Students change hearts at LSU outreach; Participate in mock hearing at Capitol
Editor’s note. The following was written by Kacie Hampton, Youth Programs Director, for Louisiana Right to Life.
Joshua Leadership Institute 2011 (held last week) was a week packed with amazing speakers, awesome hands on training, and great new friends united to work to build a culture of life!
35 high school and college students and 10 young adult staff members gathered in Baton Rouge for a week of intensive training to be leaders in the pro-life movement.
The week kicked off with training from Justice for All (JFA). The JFA team of Steve Wagner, John Wagner, and Rebecca Hashke gave students thorough pro-life apologetics training and taught students how to role play in order to learn to effectively dialogue about abortion and life issues.
After classroom training, the students ventured out to LSU [Louisiana State University] to conduct surveys on opinions about abortion and to have a polling table in LSU’s Free Speech Alley. Taking their “seat work” in the classroom to “feet work” on LSU’s campus, the students were able to conduct 178 surveys and dialogue with students on LSU’s campus to change hearts and minds about abortion.
“The Justice for All training was so incredible because it gave me the confidence to actually speak to others about abortion and know the right things to say,” said Kandace Landreneau of Shreveport, LA.
The JFA training was just the beginning of JLI! Student visited a nursing home and learned from Bobby Schindler, the brother of Terri Schiavo, why his sister Terri’s life still matters.
“I was blown away by Bobby Schindler’s story and his work, and I am now inspired to work for a greater respect for those like Terri in our society,” said Anthony Fabio, a JLI Staff member.
At the end of the week, students had the opportunity to meet with Senator Jonathan Perry from District 26 and learn about pro-life leadership. At the meeting with Senator Perry in a Senate Committee room at the Louisiana Capitol, JLI students each gave a speech titled “Why I’m Pro-Life.”
Cody Murphy of Houma exclaimed, “Being able to state my views about life issues at the State Capitol was an invaluable experience that I will always remember!”
At the end of the week, a Commissioning Ceremony and Luncheon was held for the students and their parents, and each JLI participant received a horn to remind them to be like Joshua of the Old Testament and lead the charge to bring down the walls of the culture of death.
A BIG thanks to the Knights of Columbus for helping us sponsor JLI and to the staff members for their hard work and dedication.
We can’t wait for our 2012 dates for Camp Joshua and the Joshua Leadership Institute!