Tales from Camp Joshua, Part Two

Saturday afternoon, everyone returned to the classroom for the next workshop, The Impact of Abortion. The session overview describes it as follows:

This session will highlight people whose lives have been directly impacted by abortion – abortion survivors, women who have had abortions, former medical professional who have performed or promoted abortions and men who have lost children to abortion will be a part of a panel to express the personal impact of abortion.

While any personal story about abortion is bound to be moving, Hannah Rose Allen, from Raleigh, has an especially beautiful and powerful experience. If you do nothing else today, listen for yourself.  She has a real gift for storytelling, and you will be as spellbound as we were. 

Hannah Rose Allen on the "Impact of Abortion"

When Hannah Rose was only 19, she found herself pregnant. Ashamed and alone, she chose to have an abortion. Her depression and pain brought only more bad decisions, and mere months later, she was pregnant again. Although she scheduled another abortion, God touched her heart and gave her the courage to choose life for her child, whom she named Lily Katherine, meaning purity. Lily, she knew, was the innocent vessel that God used to bring Hannah Rose back to Him. After a normal pregnancy, Hannah Rose went into labor, only to hear her doctor tell her that her baby's life was already gone. Although she still grieves both her children (she named her first baby Luke Shiloh), Hannah Rose is grateful for the time she had with Lily, and marvels at how a person who never took a breath could change her life so much.

By the end of Hannah Rose's talk, many of us were in tears, so we took a short break before moving onto our next session, Abortion Alternatives. Michelle Reeves, a pregnancy resource center director, did an awesome job describing what resources they offer pregnant moms who come to them for help. Michelle clarified North Carolina's adoption laws, explained some of the myths and stigmas surrounding adoption, and passed out a list of "positive adoption language" that we can use in conversation. Every pro-lifer knows that the language we use matters, and adoption is no exception. For example, telling someone she can "put her child up for adoption" makes it sound like a process she has very little control over. Instead, telling her she can "make an adoption plan" helps her to feel involved in the decisions she's making for her child. Michelle emphasized that while adoption is a wonderful choice, it's always a painful sacrifice for the birth mother and shouldn't be downplayed.

The afternoon ended with another group discussion, a presentation about pro-life legislation from our president, Barbara Holt, and a group photo. Everyone looked great in their green Camp Joshua T-shirts! We were glad to have an official camp photo, especially since we still couldn't quite believe the camp was actually happening! We are so glad it did. 

Camp Joshua NC, 2013
This was such a wonderful group of people!

If you missed it, make sure you read Part One in our Camp Joshua 2013 series, and watch for our next post soon!