Successful Respect Life Banquet: Inspiration, Warmth, Friendship

What do you get with an amazing keynote from Pastor Don Mayes, great food, good friends and a cause worth supporting? You get a night to remember!

With over 480 guests, Springfield Right to Life hosted its Annual Respect Life Banquet and raised over $50,000 to support the cause of protecting Life.

With the help of our great volunteers and Board Members, the excitement in the room was electric: guests quickly

moved to their tables and greeted their friends.

Openings:

The evening opened with the greeting and humorous cajoling from our emcee, the Hon. Paul Palazzolo.

As friends greeted each other and waved across the main ballroom of the Crowne Plaza, the room filled with the warmth of talk and laughter and applause.

The support and presence of the Springfield Area Clergy was undeniable as many local pastors were in attendance.  Likewise, many elected officials and candidates joined the celebration and support of life.

Our guests also included many local business owners and leaders. Doctors and lawyers, plumbers and carpenters.

One of the features at the banquet was the Life Display. This collection of over 650,000 “pony beads”, along with fact board which describe the major arguments in

of life, were on display. Sadly, the joyful pink

and blue beads represent the number of children lost to

abortion each year (according to the 2014 CDC report).

The Pony Bead and Board idea was the brain-child of Board Member Lisa Luper. “We wanted something that people could look at and immediately grasp the number in a palpable way,” she said.

“At the Illinois State Fair, we had THOUSANDS of people walk by our booth and take notice.”

Precious Feet Pin Witnessing the Humanity of the Unborn.

Dr. Jim McDermott then came out and shared his story of wearing the “Baby Feet”. Jim shared how we often waiver in our support for life, in the workplace, in community settings and even in our own family. SRTL gave each attendee a Precious Feet lapel pin to take home as a gift. The pin is a pair of baby feet the size of a child who is at ten weeks in utero. It’s a reminder of the humanity of the unborn infant.

Prayers from the Sidewalk: A Plea for Intercession.

Phil Harris is a retired fire fighter. Phil has been on the scene of tough situations: many the toughest days of their lives. Phil invited the guests to pray with him out on the sidewalk on abortion day (Thursdays), stating that this would be the worst day of those who entered the abortion facility: their toughest day – their worst day. He then painted a vision of what it would look like if everyone in the room came out to the sidewalk to intercede for the unborn, their mothers and fathers, the abortion facility staff and doctors.

With Your Help, Springfield Right to Life….

Tim Moore, President of Springfield Right to Life, laid out the accomplishments of SRTL over the last 12 months. All due to the financial support, intercessory prayer and volunteer help that came from last year’s fundraiser. Tim listed the launch of the Sidewalk Counseling as the number 1 accomplishment of the organization for the year. He called out Josephine Bahr and Kevin Aldrich for their commitment to the program. Tim then pointed out the State Fair display (see above) and its impact. The March for Life Springfield, Capitol Rally, Petition Gathering and more rounded out Tim’s presentation and THANK YOU for the support. Without your help, SRTL would not be making the inroads into saving lives. The upcoming year would present new challenges, from assisted suicide to expansion of abortion with no oversight or restrictions or inspections. SRTL will be there, protecting human life, human rights, from conception to natural death.

The Case for Abortion…Disrupted by the Powerful Testimony of Pastor Mayes

Pastor Don Mayes, with his personal testimony, blew open the preconceived notion that abortion somehow is of use to society. Don opened his talk with an invitation to the audience to “Tell someone next to you: ‘Neighbor, I love you to Life!’ And it just got better from there. You’ll see that some of the photos here are a bit grainy: Pastor Mayes barely could stand still for a moment he was so full of God’s energy. He related how his upbringing, addiction, and raucous living would be society’s dream case for abortion: But that God had other plans. Don related his journey into embracing the Abundant Life promised in Jn 10:10. He did this through a “phone call” to his Mother, who is in Heaven. “Momma, why didn’t you abort me? Did you know that God had something special planned for me?”  (A video of the talk will soon be available).

Closings: A Prayer and A Song.

As the evening came to a close, a final prayer  was proclaimed along with a song (I Am Who You Say I Am).

Guests lingered, laughed and left with a renewed spirit of encouragement that while the battle is not over, great strides are being made to protect life at all stages, from conception to natural death.