Cool Things That Happened Last Week...

FYI: I don't have many pictures to offer (yet) because at many of these events, I wasn't taking pics but some of the other interns were. Once they upload them to Facebook, I will update this blog post with personal pics!

TUESDAY

Conservative Leaders Meeting. 2 of the other interns (Anne and Chris) and I joined Kristan Hawkins, SFLA Executive Director, for her quarterly Conservative Leaders meeting in downtown DC. This meeting took place in a frigid conference room and lasted over 3 hours, but it was awesome because there were leaders from organizations including: Eagle Forum, American Civil Rights Union, Family Research Council, Judicial Action Group, Concerned Women for America, Galen Institute, National Right to Work, and the Heritage Foundation. It was really neat to hear their updates on current projects. Much centered around reactions to Obamacare, preparations for Get Out the Vote campaigns, and getting Obama out of office. But what else would you expect?

5th Annual SFLA Summer Social. The entire Students for Life staff and the interns helped put on this fundraising social held on the 6th floor of an office building in downtown DC not far from the Washington Monument. There were about 80 people in attendance, and I got to pour the cherry lemonade punch and chit-chat with donors, potential donors, and other important people! It was great fun, and really inspiring. Congressman Trent Franks and Kelly Anne Conway were present, receiving awards from SFLA for their service to the pro-life movement.

The Missionaries with Kellyanne Conway after the Social. 

WEDNESDAY

Intern Debate, Conservatism vs. Libertarianism. The CATO Institute (a libertarian think-tank in downtown DC) hosted a debate between 2 CATO interns and 2 Heritage Foundation interns (a conservative org). Leslie and I headed to the debate right after work, but didn't get there till 7:45 because we thought it'd be more fun to walk around a whole bunch of unnecessary blocks (it started at 6:30). We heard about 20 minutes of the end, though, and then met up with Ruben, who had heard the entire thing. They are supposed to be putting the debate online, so I hope to go back and listen to it, because I was really darn curious to hear what they talked about! I don't understand Libertarianism all that well or know very much about it, so this was an awesome opportunity. 

Co Co Sala with Rockhurst friends. After the debate, I had plans to meet up with Melaine, the RU friend I've met up with a few times already, and Jackie, my roommate from freshman and sophomore years at RU. Jackie was just in town for 2 short days participating in a conference, and it worked out perfectly for us all to meet up at this swanky chocolate bar that Melaine's been talking about all summer. Leslie, of course, came along, as did Ruben, and Cory, a girl who Leslie and I had met on Capitol Hill during our weeks with Congressman Harris. We ran into her after the debate and invited her along! Jackie brought a friend who was in DC with her for the conference, so it was quite the social event! And like I said, this chocolate bar was faancy. Not where I'd usually spend to drop $15, but the beautifully presented plates of chocolate scrumptiousness were worth it that night. It was so great to see Jackie!

Remember this pic? This is Cory, the intern we met on Capitol Hill
and ran into on our way to Co Co Sala Chocolate Bar!

THURSDAY

Christ in the City: Praise and Worship with Adoration. The past few weeks, I have been really craving some community praise and worship and adoration, good old Catholic style. Through the Arlington Young Adults group we've found, there were a few options, but the dates never worked out. We found this one, though, with the Washington Diocese at St. Patrick's Church near Chinatown. The usual 5 Missionaries (me, Leslie, Chris, Ruben, and Lindsey) jumped on this opportunity and soaked up the Jesus time. Afterwards, they even had a happy hour and Chris, Leslie and I enjoyed a free beer! (I felt like I needed to show someone my ID or something)

This is St. Patrick's. Just a few blocks up to the right is where the
 Planned Parenthood petitioners that I'm about to talk about were stationed!

Prequel to Adoration: The Missionaries Encounter Planned Parenthood. Yeah, on our walk from the Chinatown metro stop to food before Christ in the City started, we came upon 4 teens (2 on each side of the street) wearing light blue "Planned Parenthood Federation" shirts who asked if we wanted to sign their petition to "Protect Planned Parenthood." Caught off guard by their sudden presence, we walked by politely shaking our heads no (well, Leslie said "no way", hah, good for her). As we continued to walk towards food though, we mutually decided that we had to take this chance for dialogue. After all, weren't we called Missionaries for Life for a reason? Over dinner, we came up with a game plan. We had about 20 minutes before the Adoration started, so we split into 2 groups and casually walked by the PP supporters, and then engaged in conversation about what kind of support they were seeking. Now, this conversation wasn't as ground-breaking as we were hoping or expecting it would be, but it was pretty cool. The teens we talked to varied in their reasons for supporting Planned Parenthood, but they all believed that it was doing good things for health, particularly that of women. We respectfully shared why we couldn't support Planned Parenthood, and then, we did a lot of listening. 

Sidenote: God's been really hitting me hard with the realization of how important listening is to a relationship. More than anything else, people want to be listened to, not spoke at, especially when it comes to issues like abortion. It is very wise to ask questions, and to listen attentively, about why the person thinks what they do, and to draw it out of them. This is finally starting to sink in to my ever-blabbering self. 

Anyways, that encounter was totally unexpected, and totally cool. I immediately picked up reading the book by Abby Johnson, former PP director, called Unplanned. I've heard the argument for support of Planned Parenthood many times, (that they do great things, that abortion's only part of what they do, etc) and I have many friends even who find no fault in what they do, but still, talking to these energetic, passionate teens on the street ignited my desire to understand even more where they're coming from. Their compassion may be misplaced, but they do have compassion. We as pro-lifers need to remember that. And hopefully a few things that we said planted a seed in their thoughts. Like Tina, the intern director at SFLA, always says: We are seed sowers and waterers. We more often than not will never see the harvest, but our efforts will not be in vain. 

Some pretty exciting things happened last week, but I also was home basically just to sleep. So you get the update now. The end!