Day of Life success

Five pro-life leaders came to Liberty University to share their testimonies and encourage students to minister to women affected by abortions Friday, March 30.

Students who are members of Lifeline, which hosted the Day of Life event, go weekly to the Planned Parenthood facility in Roanoke, Va. to pray for and minister to the women going to have an abortion, according to President of Lifeline Lillian Otieno.

Day of Life was a two-day event that featured a panel discussion Friday night and sidewalk counseling at Planned Parenthood Saturday.

Otieno felt Day of Life made the issue of abortion more real to students.

“It brings the issue home in a tangible way to individuals of how they can make a difference,” Otieno said.

The panel discussion began with a testimony from the Senior Minister of Pulse ProLife Ministries Joshua Edmonds. Edmonds said that hearing the statistic that every 60 seconds three babies are aborted in America inspired him to get involved with the pro-life movement.

Edmonds explained that many people see abortion murder. He said that society should take the value of a human person back to the basics.

“Personhood is determined at the very moment of conception by God,” Edmonds said.

Edmonds encouraged students to focus on the future, not the past, and said that their voices will save lives.

Four women who had experienced at least one crisis pregnancy spoke on the panel and shared their testimonies. Three out of the four women had at least one abortion themselves.

Lori Meetre is the executive director of the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center in Lynchburg and shared the mission of the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center and the story of the abortion she had when she was 18.

“I was 18 and in a crisis pregnancy, and that’s what I chose,” Meetre said.

Meetre explained she was pro-life before she became pregnant and after the abortion she experienced many emotional and spiritual consequences. The scars not only affected her, but also the baby’s father, who is now her husband, and the four children they had years later.

According to Meetre, it is important to show genuine care for the women themselves, not just the baby, because they also need counseling and love.

Another facility in Lynchburg that reaches out to women in crisis pregnancies is the Liberty Godparent Home. Godparent Home Director Janelle Basham went through the Home herself when she became pregnant at 17. Basham expressed how grateful she was that her family to encouraged her not to have an abortion.

“Thank you, God, that you gave me parents that wouldn’t let me go through with an abortion,” Basham said.

Basham encouraged students as they sidewalk counsel to have resources to offer the woman in need.

A veteran sidewalk counselor, Shirley Joslin, organized many pro-life events in Roanoke, such as 40 days for life. Joslin struggled for years with the pain from her choice to have two abortions.

“I knew God forgave me, but in my heart I couldn’t forgive myself,” Joslin said.

Liberty’s Lifeline continually works alongside Joslin in sidewalk counseling at the Roanoke Planned Parenthood.

Nicole Cooley was once one of those women walking into an abortion clinic to terminate her pregnancy. Cooley is the Virginia Project Director at the Center for Bioethical Reform.

Cooley shared her story of how she was date raped while she was in the military and then chose to abort the baby.

“I thought this abortion would make the rape go away, but after the abortion I felt I was raped again, only worse because I consented to the assault,” Cooley said.

Along with the other speakers, Cooley especially encouraged the students as Christians to get involved.

“If Christians don’t care about abortion, then we have no hope to end it,” Cooley said.

Students who are a part of Lifeline then took the knowledge they learned from the panel discussion and went out in the field for pro-life ministry.