The Auschwitz Within

In January, when I was in Washington D.C. for the Annual National March for LIFE, my mom and I visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

I had been wanting to go there for a long time, especially since I have become intrigued with the Holocaust over the past few years. I think the main reason for this is because of one of my favorite authors, Corrie ten Boom, who was a Christian living in Holland during World War II. She and her family had a "Hiding Place" in their home where they hid and protected Jews from the Nazis. Her story is so beautiful, though there is so much sadness in it. However, it proclaims that Jesus is triumphant and victorious always! I feel such a deep love for people who lived through this tragedy and am drawn to them.

We visited the Museum on January 27th and had no idea that it was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. We discovered this when we got stickers like in the photo below. I thought that was quite special to be there on that day of remembrance.

Here I am in front of the Museum.

As soon as I entered the Museum, tears came to my eyes as I looked around at the quotes on the wall.

Before you are taken on an elevator to the top floor to begin touring the Museum, you are given an Identification Card, with the name and story of someone who truly was a victim of the Holocaust. I randomly grabbed my card from the large stack of female cards. There are four floors of the Museum and each time you finish touring one floor, you read what is on that page and then turn the page to read the next page when you finish touring the next floor. At the end of the tour, you find out what happened to that specific person.

When I opened mine, I saw the name Liliana. Lily is often a nickname for the name Liliana. There are constantly reminders of my girl throughout my days. This Liliana was also born on the 16th of a month. I was thankful to learn that Liliana survived the Holocaust and emigrated to America in 1950.

As we went up to the top floor to begin the tour of the Museum, I was crying and was so deeply impacted by the videos and displays. I know some people doubt that the Holocaust ever truly happened, which is completely absurd. But, here in this Museum, is proof. There are clothes that the prisoners wore, personal items, pictures, videos, and materials from the camps. For anyone who doubts, what can they possibly say to this?

As we walked from one level to the next, something kept pressing on my heart more and more...maybe I am drawn to the Holocaust so much because I am living through the American Holocaust. Abortion. The Auschwitz Within. (Such an appropriate description. I got the title of this post from a Sermon by Eric Ludy. It is a must-watch. Click on the link to do so.) I believe my calling and a big purpose God has for me are to be a voice for LIFE, those in unplanned pregnancies, and those affected by abortion.

What happened in the Holocaust is dreadful, yet what is happening in abortion is just as dreadful. There have been millions more lives lost to abortion in the past 40 years than lives lost in the Holocaust. Yet, abortion is an accepted and even praised part of the culture.

Maybe it's easy for people to believe that abortion is okay because they don't allow themselves to think of these precious lives as real babies. They think they are just "blobs of tissue." Just as people choose to believe the Holocaust didn't happen, people choose to avoid the abortion issue. Is it easier to not be affected by the Holocaust or abortion if you don't see the truth with your own eyes? Somehow seeing it for oneself makes it seem more real. There can be no more excuses. No more explaining it away. No more justifications. When the reality of abortion is faced, I believe many eyes will be opened and hearts changed.

It is hard for people to see just what the Holocaust did. Yet, just because it's difficult doesn't mean it shouldn't be faced. It shows honor to acknowledge what happened to these people. Seeing these real items from this time period somehow makes ones heart grasp it in a deeper sense. I believe it is time that we see what abortion really is so that our hearts will grasp what it is truly doing to the unborn.

Some people are disturbed and disgusted to see Pro-Life activists marching around with graphic signs of aborted babies. I don't agree with those approach at all...however, if it's nothing more than a "blob of tissue," then what is there to get so upset over? Is it possibly because people are afraid that questions will start to be asked if the world begins to see what these babies look like at different gestational ages? And how they are unmistakably human.

Please, please take some time out of your day to watch this film called Baby Choice with Melody Green (Keith Green's wife).

-Also, please watch Here's the Blood.
-And click here to see developing baby images, abortion
procedure diagrams, and aborted baby images.

It struck me as so ironic that the United States has such a beautiful memorial to the lives lost in the Holocaust...yet we fight to keep the killing of the unborn legal. How do people not see how the quotes in the Museum pertain to the unborn?

Are we not going to speak out because we aren't the unborn?

Just as Liliana (whose Identification Card I had on my tour) is now being honored and remembered and is seen as worthy to be spoken for...I pray we start to see that babies like my Lily deserve to be honored, spoken for, fought for...

I pray that one day there will be a National Memorial that thousands visit, as a tribute to the millions of unborn children lost to abortion. And you know how many say about the Holocaust - how did the Americans and the world just sit back and let it happen? Well, I refuse for that to be said of me when generations from now look back on abortion. I refuse for them to ask, where were the advocates for these innocent ones? I want to do everything I can, everything God leads me to do, to be the voice, to fight with all my heart and strength so that my name will not be counted among those that did nothing.

Are you with me?

Remember, we are their witnesses (Isaiah 43:10). I pray we never forget it.

"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." ~Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor

"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who died during the Holocaust

"The dismembering of a human being routinely in 30 minutes on an outpatient basis - or any other way - is barbaric. Four blocks from our church all year long - like churches within smelling distance of Auschwitz or Dachau or Buchenwald." ~John Piper

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Sanctity of Life Sunday '13

Today is National Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. The date was chosen by Ronald Reagan to coincide with the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case. He issued the day to fall on the third Sunday of January in the years following, the closest date that coincides with the original January 22nd date.

Each year in Washington D.C., the March for Life is also right around the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Thousands of people join in to take a stand for unborn life. Lots of people even share their stories of regretted abortion...including me this year! That's right, I am driving to D.C. to take part in the March and will be sharing my story in front of the Supreme Court after with the Silent No More Awareness Campaign! Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity. I will share more about this later this week. If you are anywhere near the D.C. area, I recommend taking part in the day! If you will be there, let me know so we can meet up! :)

Today, my mom, brother, and I went to a special service for Sanctity of Life Sunday. A Professor of Theology was giving a special message on Psalm 139. He wasn't the main Pastor of the church.  I looked online a few weeks before today, looking for churches around the area who were having special services, and this is the only one I found! And I live in the capital city of my state. It makes me really sad that more churches aren't speaking out on the topic of abortion. The CEO from a local Pregnancy Center shared some, which was really powerful, and she said this church was the only one who asked her to come speak! If the Church isn't standing up for the unborn and speaking out for LIFE, then who is?! I suggest spreading the word to your Pastors and telling them the significance of this day and how they can take a stand for LIFE each year. But, it shouldn't end with just one day a year. We as the Church of Christ need to be pouring ourselves out for the cause of the unborn. We need to be giving our time, money, and whatever else God asks of us to Pregnancy Centers, homes for pregnant teenage girls, etc. Don't just sit around waiting for something to happen - pray and ask the Lord how He wants you to move and be obedient. Ask for God's heart for the unborn, the men and women in unplanned pregnancies, and those already affected by abortion.

After the service, I spoke with the lady from the Pregnancy Center about the possibility of volunteering there. I am praying that if this is the Center where the Lord wants me that He will make it happen.

EACH life is sacred...precious and valuable to the Lord. Please take the time to listen to this powerful sermon by Eric Ludy from Ellerslie Leadership Training (where I went in fall 2011). It is my absolute favorite sermon of his, and that is saying a lot! How many "Evans" are we missing in this life? Who would they have been? 

Click here to read an excellent article about Sanctity of Life Sunday.

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