YOPP! That’s the final word that made all the difference at the end of Dr. Seuss’ story Horton Hears a Who. May we suggest that it stands for Young Ones Praying and Prophesying. With that in mind meet Lia. She’s a 12-year-old seventh grader that recently decided to make a courageous stand in her school by giving a persuasive speech on the topic of abortion. Even when her teachers strongly encouraged her to choose a different topic, she decided to stick with what she felt passionate about. An email from her mother describes what led Lia to make such a bold move.
It was really a family thing. I saw Lou [Engle] speak at a conference several years ago. I came back to my family with the Life Bands, and we all wore them, made our covenant, and prayed the prayer for abortion to end… We were invited to participate in a “Life Tape Siege”. Once my kids heard of this invitation, they all agreed: “We have to do that!” Since then, Lia’s passion for seeing abortion end has continued. Being impacted by Lou’s words regarding Horton [Hears a Who], she was excited to watch the movie when it was released (and the rest of the family were too!).
In the email, her mother goes on to describe the challenges and consequences Lia faced.
As part of her class requirements, she needed to prepare a speech; however, the classroom presentations were also meant to enable the teacher to select the best speeches to go on to a more serious competition. As I mentioned, several teachers discouraged her from picking the topic of abortion; she was told it was “too big”, “too mature” and “too controversial”. She was also told that if she went ahead with that topic, she would not be allowed to continue on in the speech competition. Initially, I tried helping her find other topics to speak on, but, in the end, she was adamant. She just felt she wanted to continue with the topic of abortion. So she forfeited her chance to compete in order to speak on something she was passionate about.
We hope you’re as happy as we are and proud of Lia for taking a stand for God’s Word concerning life. Please join us in praying for a newer and YOUNGER generation of prayer activists to arise and shake the nations with God’s truth. You can also join us in encouraging Lia and everyone else that watches by leaving some great comments on her YouTube video. Also, repost the video, and let’s blast this out everywhere we can.
Priest and Rector of Michael's Anglican Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. St. Michael's is an Incarnational and Sacramental Anglican community seeking the spiritual renewal of our city through the grace, love, truth, and power of Christ.
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