“Do you want a heavier coat?” the lady asked me.
Maybe she had seen me trembling as the cold, late-fall wind snaked over us. But as I glanced down at my white hands that were shaking as they grasped at each other, I knew that the chilly day had nothing to do with it ….
I had just witnessed murder.
I had watched a dozen children brought to their deaths and the cold terror filled me.
I stood there, praying and pleading, because I knew that every time the door of that building shut another child was being violently torn from limb to limb. Tears coated my lashes. My legs felt weak. A quarter of my generation had been killed this way.
Another woman got out of her car and started toward the grey, harmless-looking building.
“Please!” I called out. “Please, you have other options! Will you come talk with us? Your baby is real. Please give your baby life.”
She never looked back.
Things like that change you forever.
This summer, nearly three years into my fight against abortion, I launched an organization called APPOINT.
When I was 16, God showed me that I needed to devote my life to the unborn. At first, I was scared. Really scared. I had to give up all of my dreams. I had to confront our nation on what may be their very worst crime. And I had to watch babies die.
There weren’t many people around to show me where to start. A lot of times I had to blaze my own trail – and it felt like I was hacking one through the thickest brush, never knowing what I’d find.
That winding trail took me into Greyhound buses bound for Oregon, to the flat land called Ohio where I did sidewalk counseling and campus outreach, and beside leaders in the movement that I had previously only hoped to meet.
It took me to lonely winter days where signs struggled to blow from my frozen fingers, along a roadside lit by candlelight, and to a shelf in an old apartment where I finally dared to lift the papers from the shelves and see the images of the victims I fought for.
But in the beginning I was so frightened and, through it all, as I searched for different ways to get involved, I kept thinking, “There needs to be something to show teens how to blaze that trail.” That’s where I hope APPOINT will come in.
APPOINT’s mission is to show teens how to stop waiting for opportunities to do pro-life work and start creating them. We are here to equip those who are already pro-life and get them out on the front lines.
We‘re also here for those that aren’t pro-life – to show them that a quarter of our generation was lost to abortion and they can never tell us it‘s a “small issue.”
Losing a quarter of a generation cannot be a small issue.
So we’re getting outreach equipment and building a booth to take places to show them the real truth about what abortion has done to our nation.
We’re creating the Y.O.U. (Youth Outreach for the Unborn) Program, too. When this is finalized, it will contain six months worth of training for young people who want to be active in abolishing abortion.
I want to invite you to help us get started.
Want to get involved? Here’s how.
- Have you done pro-life work before and have a story to share? We need your experience for our Y.O.U. Program! You don’t need to have done something huge – you can even tell us about a short-term volunteer project at a center, or participating in an event like 40 Days for Life. We hope to have this program finalized in the very near future – and we hope your advice is in it!
- Want to sign up to take the program when it’s finished? Visit here. We’ll contact you when it’s ready!
- Let people know about us! You know how to make something go viral! Use any way you can.
- I need those creative artsy types to jump at the chance to have your work on our stuff. Good at writing articles & talking to people? Give us a holler.
- Are you one of those who loves to see final drafts and feel the accomplishment of a project completed? Help us receive and comply all the material for the Y.O.U. Program.
- Got some pro-life photos hanging around? Send ‘em over for our graphics.
- Interested in truly being a permanent part of APPOINT? Be on our board! We’re working on eventually being a 501c3/registered non-profit, and I‘m still learning about all the requirements. Pennsylvania rules do say you have to be 18 for this one.
- Contact us for more info and openings. (These are currently volunteer-only positions. You must live in/near Pennsylvania or NY or be willing/able to commute at least once a year to these states.)
- We have to get outreach equipment and a booth. Your opinions on what to have at that booth counts.
- We can also use some go-get-it people who are willing to knock down doors (figuratively!) to let people know that equipment doesn’t come without a price. Funds have to happen, too.
If you feel excited about any of the above, you can get in touch with us through our website www.AppointTheGeneration.org. Message us. We can’t wait to work with you!
