Guest blog post by Kirsten Olsen
On January 22, 2014, less than twenty Concordia Lutheran High School students trekked through frigid below-zero cold and the most snow Washington DC had seen in generations. Just a year later, 42 Concordia students marched through a much fairer Washington DC to stand up for those who can’t. This year, 70 students and 17 adults are traveling to Washington from Fort Wayne, Indiana to fight for the unborn, and have the honor and privilege to lead the March.
Since I was first a part of the March for Life in 2014, the students participating in the March for Life from my school has quadrupled. This never ceases to amaze me! I think a major part of our Pro-Life community growing by so much, has to do with the chapel services our group participates in every year. Concordia has a short chapel service every Monday morning and once or twice a year, the Pro-Life group gets to lead it. In the past, we have shown pictures and videos of the March, as well as having people speak on their experiences. The songs, hymns, and Bible readings all relate to life. It’s a really neat experience and I really think those chapels have gotten our students fired up about saving human lives.
Here in Fort Wayne, we have a great crisis pregnancy center called A Hope Center. The Hope Center reaches out to women who are in situations where they don’t have a place to go for help with their pregnancy, and is a great alternative to Planned Parenthood. They offer free pregnancy testing, STD testing, and ultrasounds, as well as classes for the moms and dads-to-be and Bible Studies. The Concordia Pro-Life group, has for the past few years, participated in their biggest fundraiser, Strides of Hope. This simple walk athon-type event is a really fun and easy way for our group to become involved in the Fort Wayne Pro-Life community.
“This is a huge opportunity for us and I think it’s great for our country’s leaders to see that we are the generation that will end abortion, and hopefully this 43rd March for Life will be the last one that needs to take place.”
Aside from these larger events, we also participate in events with the local legislature, and a Christmas festival. The Fort Wayne area has been blessed with the closing of the only abortion clinic in the area, but before this happened a little over a year ago, a group of us would go outside the clinic to pray for the women and babies going in, as well as the staff involved. These short one hour trips, I believe, were very eye opening to those of us who went, in that we were able to see how real the death of these human lives was; that’s not an understanding many high schoolers are able to have. Just that small glimpse was incredibly powerful.
Concordia is very blessed to have the privilege to lead the March for Life this year. To quote my good friend, Jack Wert, “To hold the banner is a great honor, I get to be the face, one of the leaders of the charge to support our cause. I wouldn’t be surprised if, when our cause is successful, a picture of that banner with us behind it will appear in history books for our children to see.” This is a huge opportunity for us and I think it’s great for our country’s leaders to see that we are the generation that will end abortion, and hopefully this 43rd March for Life will be the last one that needs to take place.