Toronto March for LifeEverything was happening in slow motion. Panic welled up inside of me when I realized that the chunk of dirt was heavy enough to drag my 2-year-old sister into the water-filled ditch with it. I started running to the house, but 5-year-old logic said I wouldn’t be able to get my mom there in time. I ran back to the ditch, and saw her little form bobbing in the murky water, face down. I knew I had no choice but to grab that frilly pink dress as my new slip-on shoes sunk into the mud at the edge of the water. My friends watched in terror as I pulled with every ounce of strength I had.
“Don’t go near the irrigation ditch. Ever.” This was a phrase I’d heard many times from my parents in the 5 years of my existence. A sunny afternoon with my sisters and our friends found us playing not far from this canal. Of course, our friends wondered why we weren’t allowed to go anywhere near the water – after all, it didn’t look that deep. Before we knew it, we were standing far enough away to throw a stone, but close enough that it would just land in the water. “This is okay,” I thought to myself, “we’re so far away, I can hardly even see the water.”From small to medium to large stones, a full-fledged competition ensued.
Of course, the larger the dirt chunks and stones got, the closer we had to be to the ditch. I couldn’t possibly back out of this game I was sure I’d win against my male rivals. We were having such a great time that the imminent danger was forgotten, and our younger siblings joined in as the stones and dirt chunks flew. “Splash!” Me: still winning! That’s when my little sister barely lifted a clump of dirt almost her size, and with a triumphant smile clumsily threw it in right next to my last one. The few minutes after that have shaped my entire life in many ways. Thanks be to God, that day is forever stamped in my memory as the day my sister’s life was saved.
Fast forward almost 20 years: I’m sitting in a room full of people straining to see what is being shown on the screen in front of us. I feel a sense of panic – I have to do something! I see a baby in the womb being torn apart, limb by limb. Then the skull is crushed. “And that is what abortion does to pre-born children.” The speaker went on. I don’t remember the rest of that presentation, but I do recall being forced to see a truth I’d never been shown before—whether I wanted to or not. In those moments, I felt the same urge I’d only ever felt to this extreme two decades before. I knew I had no choice but to act.
I realized for the very first time as I sat there, that as I lived through each day, almost 300 babies didn’t get to live through that very same day. Children, who should be safe and warm inside their mothers’ wombs, were being torn apart by the ten thousands every single year in Canada alone! In my head I knew that abortion was wrong. After all, I grew up going to our annual “Hike-for-Life” fundraiser every single year. But up until now, abortion had been just a word to me.
Not long after, I decided to join the pro-life movement full-time. I quit my job in business finance, found renters for the home I had just purchased, fundraised my salary, and moved two hours away from my family and friends… I have not regretted this decision for even one moment in the past 4+ years.
Working in the fundraising department here at CCBR gives me the chance to connect with many of our incredible supporters from far and near. Each phone call, text message, email, and handwritten note received shows just how muchour supporters care about the work being done. I go to work each day because I know that every gift we receive allows our activists to be out on the streets where minds are being changed and lives are being saved. I feel fulfilled and so grateful to work full-time in the pro-life movement together with some of the most dedicated people I have ever met.
As I look back, not only is it my faith in God, but also a deep sense of urgency that keeps me motivated to act. It is the same urgency that motivated me to pull my little sister out of that ditch so long ago. As I sit here writing, every 5 minutes another child’s life is being taken in the name of “Choice”. If everyone gave of their time, talent or treasure, I can’t even imagine how much stronger this army in the battle for life would be! These little ones need us. They need you. And the only way we can save their lives is if we act.