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This is fantastic! So few people are willing to get involved to fight the causes they despise. Thank you McKennaugh for following God’s will. It’ll be rough, but you can be sure that he will bless you for it. Whenever you get your training programs up and running, i will definitely look into them. Again thanks!
Thank you for your encouragement! If you might be interested in the programs, you can sign up on the Y.O.U. page and when it’s finalized I’ll get in touch with you and let you know!!
This is so exciting! I’m thinking about getting involved. I’ll pray and talk about it with my church, then let you know if/how I can.
Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you!!
Great work, McKennaugh! I’m in!! What do you need the most help with? I like writing, talking to people, praying, thinking, coming up with ideas, and I’d love to help run the booth if I was in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately I can’t drive yet, and it takes 11 hours to get to my uncle’s house in the Philadelphia area by car. But I will do whatever I can to help you from here!! Maybe Brett or Jacquelle would help us get each other’s email addresses so we can talk more.
Hey, Amanda!
Awesome!! It sounds like you have a bunch of talents that will work perfectly alongside APPOINT! Ideas are TOTALLY welcome, and your writing skills could be a huge help for our literature and the Y.O.U. Program, if you’d want to help with that. We also need some fundraising assistance in order to put that booth together, so if you like to talk to people…;) And definitely pray for us!!
Yes, let’s exchange email/phone. If you want, you can enter your contact info into the APPOINT forum, then I’ll send you a private email, so you’ll have my information, too.
By the way–11 hours isn’t too far in the scheme of things. Don’t give up on being able to work with us in person. Besides, I’m hoping that the booth is going to be a sort of travelling thing. And if we set up in your state…
I’ll do that 🙂 yeah it’d be cool to help in person. I hope you do come to our state!
Yes, yes, yes, McKennaugh! What you’ve started is amazing. You and your organization will most certainly be in my prayers 🙂 Thank you for writing this article, and thank you so very much for all the work you do to fight for the unborn.
I’m so glad you took the time to read the post and check us out, Haylie!!! Thanks for your prayers! We need them! It can be tough sometimes, but it’s so exciting to know that God can use us when we stand up and fight for unborn babies!! I hope that you might get the chance to be involved with us sometime!
I hope so too 🙂
I’m so excited to see this up on the Rebelution! I want you to know I will support you in this as much as I can! 🙂
Elisabeth~
You’ll always be our first true supporter! Thank you for all you have already done and continue to do!!
Thank you for giving teens this opportunity to help when they didn’t know how (speaking especially for myself here)! 🙂
I’m so glad that you posted this McKennaugh! People really want to get involved in fighting abortion but they just don’t know where to go. They don’t know where to look or who to ask.
Thank you SO much!
You’re so welcome, Clare!! I hope that you are able to work with us!
To those of you who have already done ANY kind of pro-life work in the past, we’d love it if you submitted to our Y.O.U. Program!! http://www.appointthegeneration.org/the-you-program.html
Woohoo!!! Thank you, McKennaugh, for serving the Lord where He leads – I will be praying for you! We need to chat soon!!! Miss you lots…
Miss you lots, too! Yes, let’s chat soon!!!
Thank you for taking a stand. I don’t think that I can help with anything as I’m pretty young and have no experience, but I’ll be praying!
Thanks for your prayers!! Just want to let you know that if you do want to get involved, no one’s ever too young and we’ll be happy to try and give you some experience;)
While I believe that activism is important, I do think that there is a lot to be said about what happens when they choose not to abort the child…do you have a program dedicated to helping mothers go through that pregnancy process? I think that this would prominently showcase God’s love and grace in an effective way! Thank you:)
I was wondering the same thing.
Well, Kate, although our main focus IS activism, we hope to put individuals who are in the Y.O.U. Program, etc., in contact with their local pregnancy resource centers so when they meet a mother who needs support they are able to refer her there to get help. These centers vary in each place, but many are able to provide her with basic needs (some prenatal care, parenting classes, baby clothes, crib, diapers, car seats and such.), as well as get her in touch with programs that can help her financially. Also, I do hope that in the future we are able to have a branch that lists adoptive families in each state who are willing adopt children from unplanned pregnancies when the birth mother and father decide that they don’t want to raise the baby themselves, but are willing to carry it to term knowing that they will give the child life.
