Newsletter
Cambridge Right to LifeN E W S & V I E W S
Issue 47 MAY 2010
Respect Life DESSERT & COFFEE Evening
AND SILENT AUCTION
WHEN: Thursday, May 27
WHERE: ST. Ambrose Church hall
TIME: 7 P.M. Cost: $10
*SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER*: Lori Luciano, Executive Director,
Cambridge Pregnancy Resource Centre
*Entertainment: Kathleen Dunn, soloist* Hamilton Idol 2009 *
Come, and bring a friend! You will be blessed and uplifted. ~ Donations of items for the Silent Auction would be greatly appreciated! ~ Call 519-623-1850 to reserve your tickets and to donate items.
++COMMUNITY LIFE CHAINS ++ –
FRIDAYS – April 30, MAY 28, JUNE 25 -
Place: Hespeler Rd. (opposite Applebee’s Restaurant)
Time: 6 p.m.
Be a witness for the unborn. We pray that many people’s hearts will be converted, not just moms but dads too.
MEMBERSHIP REMINDER & Board members needed!
Memberships were due in January. To keep our records on track, kindly send in your membership as soon as possible and let us know of changes
to your contact information. Also, prayerfully consider serving on our Board; our numbers have decreased due to personal matters.
» Promoting the Sanctity of human life from conception to natural death »
From the President’s Desk
Dear Members,
This past February, our whole nation was caught up in the celebration of the Winter Olympics. Whether as a torch-bearer, organizer or just ordinary fan, each one of us to some extent, likely felt pride in the achievements of our Canadian athletes. There was something in that flame as we beheld it, that ignited the spark of national pride and unity amongst us.
As I reflected on this unity of pride over the Olympic achievement, I couldn’t help but relate that to the national feeling over the more important issue of human life. We have a long way to go before that spark which makes some of us cherish human life, ignites our collective conscience and moves us to invest our time, talent and money to defend it.
Those of us that keep the flame burning in defense of human life maintain a firm hope, that it is only a matter of time until our entire nation will join us.
Isabel Smith
Annual MARCH FOR LIFE Ottawa
THURSDAY, MAY 13– Theme: ‘ABORTION- A Crime Against Humanity ’
A CHARTERED BUS WILL LEAVE CAMBRIDGE for Ottawa, at 6:30 a.m. from Smitty’s Furniture parking lot to attend the March For Life. Leaving Ottawa at 4 p.m., it will return the same day around 11 p.m.
TICKETS $60.00
As in previous years we are teaming up with K-W Right to Life to fill the bus. Call our office (519-623-1850) to reserve your seat. Don’t let the cost deter you from attending. Help us by BOOKING NOW and be a voice for the unborn!
JUNE 11 & 12 ~ ALLIANCE FOR LIFE PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE
“Facing a Changing World: Making the case for the Future of Humanity”
LOCATION: Delta Meadowvale Resort & Conference Centre
6750 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ON
This is a conference that you won’t want to miss! There will be babysitting available. And the line-up of speakers is phenomenal:
~Dr. Judith Reisman is best known for her expose of the fraudulent sexology experiments by Alfred Kinsey.
~ Barry McLerran is the producer of the films, Demographic Winter: The Decline of the Human Family and Demographic
Bomb: Demography is Destiny.
~ Ann McElhinney is the co-director of the documentary film, Not Evil Just Wrong.
~ Dr. Margaret Somerville is Samuel Gale Professor of Law, Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Founding Director of the Centre for Medicine, Ethics & Law at McGill University.
~ Dr. Angela Lanfranchi is co-founder of Breast Cancer Prevention Institute. She lectures on the scientific evidence of the relationship between abortion and breast cancer.
~ Michael Coren is an author, columnist, speaker and TV Host of the nightly Michael Coren Show.
~ Vicki Thorn is founder and executive of National Office of Post Abortion Healing and Reconciliation and Project Rachel.
~ Wesley Smith is Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute and consultant for the International Task Force on Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide and for the Center for Bioethics.
~ Dr. David Reardon is the director of The Elliot Institute. He has authored numerous books and much of his work has appeared in peer reviewed medical journals.
~ Mercedes Arzú Wilson is the founder of Family of the Americas Foundation.
~ Rocky Rhoades is a former drug dealer turned chastity advocate. He is a speaker with The Goretti Group.
~ Dr. Chris Kahlenborn has studied the epidemiology of breast cancer in relation to abortion and oral contraceptives and is a well known lecturer on the subject.P
Full Conference and Banquet costs (includes all sessions, refreshment breaks, Friday
banquet and Saturday working lunch): General - $195.00, Student - $150.00Please call our office for more details or go to www.allianceforlife.org and click on ‘Provincial Conference’a
2009 Reaching Minds Through Media Campaign Update
Dear Friends of Life,
Ten years ago Alliance for Life Ontario decided to bring pro-life television commercials to Ontario. Five province-wide campaigns have been held, including our latest one in September 2009.
