Vigil for Life to host national civil rights speaker

In this issue:

• VFL to host national civil rights speaker Ryan Bomberger on Wednesday March 23
• Sidewalk counseling training leads to first turnaround at Madison's Planned Parenthood
• Help Needed for "365 for Life"!

Ryan Bomberger to speak on March 23

Ryan Bomberger, co-founder The Radiance Foundation and TooManyAborted.com, will speak in Madison on March 23 at 7 p.m. at the Bishop O'Connor Center (702 S. High Point Road, Madison), courtesy of Vigil for Life, Pro-Life Wisconsin and the Diocese of Madison.

Ryan is an adoptee and adoptive father, who has exposed the abortion industry's penchant for targeting minorities. Ryan's Black and Unwanted billboard campaign made national headlines in Wisconsin this year, drawing attention to the fact that with only six percent of Wisconsin's population, African Americans account for nearly a quarter of all abortions. His powerful multimedia live presentation illuminates the truth about pressing social issues, especially abortion and adoption.

This event is FREE and open to all ages. A reception will follow Ryan’s presentation.

Madison will also be hosting two other first-class events this spring:

• The Day at the Capitol (Thursday, March 10, 9 a.m.-noon) will feature Lieutenant Governor and Vigil for Life supporter Rebecca Kleefisch, top pro-life legislators, a full breakfast, and a comprehensive training on how to engage your legislators.
• Pro-Life Wisconsin's Annual Awards Dinner on Saturday April 10 will honor Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth, who risked his career in opposing the imposition of Planned Parenthood's explicit sex education curriculum on his community's public schools. The Event will be headlined by Joe Scheidler, considered by many to be the "Father of Pro-Life Activism."

Hope to see you there!

Sidewalk counselor training leads to first Planned Parenthood turnaround!

Vigil for Life and Pro-Life Wisconsin's February 11-12 sidewalk counselor training prepared more than 30 people (from all across Wisconsin and even Iowa!) to serve as the last line of defense for women considering abortion.

And we're happy report tonight that one of the newly trained counselors re-directed a couple from Planned Parenthood to the very pro-life Our Lady of Hope Clinic! Well done!

In the coming days, we'll be posting the sidewalk counselor training materials on the newly revamped Vigil for Life website.

Help Needed for "365 for Life"!

We need your help today for "365 for Life" in two ways:

1. We still have openings this week (9-11 Tuesday, 9-10 on Wednesday, and 1-3 on Friday). If you are not available for these times, please consider other open times in February and March, especially monthly commitments, to maintain and expand our perpetual presence. Sign up at http://vigilforlife.org/calendar/.

2. We need help your help in our outreach efforts for "365 for Life." A few of you have already volunteered to help with making phone calls to "recruit" prayer warriors. Thank you! We do need a THREE more volunteers. Contact Laura Karlen at 608-445-2064 or laura@vigilforlife.org if you can help!

365 for Life Update

Pro-lifers are on the move! The March for Life drew hundreds of thousands of pro-lifers to Washington D.C. while the Walk for Life in San Francisco drew a record 50,000 people.

Here in Madison, faithful prayer warriors braved sub-zero temperatures for a Novena of the Stations of the Cross the nine days up to the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Volunteer Mary Ann shared with us this encouraging story from the novena vigils: "I saw a 5 year old little girl come two days in a row during the Novena. She willingly got up at 4:45 a.m., got herself dressed, put her coat on and pulled on her boots. She walked to the car in the frigid weather. I saw her kneel in front of the fourth Station as she looked up at the image. The headlight she was wearing illuminated the picture and I saw her hands clasped in prayer. I will never forget that image."

On Saturday, the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, Fr. William Vernon led about 70 people in prayer as we remembered the 53 million babies lost to abortion since 1973. As Fr. Vernon prayed exorcism prayers, the temperature seemed to drop suddenly and, crows began making noise. Be assured that the powers of evil and darkness do not like our prayers, fasting, witness and faithfulness. Let us remain steadfast in Christ!

Sign-ups needed for next week for the "365 for Life" initiative

We are in need of volunteers for the "365 for Life" initiative on the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood next Wednesday and throughout the month of February. We are especially looking for people willing to make a monthly commitment. If you do make a monthly commitment before our sidewalk counseling training on 02/11/11 and 02/12/11, you will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of Abby Johnson's fantastic book "UnPlanned"! Please contact Laura Karlen (608-445,2064 or laura@vigilforlife.org) or visit http://reitzinternet.com/vfl to sign-up.

Sidewalk Counseling Training: 2 Identical Sessions at St. Peter's in Madison

We have two identical sidewalk counseling trainings upcoming in Madison, both at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Madison (5001 N. Sherman Avenue, Madison, WI 53704). Please plan on attending one of these sessions:

Friday, February 11 at 6:30 p.m. (at St. Peter's)Saturday, February 12 at 10:00 a.m. (at St. Peter's)

These trainings will be provided by representatives from the Servants of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Rachel's Vineyard. Free will donations will be accepted for the training.