That’s awesome! I think that when we put ourself in the women’s shoes we’ll start to understand why choosing abortion vs. life is so hard. A lot of them abort their child, not because they don’t want them, but because they know they aren’t financially stable enough to raise it. It’s not an easy thing, and we need to give women options (such as pregnancy help centers) in order to help them know that they don’t have to abort their child!
This is beautiful, McKennaugh! Thank you for helping us get involved. 🙂 I can’t wait to see what God does with APPOINT.
Is there anything I can do to help? I don’t have any experiences … but I’d like to get some!
Yes, definitely! If you’ll send your email/phone to me in the contact forum on our website I’ll message you with some ideas:)
Thanks! Info sent:)
How can I help? I feel like its harder for me as a guy, but I really want to help make a difference!
Benjamin–
I know what you’re saying, because men often do think that there’s not as much of a place for them in the pro-life movement, but it’s really not true! Guys are needed just like girls!!
There’s a bunch of stuff that you can help APPOINT with right now! Would you send us your info in the contact forum on our site? Then I’ll message you some of the ways you can get involved.
–McKennaugh
This is great! I am already knee-deep with Pro-life work, but I know other young people have trouble finding opportunities. I am so glad this is here!
That’s awesome, Amber! So glad you’re out there fighting for lives! Maybe you’d want to share your story on our site for the Y.O.U. program sometime! We’re looking for more ideas from young people across the country who are already involved!!
Okay, so I’m 14. Any Ideas on what I could do?
Yeah! Nobody’s ever too young. Message me on the contact page of the website and I’ll get in touch with you!!
I would, but I don’t have a phone number to give?
Your phone number is 123-456-7890
Lol
😉
Just use something like that and I’ll know not to call it.
Thank you!
I`d love to help too! You said no one is too young; I`m 12. What can I do?
Hey, Reagan!
I see that you contacted us through our site! I’ll be in touch soon with some ideas, okay? And, yeah, you certainly aren’t too young! 🙂
Hey I want to help but i don’t have the time. i WILL pray every day for your minestry and Jesus will bless the work of your hands. Your heart in one after the Lord’s own. I am 13 what can i do besides pray?
Can i do the same thing as Katie i don’t have a phone number and my name will be Faith B thanks i don’t have a phone.
Powerful weapon we have
Amen!
Hi, Faith!
Yeah, you can do the same thing as Katie with the phone:)
Thank you so much for your prayers! They are VERY needed!
i will pray. im 12 what else can i do besides pray?
Amen! I’m twelve too
I live across the country, but I’d like to see if I can help. I am artistic, I like writing, and I will definitely be praying for you guys. How can I help? And what is your site?
Hi Bluejay! You can learn more about APPOINT at their website here: http://www.appointthegeneration.org/. For some practical ideas on how to help, contact McKennaugh with your questions here: http://www.appointthegeneration.org/contact.html.
Many blessings to you!
– Jaquelle
You know, I did that, but I never got an answer. Have I just not waited long enough? Or am I supposed to look in a specific area for an answer or something?
Hm, I’m not sure about that, Bluejay. I would try sending McKennaugh another email. You could also try replying to one of her comment here on Disqus. Typically Disqus sends you an email if someone replies to one of your comments. So she might see it that way. If you still can’t get a hold of her, I’m not sure what else to recommend.
I tried again two days or so ago… I’m not sure if it’s taking a while or if nobody got it again. Hmm.
Frankly, I have no idea what else to tell you, Bluejay. I’m disappointed to hear this, but perhaps they’re behind with emails or working on creating a better system of organization. I am sorry, though.
I would like to help, I like writing and have experience in writing persuasive articles and factual ones as well