DEFEND LIFE’S 21ST ANNUAL MARYLAND FACE-THE-TRUTH TOUR HAS BEGUN!
INTRO
This Tour is probably the single most important Pro-Life event of the Summer on the East Coast. Participants from Pennsylvania and across the state of Maryland gathered in Charles Town, West Virginia, yesterday, Sunday, July 25th at St. James Catholic Church, which is the largest Catholic Church in West Virginia and one of the most architecturally significant churches on the East Coast, reminiscent of a classic medieval Gothic Cathedral located in open fields. You can take a virtual tour by visiting their website.
The Core Team gathers at St. James Church for an important Orientation Session at 2:00 pm, pizza and fellowship, and then meets at the first stop for the next morning before retiring for the night.
Since I used to live near Charles Town, West Virginia as a teen, I like to head up early Sunday morning to my old church, Zion Episcopal Church in Charles Town to pray for the Tour and hand out Pro-Life business cards. I visit some of my old haunts in nearby Ranson, go tubing in nearby Millville and do a little sightseeing in the historic town of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, which played a significant role in United States history. In 1859, John Brown, an abolitionist, (someone who wanted to see slavery abolished), led a raid on the town. The up-and-coming trend in the Pro-Life movement includes a similar “Abolition” component to end legalized abortion, not just continue to regulate it. That is what the first ever Equal Protection bill that was introduced by Delegate Metzger was about during the 2021 legislative session.
The Truth Tour has been a Pro-Life working vacation for me for the past four years. However, this will be my first year writing about the Tour for the Spotlight edition of the MDGOP newsletter, the new and best alternative for Conservative Republican news in Maryland, since the liberal media refuses to cover Pro-Life events.
By the time you read my feature on the Tour this week, the first full day of the Tour will have been completed with stops in Charles Town, Hagerstown, which has an abortuary, and Frederick.
OVERVIEW
There are three Tour stops each day for five days, Monday through Friday, beginning in Charles Town, West Virginia, then at thirteen cities in Maryland and the White House for a total of fifteen stops.Mass is offered each morning after the first stop, followed by a delicious breakfast provided and prepared by the hosting Church’s volunteers. After the second stop, a lunch is provided by another host Church with a great Pro-Life speaker, followed by the third and final stop of the day. The core team and guest attendees then enjoy Fellowship and a great picnic supper prepared and served by a third host Church. Core Team Members retire for the night at volunteer hosts’ homes. Many of these volunteers who offer their homes for lodging during the Tour are former Core Team members and long time activists within the Pro-Life movement. Nothing displays more Christian hospitality straight out of the book of Acts than the volunteers who prepare the meals and provide lodging for the core team members. Core Team Members are on the front lines, enduring heat and rain, dealing with the traffic and road conditions, hostility from Pro-Aborts and distraught post-abortive mothers who need emotional support resources which we provide.
My dearly departed Pro-Life brother Ron Brock, who had participated in Pro-Life tours across America for 50 years, calls the Defend Life Tour the “Cadillac” of Pro-Life tours because of the amazing amount of support, including meals, water, snacks, transportation and lodging for core team members that is provided. I loved seeing Ron with his crazy Pro-Life, Pro-Jesus truck with flags-a-waving, driving around and around each tour stop to bring attention to our message.
Though Defend Life is a Catholic Pro-Life organization, Pro-Lifers of all denominations are welcome. The Tour is scheduled the last week of July in order to encourage teens to attend without interfering with family vacations in August and before school begins in September.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A CORE TEAM MEMBER
The first stop of Day One is the most challenging because the morning stop begins at 6:30 a.m. sharp until 8:00 am to catch the morning rush hour traffic in Charles Town, West Virginia, which in past years has mainly been truckers who show their love for the Tour by honking at us as we hold the signs. I remember one year we had torrential downpours on that first morning stop, but we stood like soldiers in the pouring rain right up until 8:00 am. There is truly nothing more impressive for the Pro-Life cause than to see folks willing to stand for hours in the pouring rain, holding these signs to protect innocent life. The saying “rain or shine” applies 100% to the Truth Tour as core team members and volunteers alike endure punishing heat indexes well over 100° and oftentimes torrential rains, including tornado speed winds.
The Tour is run as a quasi-military operation, so to get out there and have the line formed by 6:30 a.m. for the morning traffic means Core Team members start assembling at 6:00 a.m. which means they get up between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m.
