The hushed room listened intently to a unique voice within the pro-life movement, a successful business woman and devoted mother who herself had been a child conceived in rape. Far distant in time seemed the clinking of silverware over the fresh leafy salad, the delicious Chicken Malta, the delicate dessert options. For a moment the enjoyment of warm stimulating aroma of coffee and the delightful swish of the exquisite full bodied wine found a reason to pause as Rebecca Kiessling poured out her story in both the gentle reminder that "I was created by God for a purpose," and the lightning bolts realities: "Where in scripture does it say Satan creates a baby?!"
Rebecca had been adopted and grew up in a healthy environment where she knew she was treasured and she had opportunities given to her that allowed her to become a lawyer. As an adult, she found out that her mother had been brutally raped and then had almost aborted her twice in a Detroit back alley abortion. With a documentary on Detroit back alley abortions and the problems the patients faced, Rebecca has the unique opportunity of being able to SEE the very circumstances and the very place where she was almost aborted.
Her message was clear: "We can not allow people to forget there are real people involved." "Legality matters. Other children deserve it (life) every bit as much as me."
The audience response to her speech was a standing ovation.
We are so grateful to all of you who made our benefit dinner, our live and silent auctions, our "Paddles-Up," and all the aspects of this annual event such a tremendous success!
It was such a treasure to have Mike Goss, founder of Abstinence America and author of numerous works including "Unborn Black Lives Matter Too!" return this year as our Emcee of the event!
Once again we had fun with Rick Grassi and his team during the Live Auction including a trip to Italy and a trip to Rio and this year's annual bench: "Precious in His Sight."
As much as we enjoyed all the events leading up to the main speaker, one presentation stood out: the new video of the Houston Coalition for Life which included stories of our moms choosing life, in addition to Christine Melchor's announcements of the success of the babies and moms who had been saved from abortion during this past year. Thank you so much to all the work from Moger Media and to our volunteers and clients for their part on the video. There was scarcely a dry eye in the room as we celebrated with eternal thankfulness to God all these moms who chose life! And thank you to the volunteers, both those we awarded at our dinner and those who were not named. Each one of you helps us have the impact that we have!
Our Top 2 Run & Walk For Life Winners:
#1 Karen Perez
#2 Anita Nelson
Our Top 2 Churches:
#1 Our Savior Lutheran Church
#2 Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham
Winner of the Annual David Award: For Indomitable Valor in Facing the Giant:
Nancy Shaw
The David Award is given each year to the person who shows incomparable determination and dedication in facing the Giant, Planned Parenthood. We see our Big Blue Bus being like little David of the Bible, in facing the huge giant, Goliath - the abortion facility. And so when creating the annual award, it seemed appropriate to name it, the David Award.
Thank you again to all who made this Benefit Dinner a success! We hope each of you will continue to be involved throughout the coming year!
