Our outreach with Tiny Heartbeat Ministries at UW Bothell went very well this week. Jennie, Peter, Mirel, and Noah from Emmanuel, Jacob (assistant pastor at Trinity), and others joined our group of ten people. Many students, faculty, and people in the community were willing to engage on the topic of abortion. There were a few hostile people who walked by with anger issues, but most were willing to talk respectfully, and a good number of Christians greeted and thanked us. In my experience over three quarters of people we talk to lack a basic understanding of fetal development in the womb. “It’s a blob of tissue.” “It’s her body.” Many are interested to learn the baby has his or her own blood type, a heartbeat at 18 days, and of course all the genetic material to grow into a mature human being if given time, protection, and nourishment. In the less than 1% of rape cases, you don’t punish the victim (the baby or mother) for the crime of the perpetrator. You don’t solve hard circumstances (poverty, life disruption, abuse) by taking the life of a baby. The pictures of babies in the womb and those who have been aborted make an undeniable point and therefore lead to a direct discussion: “What do you think of that, the purposeful taking of that life?” The woman has a body, but the baby’s body is his or her own living inside the woman’s body. The baby depends upon her in utero just as he or she will depend upon the mother and father to feed, clothe, and shelter him or her when born. Why is it acceptable in Washington State to end the lives of these most vulnerable among us? How can we do allow this?
When you are speaking about taking life, and the gift of life so obviously formed with divine artistry in the womb, it’s very natural to ask where someone is spiritually, whether they think God cares about the baby, and so on. I spoke with Muslims, Sikhs, a Hindu, and many secularists who have heard almost nothing about Christianity and some were eager to hear more. One Muslim said to someone in our group, “I always argue with my people, with Muslims about this, I’ve never gotten to talk with a Christian.” Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matt. 9:37-38). Pray for the conversations we had and if you are interested in going to campus, please reach out.