The Countercultural Times

11-year-old Favour Agu Dear Favour, I wonder how your parents are doing. I wonder what would have happened if you had waited for the walk light. I wish I could have done more to help, though I know you were probably gone when I first saw you. Did you ever know your Creator, the God of the universe, and Jesus Christ, His Son? I hope so! Do your parents know Him? If not, I pray they will. I wish I had a chance to talk to them. My sister’s best friend was also killed in an accident when she was 11. I know that a tragedy like your family has dealt with has no quick resolution, though I also know how powerfully the peace of God and His comfort works in the lives of His children.  Love and prayers for your family, Rachel Burkey -------------------------------------------------------------------- On September 22nd, 2016, a middle school boy named Favour Agu was hit and killed as he ran into traffic crossing the street towards his school. The above note is what I wrote to leav...

It was a normal day of outreach in downtown Columbus, with some people stopping to converse, and others walking past. Downtown Columbus, OH Outreach In the afternoon, a man named Omar stopped to talk. When I asked for his view on abortion he said he had not really given it much thought but guessed that it was probably OK early on in a pregnancy. I asked if he was familiar with what the science of embryology shows concerning when life begins, and he replied that he didn’t know but would guess that life begins around 4-5 weeks (after fertilization). I then told him it’s actually fertilization when life begins. I explained to him a bit of how we know this, and told him that through the process of fertilization, both sperm and ovum give up their own identities and become a distinct, whole, living human, that has her own DNA – and is receiving/processing nutrients, maintaining homeostasis, and responding to outside stimuli: even before attaching to the uterine wall! “ Wow .” Was...

Lamont and I praying together downtown “Hello!” I greeted a passerby who was walking up from the bus stop. “I already have one,” he said, holding up one of our Created Equal brochures. He continued: “It’s actually a good thing you guys are doing, cause my conscience is affected by it .” I was downtown in Columbus, Ohio, just about to pack up and head back to the office with our team of interns when I met Lamont. I was struck by the comment he made about his conscience being affected by our outreach. He went on to explain that over 40 years ago, his girlfriend had aborted their second child without his knowledge while he was living in selfishness. I asked how he was doing after learning about his child that was killed by abortion, and he told me that over time he realized that he could forgive himself since God was able to forgive him. “You believe in God, don’t you?” he asked. “Yes sir, I’m a Christian!” I answered. “I already knew,” was his response. ...

One thing that I will never fully understand is God’s gift of friendship. You pick a person and decide that you like them or want to spend more time with them. It just seems strange.  I want you to know about a friend and colleague of mine, I call her "my Columbus sister.”  Sarah and Me I met Sarah (Jimenez) Harrington on my first Justice Ride back in 2015. I don’t really know how to describe to you what our friendship has become other than mutually encouraging, uplifting, and God inspired.  No one of our colleagues would have envisioned us becoming close – we just have so many differences and come from different backgrounds.  But as I got to know Sarah and our lack of similarities, the one thing that we do strongly share in common is the redemptive work the Lord has done in our lives! Challenging friends are hard to come by, so I am grateful for Sarah! She points me to Christ and encourages me in my growth as a Christian. You can’t know Sarah withou...

“There is a part of me that doesn’t want to celebrate [our organization’s] anniversaries because it means that the killing is still happening.” -Mark Harrington Outreach on our Spring Justice Ride with first-time rider Julia. So many years have gone by since the Supreme Court’s decision that legalized abortion across the states, and so many lives lost. That is what my boss, Mr. Harrington, is referring to in the quote above.  On occasion I worry about all the work that needs done before abortion will end, the minds that need changed, the necessary cultural shift in thought towards the value of humans, the hearts that need turned from sin and toward our Creator, when I stop and remember something vital. How little I am. I have no control in the lives of people I talk with. Every mind I see changed, every baby saved, every life repenting towards Christ: none of this is my work. It is the Lord’s.  I love what Charles Spurgeon said about our responsibility as Christians:...

Sam offering resources to a father choosing abortion This morning my colleague Sam and I were at the Founders abortion facility in Columbus. While we were there Sam talked to 2 different men who were dropping their girlfriends off for an abortion. One man said: "I understand. On any given day, I'd be out here with you but God is going to forgive me for this." He completely understood that this abortion would end the life of his innocent child, and his thinking was that he and his wife could do it anyway and be forgiven afterwards.  The first thing that went through my mind after Sam told me about their conversation was something from Romans 6 that my family had memorized when I was 4 or 5: “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? God forbid! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buri...

Jeffery Jeffery was the kind of guy that everyone wants to talk with. He was polite, reasonable, respectful, and it was enjoyable to have a conversation with him. Even after talking with him for a while he still thought of abortion as a valid option. We talked about the circumstances that may cause someone to consider having an abortion, and why, when we base our human rights on anything other than our humanity, we diminish human equality. After I was able to answer a lot of his questions, he admitted I made sense logically, and said: “I understand, but I still don’t think you’ve changed my mind.” What I didn’t understand was why he was having a hard time seeing truth, so I asked him why after understanding that every successful abortion directly and intentionally kills an innocent human, after seeing what it does to the baby, would he still support it as a valid choice? Outreach at Otterbein University We continued to talk for a few more minutes when he told me that he o...