A wake up call goes out, first to the sign guys, because without the signs there is no Tour. Core Team members have to quickly gather all of their things, get themselves loaded up in their transportation vehicle and head out to the site about a half hour early for the first morning rush hour stop.
The uniform is the Defend Life T-shirt and a sturdy pair of shoes. Flip flops do not work on this Tour as we are on the side of highways with rough gravel and weeds. I always bring a small knapsack with a rain poncho and a second set of dry shoes because it is no fun to be in wet shoes all day long if your feet get wet from the rain first thing in the morning.
Whoever gets there first, whether it is the sign guys or the core team members, immediately creates a formation line along the designated roadway, ideally spacing themselves to stretch the Tour out for about a quarter of a mile. It is the length of the Tour that makes the visual so impressive because drivers cannot ignore the message, so proper spacing is critical. Each team member is expected to hold their sign in a solemn and respectful manner to honor the life lost as depicted by the victim image on the sign. The signs speak for themselves by showing first, second and third term abortion victims. Core Team Members are trained to remain silent, especially if we are being yelled at or cursed at by individuals or from vehicles. Some team members pray the rosary while kneeling and holding their sign. Executive director, Jack Ames, inspects the line once the formation is complete.
There are two water gals who tote a cooler on wheels with ice cold water to hydrate the team members. There isa roving team photographer who takes pictures and assist team members with any concerns or need for a break. There is usually a sign with a beautiful healthy baby in the beginning of the stop and at the end of the stop an American flag and a sign with Jesus kneeling and praying and offering forgiveness for the tragedy of abortion to those who regret their decision.
SPEAKERS
Before I reveal my two favorite speakers from past Truth Tours, I want to highlight two speakers for this week, the first one is Chen Guangchen, a blind rights activist who escaped communist China, who will speak tomorrow, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, beginning at 1:45 after the White House stop. The free luncheon and speaker will be at Rock Creek Knights of Columbus, 5417 West Cedar Lane, Bethesda Maryland 20814.
The second speaker is the indominable Jack Ames who will be giving a special tribute to his long time friend and Pro-Life Legend, Joe Scheidler from Chicago.
My two favorite nationally known speakers from past Tours were Monica Miller from Chicago and Detective James Wood from Philadelphia.
Monica Miller, who was a protegee of Joe Scheidler, began to assemble teams to retrieve the bodies of aborted infants from the trash dumpsters behind abortuaries in Chicago. She documented their lives through photographs and provided proper Christian burials. I have an autographed copy of the book she wrote on her experience titled,Abandoned: the Untold Story of the Abortion Wars. She is an excellent speaker and writer. Her book will keep you engrossed from start to finish. Monica married one of her pro-life colleagues, had a family and continues her Pro-Life work in Chicago. I am hoping her book will be made into a movie. In like manner, our own Maryland legislator, Delegate Dan Cox, who is also running for
Governor, introduced legislation to protect the human remains of aborted preborn babies this past legislative session.
Montgomery County (Pa, not MD) detective James Wood was the lead detective who accidentally stumbled upon Kermit Gosnell’s House of Horrors abortion clinic while serving a drug warrant. Please watch or rewatch Gossnell: America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer. Mr. wood was portrayed in the film by Dean Cain of Superman fame. He is a fantastic speaker and very humble about his role in ending Gosnell’s Reign of Terror against women and their preborn babies, three of which he was convicted of murdering after they were born. I had the great privilege of speaking at length with Mr. Wood about his experience. He is a devout Catholic and a great Pro-Life guy.
HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW TO SUPPORT THE TOUR:
1. PRAY for the tour, including a hedge of protection around the core team members and visitors, the leadership including Jack Ames and the Tour Director and all of the churches and volunteers who provided food, lodging and transportation;
2. DONATE by visiting www.defendlife. org;
3. ATTEND one of the 12 remaining Tour stops and volunteer a few hours to hold a sign to end abortion. You will be provided with a free Defend Life t-shirt and are welcome to attend the meal provided after each tour stop;
4. CALL or Text myself at 301-575-4889 or Therese at 201-512-7451 if you need additional information.
The Face the Truth Tour runs from today, July 26th -through Friday July 30th. Here is a link to the Flier:
https://defendlife.org/docs/facethetruthtour2021_1A.pdf
I will continue my coverage of the Tour next week to share all the wonderful human interest stories of babies saved and mothers healed because of the Tour.
In Christ and for Life,
Katherine Adelaide, Member,Carroll County Republican Central Committee (CCRCC)
301-575-488
