With 3000 people in attendance, Right to Life of Northeast Indiana celebrated its fiftieth anniversary on October 14th by hosting what is believed to be the largest pro-life banquet in the country.
Attendees from across Northeast Indiana gathered together at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne. It was a record-breaking size event for the Coliseum.
Keynote speaker Jim Caviezel passionately addressed the audience on the issue of abortion, saying that Roe v. Wade being overturned was just the beginning of the fight. “The beginning of life is the foundation of love…God's children are not disposable. They're not just a glob of cells. They're not an inconvenience."
“The beginning of life is the foundation of love…God's children are not disposable. They're not just a glob of cells. They're not an inconvenience."
The strong show of support for life was overwhelming.
Executive Director Zach Rodgers gave an update, “Here we are fifty years from the start of the organization still fighting to see the protection of life from conception to natural death…we’re still on a mission of making abortion not just illegal, but unthinkable.”
“Here we are fifty years from the start of the organization still fighting to see the protection of life from conception to natural death…we’re still on a mission of making abortion not just illegal, but unthinkable.”
Over the last several years, Right to Life of Northeast Indiana has steadily grown its banquet numbers. With 1,200 attendees addressed by keynote speaker Tim Tebow two years ago and 2,000 attendees with keynote speaker Dr. Ben Carson last year, it was clear that there was a demand for continuing banquets, and attendees were returning and bringing their friends.
Right to Life premiered a video promoting its Saturday morning apologetics Right to Life Workshops, which are held throughout the eight counties they serve.
Caviezel received multiple standing ovations throughout his speech with an audience member noting, “By the end of his message there were not many dry eyes.”
The banquet is Right to Life’s largest fundraiser, using the funds raised to expand educational programs such as Sidewalk Advocacy, Right to Life Workshops, Life Defenders programming, and school presentations.
Right to Life of Northeast Indiana is the regional affiliate of Sidewalk Advocates for Life. Training to become an advocate is held almost monthly, and each quarter trained advocates get together for coffee to discuss what they see on the sidewalk, spend time in fellowship with one another, and ask about any questions or concerns they may have. Sidewalk Advocates are trained to approach clients going into Planned Parenthood lovingly and are given resources to hand out to clients to meet any need they may have. Women’s Care Center, a pregnancy resource center offering free pregnancy testing and ultrasounds, as well as referrals to community resources, is next door to Planned Parenthood, making it easy for advocates to point out exactly where to get free resources. The Right to Life office is conveniently located two doors down from Planned Parenthood, allowing for easy access for Sidewalk Advocates to have a place to park, grab literature and blessings bags to hand out, and be able to warm up during cooler weather.
A three-hour apologetics class, Right to Life Workshops equip attendees with the tools needed to have gracious conversations about abortion in a world that is filled with angry vitriol and dialogue surrounding the abortion debate. At least one workshop per year is held throughout the eight counties RLNI serves, with the goal of having two workshops per county every year in the future.
Life Defenders is for high-school and college students looking to get involved in the pro-life movement. Each year, RLNI makes the trip with multiple busloads of students to the National March for Life, where attendees spend time in the nation’s capital sightseeing, attending the pro-life Y4Life conference, and participating in the National March for Life along with thousands of other pro-lifers from across the country.
In the summertime, RLNI offers a summer camp for high school and college students. Students spend two nights and three days on the University of Saint Francis campus, learning pro-life apologetics from training educators Mike Spencer, Seth Drayer, and Ian Spencer. Students also spend time in fellowship, playing games, and door knocking to practice their new apologetic skills.
RLNI’s Education Coordinator, Abigail Lorenzen, has given pro-life presentations to 8,619 students since 2016. She presents on fetal development, apologetics, coerced abortion, embryology, abortion statistics, IVF, surrogacy, and mother-child bonding.
All of these educational programs strive towards building up a culture of life in Northeast Indiana.
If you’d like to help fund these programs and expand educational opportunities in Northeast Indiana, please donate here.