The commercials are designed to reach out to women experiencing a crisis pregnancy and to challenge and reshape people's thinking and emotions on the societal acceptance of abortion. They are designed especially to reach people who identify themselves as pro-choice or unsure on the issue of abortion.
It is imperative to show these commercials over and over again during the campaign in order to impact an individual. We hope that people will be repeatedly challenged and come to associate pro-life with its true position of compassion, strength and resolve.
The commercials air for three month in each campaign and we have been gratified to know that while we are airing - calls to the national crisis pregnancy help line 1 800 665 0570 have greatly increased - showing we believe - that woman unhappily pregnant want pregnancy support not abortion.
We must raise between $500,000 and $750,000 to run an effective campaign; each commercial will cost approximately $300. Please join our 55 educational pro-life groups, our church and business partners and over 2,000 individual supporters. During our previous campaigns we have learnt that the plight of women unhappily pregnant - who are considering abortion - is almost invisible in our secular society and statistics prove that they are almost as invisible in our faith communities - we must change this.
It has been 41 years since Canada liberalized its abortion law and 22 years since the Supreme Court struck that law down. Three million unborn Canadians have been killed by abortion, during these years, which is a national disgrace. Despite our very best efforts over 120,000 unborn children are killed by abortion annually, 35,000 of those in Ontario alone. Their mothers are placed at considerable risk of emotional, psychological and physical health problems; their fathers left helpless; and families distressed and broken.
Ladies and gentlemen, these commercials are a tool that can help transform the landscape in Ontario on the issue of abortion. With sufficient financial support, we can harness the power of television to change people's hearts and minds about abortion and save lives. That is why we are excited about this campaign and why we invite you to get excited too.
Please visit our web site www.allianceforlife.org to view the t.v. commercials and consider making a yearly donation to this important campaign.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs. Jakki Jeffs
Executive Director
BITS & PIECES
~ Note to our members regarding the Reaching Minds Through Media Campaign ~
After seeing the positive results of the Reaching Minds Through Media Campaign, this year our Board has made the decision to re-direct funds which we would normally use for advertising in Cambridge, to be applied to this campaign. We realize that a far broader audience is being reached throughout Ontario, as we partner with Alliance For Life Ontario in bringing these commercials to an Ontario audience. If you have not yet done so, we hope that you will consider making a tax-deductible, yearly donation to fund these TV commercials.
~ WELCOME ‘BABY HOPE’ ~ In our previous newsletter, we had mentioned that our pro-life alliance was coming together to assist a young woman who was pregnant and in financial difficulty. We are happy to announce that the baby was born in January; she is a healthy and beautiful baby. Makayla’s mom was moved to tears several times during a baby shower organized by pro-life friends. We thank everyone for their support, as we have exceeded the goal for this life-saving outreach. Because of your donations, we welcome baby Makayla-Lynn into our midst!
~ MATERNITY LEAVE ~ Our office co-ordinator, Carmen De Sousa, will be going on maternity leave for a few months and being replaced by Maria Chaves in the interim. We pray for a happy delivery for Carmen and a healthy baby! And welcome back Maria!
ONE DAY IN FROM THE 40 DAYS FOR LIFE CAMPAIGN
Dear members,
I thought I’d share with you one of the many amazing, daily updates and testimonies that I receive in my computer mailbox. They are written by David Bereit, National Director of the 40 DAYS FOR LIFE CAMPAIGN.
This campaign is taking place in many cities across North America right now. On March 9, a woman called the ‘wrong number’. She was trying to call Planned Parenthood for an abortion, but called the 40 DAYS FOR LIFE cell phone instead and a volunteer was able to persuade her to keep her fifth child. Praise God! I. Smith
March 9: Today's devotional is from Rev. J. Kirk van der Swaagh of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.
DAY 21 INTENTION -We pray for the conversion of all those who refuse to acknowledge that human life belongs only to God.
SCRIPTURE – “Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations." -- Jeremiah 1:4-5
REFLECTION by Rev. J. Kirk van der Swaagh – “To be or not to be? There is no question! The question of "being" is something philosophers have long pondered. What is the meaning of being and what is the source? In the passage before us, we have our answer. We have being because we are known by God. For God to declare that he knows and sets apart the
prophet Jeremiah even before he is conceived indicates that our being rests in God's own being. Because He is and because He wills we, therefore, are and do. The Apostle Paul says as much when he declares before the philosophers of his day, "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).
One of the tragedies of the abortion culture is that life in the womb has been so heartbreakingly devalued. To embrace the arguments of the "pro-choice" crowd one must conclude that the child in the womb doesn’t exist, isn't there, and has no being. But nothing could be further from the truth. That child is known by God and, as such, has being.
PRAYER -Lord God, we confess that in You we live and move and have our being. Because You are, we are. May we find grace from You to affirm the being of every human and may we labor to make this truth known to the world around us. Amen.