It’s an honor to travel on behalf of innocent human life, especially when it’s a trip to my favorite country, South Africa.
This was my third time there and I had established solid friendships – pro-lifers who helped make this a remarkably productive endeavor to defend the unborn.
My long-time friend and host, Dr. Albu van Eeden, is a physician on the Kwasizabantu Mission – in reality a small town serving the poor outside of Durban. Albu and I first met in the Netherlands at a pro-life conference.
After a 15-plus hour flight and a few hours rest, we hit the ground running. First a briefing with the staff of Doctors for Life, the pro-life group Albu founded. I shared some of the history of the pro-life movement in America, particularly our pro-life gains since the election of Donald Trump. They were eager and encouraged to hear what I had to share.
Later that evening we spoke at the University of Durban Westville to a group of physicians, medical students and high school students. It was a basic presentation on abortion, particularly the science of fertilization, fetal development and the types of abortions performed in the US.
The following day was the big event where I provided two keynote addresses at the National Alliance for Life Conference, which Doctors for Life is a member. My first presentation was on euthanasia and how the definition of death, a subjective diagnosis, is being used to promote a quality of life ethic over a value of life.
Later I shared abortion information as well as the crucial part politics plays in ensuring the protection of life. Many in the audience had heard of Donald Trump only through the lens of a biased media. They were greatly encouraged to find out that he was the most pro-life president in our nation’s history, doing all within his authority to save unborn babies and protect their mothers.
The following day we and many conference attendees joined hundreds of others in the annual March for Life in Durban, in spite of a last-minute effort by city officials to dampen the turnout.
Monday was the most grueling day, and the most productive. It was a seven-hour, round trip drive to the Majuba College Campus in Newcastle. Even though it was finals week, all classes were suspended to give the student body an opportunity to attend our lectures on abortion. It’s estimated that we educated 380 students who were keenly interested in learning crucial information on a topic new to them.
The evening concluded at a Newcastle church filled with black pastors who were eager to hear what we had to say and tremendously grateful that I would take time to speak to them. It was an honor to do so.
On Wednesday morning Johan Claassen, a pro-life colleague and I made a cringe-worthy early drive into Durban to catch a morning flight to Cape Town, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Its magnificent beaches, combined with the sight of rugged mountains is hard to beat. However, there was no time for the beach that day. We started with taping a television interview and then it was off to Stellenbosch University where we had a meeting with key pro-life students whose passion for advocating life was impressive and highly encouraging. It was an opportunity to teach the teachers, and I’m confident the time was well spent.
Next was a welcome day off and the host family treated me to a wildlife park where we experienced some amazingly close and rare encounters, according to locals, with Africa’s most notable animals.
Johan, Albu, his wife, Karen and daughter, Rebecca, along with Albu’s brother, Nato are like extended family. It was difficult to part company, and special thanks go to Nato for sharing his ocean-front flat, with a location that saved time and energy in our constant travels.
America’s most tragic export has been abortion and wherever I go, they plead for the United States to end the human carnage of abortion so they can more readily end it there. By God’s grace, South Africa is now better equipped to engage in the battle to end abortion.
Defending life worldwide,
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