealand and wanting to know how they can be more active. I talked to a lot of people about social media activism as well as other ways to get involved with local groups like Voice for Life and Hillary’s Law.
Each night Kate would share about Voice for Life and its projects, including a summer internship for young adults that she helps run. Hillary would tell the story of her daughter being taken from school for a secret abortion and her subsequent suicide attempt from depression after the abortion. I was honored to be joined by these two women who are committed to the pro-life cause and volunteered their time to go on this whirlwind tour with me.
Our last stop was Christchurch where I got to see some old friends, including the parents of Andy Moore who first brought me to New Zealand years ago and has since moved to the U.S. He works full-time with the Susan B. Anthony List as a social media manager and contributes so much to the pro-life movement.
I departed New Zealand the next morning to fly to Melbourne, Australia, to meet up with Kathy Clubb, the mother of former Stand True intern Josh and an active Priests for Life MEV missionary. Kathy and I joined two members of Parliament from Victoria, Australia, for lunch at Parliament. We met with Bernie Finn and Rachel Carling-Jenkins to discuss the pro-life movement in Australia and in the U.S. Bernie hosted me several years ago for a dinner and the March for Babies there in Melbourne.
That night I gave a talk in Melbourne for Youth for Life Australia and again was excited to see so many old friends from past visits there as well as a couple of friends from Ireland who are part of Youth Defence in their country.
I had such an amazing time Down Under and cannot wait to go back and fight along side of these amazing people for the end of abortion. It’s always so encouraging to see groups from other countries and to experience their resolve to end abortion.
Oceans may separate us but we are joined in spirit and passion for life.
Bryan Kemper
Stand True Pro-life Outreach Re-location and Re-launch – We need your help today!
Dear friends,
Over the past year Strand True, while still operating full time has gone through a major re-location and re-launch. The high cost of running our own offices was draining the ministry financially and we decided to close down the full time office and relocate to my basement where we could cut overhead extensively.
With that we have also decided to reconsider our in house intern program and move to an online internship this summer. By doing so we also did not have to rent housing for interns who could learn and work just as well from home. They will still be able to join us at major pro-life events and conferences such as the March for Life, Walk for Life, NRLC and more.
We wanted to make sure the money being donated can go more to the practical and ministry needs of out organization.
For the past several months we have not done much fundraising as we were able to operate on the budget we had but we are now suddenly at a dangerous low. We have several repairs to do on our van as I will still be driving this to summer events. We also have to re-order much of our literature and materials.
Right now we have less then $100 left and we must raise at least $2,000 in the next week. This is honestly a small amount of money for a ministry with the reach and success we have at Stand True.
Please consider a donation to Stand True today at https://give.cornerstone.cc/Stand+True or you can mail a check to Stand True – 1013 South Crawford St – Troy, OH 45373
I will be leaving in three weeks for a 10 days speaking tour of New Zealand and Australia (NONE of which is funded by Stand True) and I want to get all of our stuff ordered before I leave.
It has been a long time since I have done online fundraising for Stand True as I only want to as needed but we are in need right now. Thank you for your support.
While Many 13-Year-Olds Are Going To Summer Camp In The Woods, My Son Is Going To Pro-life Camp In San Francisco
Jaemison Kemper at Survivors Pro-life Summer Camp 2017
As a young boy, one of the things I looked forward to most was summer camp at Sequoia Lake in California. I spent weeks selling toffee peanuts door to door so I could earn enough money for extra weeks at camp. I can still remember some of the counselor’s names, like Cookie and Sunshine; granted I kind of had a crush on Sunshine like every other boy at camp.
When I talk to my son Jaemison at the beginning of summer each year I ask him what he is looking forward to the most and his answer is, without hesitation, Survivor’s Pro-life Training Camp. He is very much an outdoor lover, a kayaker, and an avid swimmer but his eyes light up when we start talking about going to San Francisco to do pro-life activism for 10 days.
Last week I wrote a commentary about my 31 years as a punk rock, pro-life activist and why I have dedicated my life to this work. (https://www.standtrue.com/tattooedprolifepunkrocker/) I know that I am more vocal than most about abortion and use every chance I can to bring it up and challenge the culture of death. Last year after taking Jaemison to camp for just a few days I was excited to see how passionate he became about pro-life. When he returned to school he was determined to wear a pro-life t-shirt almost every day to be a witness for life.
While most youth pro-life programs are designed to just teach young people about this issue and how they can help adults do the fighting, Survivors is a different experience altogether for youth. We don’t just tell them about pro-life and teach them key arguments, we actually train them to be the leaders of today, not the future.
When I started Rock for Life in the 90’s I wanted to create a pro-life outreach young people could take ownership of and that is exactly what Survivors does today. These young people are trained to go out into the streets and not just attend an activist event but to actually run the event. The event leaders, media liaison and team leaders are all young people. When the police arrive to see what is going on the youth are the ones who talk to them and establish guidelines and show the police how our actions are legal and peaceful. When a reporter shows up, it’s one of the youth that talks to them and explains why we are there and what our message is.
With seasoned leaders like Jeff White, Cheryl Conrad, Sue Cyr and myself there to guide them and teach them, they embrace their roles as youth activists. They start to come to us with ideas for outreach, with designs for t-shirts and slogans for signs and sidewalk chalking.
I have watched young girls sidewalk counseling and saving babies outside abortion mills. I have watched my own son talk to the police to point out that there were signs allowing free speech activities at a park where we were set up at and then saw the police reverse their position that we had to leave.
