An Update from PersonhoodUSA's Youth Team

An Update From The PersonhoodNow! Team in Florida

It didn’t take long for the team to get settled in, here in St. Petersburg. We’re staying at a house owned by Calvary Chapel and we’re incredibly thankful for their tremendous hospitality and support for what we’re doing. Our first week on the ground has been a whirlwind of activity. Since arriving, we’ve already petitioned at a number of events, including Bible studies, church services, a Tampa Rays game, and a Country Music Throwdown at the State Fairgrounds.

We met some interesting people at the country concert. As we were circulating the petitions, we came upon a group of people playing beer pong in the parking lot. We weren’t sure if we should ask them to take part in our civic matter, but we mustered up the courage to ask them if they would like to sign our pro-life petition. Their self-proclaimed spokesman announced that the game of beer pong was on hold and that everyone in the group would sign the petition. Help can come from unexpected places. Through this experience we learned to follow God’s direction no matter who he leads us to, even if the situation doesn’t appear fruitful from our human perspective.

We visited a speech and debate tournament being held by the Institute for Cultural Communicators in Lutz so that we could meet with some our mutual friends in the organization, judge debate rounds, and network with the pastor of the North Tampa Church of Christ, where the tournament was being held. He said that this initiative was definitely something that his church would like to be involved in!

Our house-mate TJ invited us to a Calvary Chapel “Life Group” Bible Study, so we came for the study and were asked to share a little bit about the personhood project. We were able to pass around the petition and everyone signed it. Many took literature and more petitions so that their friends could sign! Plus, there was free food there. It was a win-win-win-win situation.

On Sunday morning, we met with the priest at Holy Family Catholic Church before going to Covenant Bible Church in Plant City, where we gave a personhood presentation for the congregation during the service. It was exciting to see such a staunchly pro-life church that was so willing to get involved! They asked us to set up a table in the fellowship hall and everyone came to sign our petition. Those who couldn’t sign it took down our information so that they could get involved and others took extra petitions so that they could get more signatures. That evening we went to Calvary Chapel’s college group called The Remnant, where we gave another personhood presentation and collected signatures. Many wanted to learn how to circulate petitions themselves, so that they could get their friends to sign. Plus, there was an ice cream social afterwards.

I was greatly encouraged after meeting with a local sidewalk counselor who was interested in what the PersonhoodNow! team is doing. Mrs. Espisito took petitions and personhood materials to share with a Crisis Pregnancy Centers conference in Orlando and prayed over our activities while we are here. Another exciting meeting was with the pastor of Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg, which has about ten thousand attendees each week. After we shared the personhood strategy with him, he was excited to help us by talking to other pastors and allowing us to circulate petitions at Calvary Chapel.

During our “down time”, we wove together a Personhood Program that incorporates interpretive elements from Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! and Frank Peretti’s Tilly. We also completed a training workshop designed to teach others how to petition and how talk about the issue of abortion effectively in the conversations that might come up. We plan to provide the training workshop and/or perform the program for any groups, clubs, or churches who are interested. If you are part of a group that would like to know more, email me at joshjcraddock@gmail.com. And of course, keep us in your prayers as we continue to crusade for personhood in the state of Florida!

Part 2