Many of us have seen the television commercial for pull-ups, where someone in the persona of a young child sings, “I’m a big kid now!” Fifth graders from United Christian School in Camp Verde, Ariz., learned recently that they could be pro-life kids at their young ages of 10 and 11.
Fifteen students learned about pro-life ideas, pregnancy options, and what pregnancy help ministries do as they toured House of Ruth Pregnancy Care Center in Cottonwood, Ariz., in advance of Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Sara Massey, assistant director for the center, served as tour guide and teacher.
“We talked about what it meant to be pro-life and if they can be pro-life at their age,” Massey said.
She showed three videos, including one from Live Action and another from Focus on the Family. The Live Action video showcased fetal development and the Focus film highlighted the story about a 12-year-old boy who helped a pregnancy center after he learned about abortion.
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She also shared a book with the students from the Radiance Foundation called Pro-Life Kids, and the group discussed what they could do if they decided to become pro-life kids.
“They had a lot of great ideas,” Massey said.
She provided a tour of the center and showed the students pre-born baby development models. Additionally, she reviewed Focus on the Family’s S.L.E.D. Test, with them, the acronym denoting — size, level of development, environment, and degree of dependency of a child. Massey asked different students to read Scripture about how God views life and what He has to say about life and then they talked about how each of them is special in the Lord’s eyes.
A former teacher for nearly 10 years, Massey said she created a lesson plan prior to the students’ visit and that she found the experience very enjoyable.
“I got to put on my teacher hat,” she said.
Massey added that she “pulled from all the great resources we have” to prepare and plan for the class visit.
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Toward the end of the students’ time at the pregnancy center, which has been operating for more than 35 years, the young people set out 2,400 pink and blue flags on the facility’s grounds. These represent the number of unborn lives lost to abortion every day, Massey said.
Then something special happened: without prompting, without adults overseeing, the students gathered to pray.
“They stood in a circle of their own accord – there were no adults around – and I heard one student say a prayer, and they all said ‘Amen,’” Massey told Pregnancy Help News. “It was so beautiful and touching! You could tell they were touched by what they learned.”
That was not the only special incident on that day. House of Ruth was contacted regarding an Abortion Pill Reversal (APR), a service the center began offering last summer. This provided Massey with an additional teachable moment on how women often change their mind after starting a chemical abortion and how APR – the protocol involving prescribing progesterone to counter the effects of the first abortion pill – can provide a chance to save their pregnancy.
“We were able to tell them about [APR], that it was a mom who had changed her mind and that we were going to give her the progesterone,” Massey said. “So, we prayed together for that mom and that baby, that the baby would be saved.”
“It ended up being just a very beautiful day, all orchestrated by God,” said Massey.
The students left the center with a Bible and other items, gifts from House of Ruth staff.
Bob Kuebler, 5th grade teacher at United Christian School – Camp Verde, arranged for the tour, program, and the service project at House of Ruth. He contacted center staff last November to set up the field trip, Massey said. He wanted the students to learn what it meant to be pro-life and about the sanctity of human life.
After the tour, the program, and the service project, Kuebler posted several pictures on Facebook writing:
“The children asked questions about pregnancy and abortion. We were impressed by Sara’s compassionate answers. The House of Ruth treats all women with the same equal love, respect, and dignity. Regardless of the decisions they make in pregnancy, they have programs that offer support to all women. On their own without any adult direction, the 5th Graders circled up and prayed in the midst of a sea of pink and blue flags. We’re very proud of these kids.”
“It was really neat to have them come here,” Massey told Pregnancy Help News.
