By Joleigh Little

CAMPS! CAMPS! They’re everywhere. Or, at least ... they could (and should) be! The National Right to Life Committee Life and Leadership Camp Initiative had a great pilot year and we’re all looking forward to 2012.

But why should and how can you get involved in this exciting endeavor? I’m so glad you asked!

Training pro-life youth is a vitally important part of the work we do at NRLC. Our Movement has already spanned decades and will, in all likelihood, span decades more. Even after Roe has been overturned, the work of changing hearts and minds to respect and revere life must continue.

For this reason it is absolutely imperative that we invest heavily in educating and empowering the next generation to continue advocating for life. The “raw material,” so to speak, is already there. We know that this generation is the most pro-life generation ever. Poll after poll shows this to be true. But holding to a pro-life viewpoint isn’t necessarily enough to get us over the top.

We also need effective advocates who can speak to the issues, compassionately address the concerns of women facing unplanned pregnancies, and articulately explain why choosing life is always the best option.

It may seem like training up a generation of just such advocates is a daunting task. But the simple truth is ... it’s not a tough job at all. For starters, working with passionately pro-life youth is just about the most exciting thing a person could do over the course of a few days or a week. Secondly, our entire camp training program is laid out neatly by NRLC’s Life and Leadership team. Thirdly, if you have a question, large or small, we can answer them!

A number of states already have camp programs up and running. Chances are pretty good that if you live in Louisiana or Oregon, you’ve heard of Camp Joshua. If you live in Wisconsin, Camp Esther and Camp Nehemiah probably ring a bell, as well. And just this past fall, North Dakota Right to Life hosted its first pro-life training camp with plans to hold more in the spring and again next fall.

Every summer Texas Right to Life offers its RevEAL Summer Camp and Rhode Island Right to Life has opted to take much of the camp training material and, due to the small geographical area it covers, offer a Right to Life Academy every Wednesday night for eight weeks in the summer.

NRLC’s Life and Leadership Camp Initiative offers camp programs for a variety of age groups and at a number of levels. If you’d like to learn more about our Camps Esther and Joshua and the Nehemiah Leadership Institute, visit us at www.prolifecamps.org.

If your state does not already offer a right-to-life training camp, and if you are interested in attending or helping to get one started, please e-mail us at stateod@nrlc.org. A variety of options are available and you can start small and grow the camp program in your state.

There is no question that teens who attend these camps come away educated and empowered. In addition to gaining valuable knowledge, they leave camp excited, motivated, and with a whole group of new pro-life friends. The biggest complaint we get about camps is that the kids are never ready to go home at the end. Which is actually a pretty huge compliment!