I have had youth interns work for me for more than 20 years and I have seen some of them grow up and start major pro-life initiatives, found a chain of pregnancy resource centers and even run international pro-life campaigns in other countries. I have seen graduates of Survivors Camp go on to do amazing things in the pro-life movement and contribute to some of the most important work in our fight to end abortion.
We are at a crucial turning point in our nation and investing in young people has never been more important. I truly believe that we will see the end of the Roe v. Wade era in our lifetime and we need a generation that will fight to bring an end to this holocaust once Roe is overturned.
Every age has its evil and we know that abortion is the evil of this age. My song recognizes this truth and is passionate about being part of the generation that abolishes abortion. He knows that silence and apathy breed death and he refuses to be complicit, as thousands of innocent human beings are dying every day in our nation. He understands that he is called to love his neighbor as himself and has chosen to actively do so.
I can honestly not think of a better way to spend 10 days of my summer with my son than in San Francisco standing up for life and making a difference in one of the darkest cities in the world. He has no fear of what anyone thinks about him and cannot wait to board that plane with me on the 23rd of July.
As the Youth Outreach Director of Priests for Life, I am excited to be a part of this amazing adventure for young pro-life activists. I will be at camp for the entire ten days and will be joined by Father Stephen Imbarrato, one of our full-time priests. Father Frank Pavone, our national director, has always supported youth pro-life work and makes sure that PFL is part of making this camp a success.
If you want more information about sending your teenager to Pro-life Camp check out http://www.survivors.la/21st-annual-prolife-bootcamp. It’s only a few days away but it’s not too late to sign up even if it’s just for a portion of camp.
Please consider a donation to help with the costs of 10 days at Pro-life Camp for my son and I – Donate Here
Talking About Abortion May Be Offensive, But Our Silence and Apathy Is Deadly; Addressing the Lie That Christians Should Not Offend People.
I sometimes find the excuses that I hear from people who claim to be pro-life but will not take action on their convictions just plain laughable. Then there are the excuses in which people actually try and use the Word of God to justify their apathy.
One of the classic examples that can be found is the ever popular “I don’t want to offend anyone” excuse. The worst part of this excuse is that many who use it try to justify it with scripture, often interjecting the word “offend” for the word “stumble”. There are several verses about causing others, especially children, to stumble. For example:
1st Corinthians 10:32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—
The problem is that people seem to think that offending someone is the same as causing them to stumble; that is simply not true. If I were to sit and drink beer around someone who is an alcoholic, tempting him by offering him beer, that would be causing him to stumble.
The truth is we will offend many people just by the fact that we are Christians; this Gospel of Christ is highly offensive to those who do not have faith.
Jeremiah 6:10 To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me?
Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.
Anytime we take a stand against an evil, someone will be offended. Those involved with evil will take offense to our speaking out against their behavior. If we were to speak out against pornography and call it indecent or obscene that would offend those involved in the pornography industry.
If we were to give a workshop “talking about domestic violence or child abuse, would that not offend people who commit those actions? Just because we speak out against an evil and it offends people does not mean we should stop speaking out against that evil.
Many will say that they are worried about hurting people’s feelings. Women who have committed the act of abortion will be hurt so we shouldn’t wear pro-life shirts, hold signs or pray in front of abortion mills.” While I agree that some women will be upset when they see a pro-life t-shirt or display, that in no way justifies not taking that action.
I have to ask about other things we speak out against. Would we refrain from speaking out against domestic violence because it might offend someone who has beaten his wife? Would we refrain from speaking out against child abuse because we might offend a woman who has beaten her kids? Would we refrain from speaking out against rape because we are afraid we would offend a rapist?
The problem is that when it comes to abortion we have allowed this evil act to be diminished to just a “tough decision” that a woman has to make. I am sorry but this is not a decision anyone should have the right to make; it is an act of homicide that cannot be justified.
We would never in a million years call a rape a “tough decision” that a man has to make. There are no circumstances that can justify a man sexually forcing himself on another human person. There will be no one arguing that we just need to put ourselves in his shoes to understand why he had to make that choice.
This same standard must be applied to killing one’s child in the womb or at any other time in that child’s life. The act of homicide is one person killing another person and that is what happens in every single abortion.
All this being said, I am not advocating going out on the street and screaming at women or calling them murderers as they walk into an abortion mill. I have always and will always reach out to them in love and offer them hope.
While I will not be screaming at women, I will also not back down in my fight to expose what abortion is to the world. The fact is that we need the world to view abortion as the horrific act that it is; to have the same disdain for abortion as they do for rape or any other act of homicide.
Yes, there will be times that people will be offended by the pro-life t-shirt I wear, the sign I hold or by my praying outside of an abortion mill. There will be women who have had an abortion who will feel guilt for what they have done and probably not be happy about being reminded of their act. I pray that the guilt they feel will lead to finding the healing and hope of Christ that exists with repentance.
This next statement at first may sound a bit harsh but it is a reality. I am more concerned with saving the lives of innocent children being slaughtered by the thousands every day than I am with the hurt feelings of someone who has committed this act. I do not set out to offend; I set out to tell the truth. In doing so, I know people will be offended and feelings will be hurt. This holds for almost every truth we decide to proclaim and evil we confront.
(That being said I also believe very strongly in the forgiveness and healing after abortion and would strongly recommend visiting AbortionShockwaves.com)
If you claim to be pro-life, to believe that the children dying inside these abortion mills are fully human, don’t give me excuses. To slightly tweak a Greg Cunningham quote: “Apathy and ignorance sustained by denial are crippling this nation’s response to abortion. When something is so horrifying that we can’t stand to look at it, perhaps we shouldn’t be tolerating it!”
For Christ I stand,
Bryan Kemper
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Abortion Stops A Beating Heart
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