Seth & Aubrie Drayer

“This is fifty-five years old talking how the Lord kept me when I didn’t want to keep myself . . . I’m a hallelujah chick, and I ain’t ashamed of that.” The only evidence that Lucy, the woman sharing this spoken word poetry on the street of Cleveland, OH, was telling the truth about her age was a dusting of gray in her hair. Her tone was bright, her words infused with passion, and—perhaps most surprisingly—her laugh carried not a note of irony or exhaustion in spite of a story marked by pain. I encountered Lucy while on a mission to encourage the Justice Riders . It was the middle of the week, when the hours start to drag and conversations trend toward stale soundbites. The last Rider I planned to check in on was Megan Smith, a veteran Rider who’s also been an intern on our team. Approaching Megan, I saw her in earnest conversation. When I attempted to take a picture, the woman talking with Megan did not, like many others simply ignore me. She instantly called me out. “Wha...

“Is biological evolution a fact?” This question, hurled downward by a professor strutting up the stairs of a tiered classroom at Purdue University, briefly made me wonder whether I’d stumbled into the wrong lecture hall. Aubrie and I had returned to Purdue three years after my debate with Dr. Ralph Webb , Professor of Communications, for a new faceoff—this time with Dr. David Sanders, Associate Professor of Biology. Bracing myself for a discussion this time grounded in hard science, Aubrie and I invested hours drilling through issues I predicted Sanders might address. But as soon as cross-examination began, I realized this event—while boasting theatrical flair I’ve not seen in other formal debates, from Dr. Sanders’s signature hat to his style of circling the room and sitting down next to students while speaking—reflected the same elevation of ideology over fact we’ve seen countless times before. Dr. Sanders argued that macro-evolution—which we have not observed—is a pro...

Renewed Urgency: #PPSellsBabyParts “How’s your Justice Ride going? Save any babies?” I paused, phone pressed against my ear, before replying, “Yeah, Adia, I think so.” She didn’t miss a beat. “How many? Four? Five? Six?” I smiled. With Adia’s understanding of our family ministry come high expectations. But as I considered our Justice Ride team pulled from across the country to create conversation in the nation’s capital, I knew the fruit from this trip would be far more than the lives saved during our time on the road. Not only were we equipping our Riders to take the apologetics and tools back home with them as usual, but this time we had been given a unique opportunity to play a role in a national story still unfolding as I write this. On Day 2 of the Ride , the Center for Medical Progress released video evidence that Planned Parenthood (PP) sells baby body parts for profit. While we should not be surprised that an organization reaping funds from the kil...

“I love what you guys are doing,” the man said.  I paused, confused. While we do often meet members of the public who agree with what we do, I did not expect it from this man—because he had just exited an abortion facility. Before I could say another word, he said, “I want to keep it,” and suddenly it all made sense.  I asked the young father what was preventing him from keeping his baby, and he responded that it wasn’t his choice. He said he and his girlfriend had just had another baby a couple of months before and that he’d advocated for adoption. But, pointing to Founder’s Women’s Health Center—a Columbus, OH abortion center—he said, “This is her option right here.” Mark Harrington’s wife Paula, who was also counseling, asked if his girlfriend was depressed. He answered affirmatively. She said the abortion could add to her depression, and he said, “I believe it. It’s got me depressed already.” We encouraged him to act, provided multiple resources, offered to wal...

“That demon laughed and increased the suction. My baby wouldn't come.” My eyes flitted to the brick edifice behind the woman, where other parents’ babies were being killed as she spoke. She continued, “He went inside with a scalpel. He cut him up. And he came out in two pieces. Then afterwards, they said, ‘You want Kool-Aid or cookies?’” Thirty years after her abortion, this mother continued to grieve. But the long winter of her pain found joy on a spring morning when she returned to rescue the life of another from the same man who’d dismembered her baby. She’d been passing by Founder’s Women’s Health Center in Columbus when she saw our team with signs showing abortion victims. One sign in particular caught her eye. It read, “Dr. Blank Kills Children.” She remembered that man and stopped to tell us of her encounter with him decades prior. As she was sharing her story, a couple with whom I had spoken earlier came out of the abortion facility to sit in their car. Seeing them...

I submit the following with grave humility.  A most unthinkable tragedy took place Friday.   I know that some will see this and cry foul with charges of political opportunism.  But this is intended not as a commentary on the little boys and girls killed in the Newtown school but on myself and the rest of the nation watching. Indeed, as I tucked my own one-year-old and her assortment of stuffed animals into bed later that night, I couldn't imagine the pain twenty families are now facing with the loss of their little ones. There has been a thought, though, I cannot shake since my Facebook news feed lit up with exclamations of incredulity Friday.  Reading statuses bearing references to "innocent children" and an "unspeakable crime," a thought haunted me: Twenty children died and the whole world was watching, while on the same day 3,300 children died and few paid any notice. Why are we rightfully horrified by the thought of an intruder firing bullets into...

The Columbus Dispatch is confirming the closure of Capital Care Women's Center (CCWC), located at 4818 Indianola Avenue.  According to a Capital Care Women's Network spokesperson CCWC will likely close within a month.   This killing center is closing. Capital Care has been plagued with decreased demand and financial problems.  They recently cut back clinic hours due to difficulty keeping abortionists.  An increasingly strong pro-life presence in Central Ohio must be signifigantly credited with contributing to the decision to close. The Gallup organization just reported that Americans that self-identify as pro-choice is at an all-time low (41%).  The closing of CCWC is just one of many indicators that we are winning the battle over abortion. Created Equal Statement: "The fact is Columbus now has one less abortion center.  Additionally, on a national scale, the numbers of abortion facilities have been declining for over a decade.  Thi...