by Brad Martel

I first learned of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform on Valentine’s Day 2011. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was the keynote speaker at their benefit dinner, and I went to hear him. “The sanctity of human life,” Huckabee said, “transcends all other political issues.” I agreed with him, and I was glad to discover this organization that works to end the killing of unborn children.  CBR does this work not just with words, but with pictures that undeniably expose abortion for the evil that it truly is.

However, this event got me examining myself. Did I treat abortion like it transcends all other issues? In all the time that I had been pro-life, what had I ever done about it?  Beyond voting for pro-life politicians every year or two, I had to admit I’d done nothing.  But here was an opportunity to make a difference! So, I became a CBR supporter.  I chose to make a monthly donation that, while small, would be significant over time.

Then the newsletters started to arrive. Each time, I wanted to prepare myself to see the graphic pictures, so I soon learned to procrastinate instead of opening them right away. How awful to see the abortion victims again!  How awful that this even happens!  But I did open the newsletters.  I did see the pictures, and I read the stories.  Stories of young people responding to CBR’s campus projects, some with shock, some with sadness, and some with denial or worse. I appreciated the courage and persistence of the CBR team, and their willingness to spend whole days with the awful pictures that I could only promptly return to the envelope after reading the stories.

After a few years I learned to manage my aversion to the photos and looked forward to the newsletters.  I remained impressed with CBR’s encounters on college campuses and the reactions of the passersby, ranging from sympathetic to hostile to sometimes positively loopy.  I began to wonder what it would be like to serve alongside this group, to see what it’s like, and maybe even have some of these conversations myself.

In 2018 I reached out to CBR with a simple email.  Volunteer coordinator Jane Bullington invited me to a Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) in April of that year and promised me: “You will never be the same!”  Then came the hard part; I had to prepare.  I looked up CBR’s website, AbortionNo.org, and as the abortion video played on the home page, I found myself leaning back in my chair as if to shield myself from the real-life horror story.  I looked over the abortion victim photos.  I read Gregg Cunningham’s “Why Abortion is Genocide,” and learned how to compare abortion to slavery and other genocides.

I did not know what to expect on my first day of GAP at the University of Tennessee.  I had never met any of the staff before. I thought that perhaps, with the graphic photos and such a sobering message, I would be meeting a somber, melancholy group of people.  I was relieved to find that, though quite serious about the mission, these people have joy!  I came to understand this attitude in part as a sense of satisfaction in supporting the important work.  “There’s something special,” staffer Mik’aela Raymond said one day, “about doing something hard for God.”

CBR paired me with staff members and experienced volunteers so that I could learn on-the-job how to talk to students about abortion.  They taught me with both their example and with useful tips that they would share after our conversations.  I learned over time that I could do this, even by myself! Having gained some confidence, I wanted to learn more.  I read Stephanie Gray’s book, “Love Unleashes Life,” which urges us to focus first on the person standing before us, their background, and their needs.  I also read “Healing the Hurt that Won’t Heal,” Karen Ellison’s thoughtful book about the grief that abortion brings and how God can heal those wounds.

I volunteer with CBR a few times a year now, and though I have plenty more to learn, I am comfortable now defending the pro-life position to strangers.  I have met dozens of students at these events; some supportive, some against, and some who just don’t know where they stand.  I have had thoughtful conversations and some not so thoughtful.  I have been ridiculed and yelled at with cursing and swearing.  Not often, but it happens.  But none of the negative feedback matters.  What matters are the times that I have led a student to set aside the slogans and really think about the unborn child as a human being.

And even when those conversations are lacking, I remind myself that it’s the abortion victim photos and not our conversations that carry the bulk of our pro-life message.  The images affect all who see them, whether they stop to talk or not.  Each day that I leave GAP it is with a sense of satisfaction that my contribution helps others to choose life.

I cannot identify a specific moment when I felt a calling or experienced a revelation that told me I should volunteer with CBR.  I agree with what Lincoln Brandenburg said recently during his interview on The Pro-Life Guys Podcast: “Don’t wait for feelings of passion… step out in obedience.” Although I had no previous experience with pro-life activism, and I have a full-time job that affords me only occasional availability, I can make a difference for the unborn children of America.  I would encourage anyone with a heart for the unborn to volunteer with CBR.  “You will never be the same.”

Brad Martel is an engineer and lives in Knoxville, Tennessee with his wife.  They have three grown children. 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021 at 10:02 am and is filed under Campus Debate (GAP), Pro Life, Pro Life Activism, Pro-Life in Knoxville, Pro-Life in Tennessee, Volunteer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.