TODAY'S CHURCH

Check out this video by a 12 year old named Lia. Who says that preteens can't make a difference?! She recently decided to make a courageous stand in her school by giving a persuasive speech on the topic of abortion. Even when her teachers strongly encouraged her to choose a different topic, she decided to stick with what she felt passionate about.

She was motivated to take this stand after her mom attended a Lou [Engle] conference several years ago. The family made a covenant to pray for abortion to end…

• "As part of her class requirements, she needed to prepare a speech; however, the classroom presentations were also meant to enable the teacher to select the best speeches to go on to a more serious competition. As I mentioned, several teachers discouraged her from picking the topic of abortion; she was told it was “too big”, “too mature” and “too controversial”. She was also told that if she went ahead with that topic, she would not be allowed to continue on in the speech competition. Initially, I tried helping her find other topics to speak on, but, in the end, she was adamant. She just felt she wanted to continue with the topic of abortion. So she forfeited her chance to compete in order to speak on something she was passionate about. "

To help get the word out, the family would like you to visit the Think Fast campaign. EVERY FRIDAY Junior High and High School students in more than 900 schools FAST LUNCH and use that time to get with friends to PRAY FOR ABORTION TO END. You can join the movement now, and make a difference too.
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Lia’s teacher was so moved by her handing of the content that she decided to allow her to participate in the competition after all. THEN LIA WON for her class. Later the school principal and teachers all agreed that Lia’s speech before the entire school was the OBVIOUS WINNER. But the judges overall decided to disqualify her because of the topic and her position on abortion.

The family pondered how to proceed with how the school chose to handle Lia’s situation. the whole thing led to a big disagreement with the judges and one offended judge chose to step down. The other judges reversed their earlier decision, and Lia was declared the WINNER. Lia advanced to compete regionally and represent her school with this amazing message of LIFE. Lia then advanced to the next round of competition with her speech.

Lia did an outstanding job at this level of competition. "Her presentation was flawless and she was poised and passionate throughout." She did not win the competition however. Two teachers and others present felt that she was the strongest speaker and should have won, but they suspected that her topic of abortion is what kept her from winning. Read this excerpt from her mother’s email:

• Lia wasn’t really that upset though, especially when she considered that the only difference between winning the competition and not winning was having a couple extra pictures taken and being given a small trophy. Lia has a much bigger trophy – somebody commented to us on our YouTube account that her aunt watched Lia’s video and decided to NOT have an abortion because of it. Yay God! Others have commented that they either never thought of the issue before or were pro-choice – but now they have changed their opinions. So, having a life saved is the best trophy ever!

We’re thrilled with Lia’s courage and conviction. And YES, the best trophy is a life saved. Please join us in continuing to pray for her YouTube video to spread virally and impact countless lives. (this material is truncated & referenced from http://www.bound4life.com/)