By Lloyd Mackey

> THE CAUSE of life for unborn children has been given a fair amount of public exposure in Kelowna recently, through several initiatives.

40 Days for Life

Various pro-life activists volunteered for daily four-hour picketing of a site near the Kelowna General Hospital, which is a major abortion provider in the Kelowna area. The picketing ran from February 17 to March 28.

The 40 Days for Life campaign was spearheaded by Kelowna Right to Life (KRTL); Kelowna’s protest was one of hundreds of such events taking place across Canada and the United States.

KRTL executive director Marlon Bartram emphasized that the hospital picket site was symbolic of the fact that it is a place where the “killing” of unborn babies continues to take place.

He said signs have been carried “by a minimum of two people, and up to 30 or 40 at times,” and were intended to express wishes for “the end of abortion in Canada.”

Many of the picketers were Christians, Bartram noted. “There were Catholics, Protestants, evangelical Baptists and New Lifers.”

Bartram said he had been a business person for many years, and had become involved in the pro-life movement a few years ago through a “life-changing experience” involving having “lost a baby to abortion.”

The picketing is “a constant reminder to keep [the issue] in the public mind,” he said.

The idea of doing the awareness project for 40 days has some biblical precedence, according to some of its promotional material.

Notes one of the on-line KRTL messages: “The initiative is based on the idea that God used the 40-day time frame to transform individuals, communities and even the entire world. From Noah’s flood, to Moses on the mountain, to the disciples after Christ’s resurrection, it is clear that God sees the transformative value of his people accepting and meeting a 40-day challenge.”

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Bound4Life

A monthly event known as Silent Siege is staged by a group called Bound4Life. It involves mostly young people, who put bright red duct tape across their mouths, with the word ‘life’ printed on the tape. In addition to commenting on the opposition to pro-life activities, the tape is meant to suggest that the demonstrators  are praying silently for the unborn.

On March 20, from 11 am to noon, this month’s Siege took place at the same location as the 40 Days event, outside the Kelowna hospital.

It was a way for the young people to show solidarity with those who  had been out on the picket line every day, said Hannah Reich – who, along with Jamie Reid, is responsible for organizing the monthly Siege events.

Reich, a UBC Okanagan student, said the events began last fall. Her personal involvement was inspired by her attendance at The Cry, a Vancouver prayer event. One of the speakers there was Lou Engle, an American known for his organizing of dramatic events in the ‘prophetic’ sector of the Christian community. It was Engle who told the crowd about Siege prayer events taking place worldwide.

Reich, who is a part of Kelowna Christian Centre, said that numbers ranging from 35 to 140 have been attending the monthly events. The March 20 assembly was the seventh.

Reich gives much of the organizational success for the events to Jamie Reid and five of her sisters, who have worked proactively for their success.

Does the picketing or duct tape have much effect on the people who pass by and observe what they are doing?

Reich thinks so. She is a volunteer at the Okanagan Valley Pregnancy Care Centre (OVPCC).

Without betraying confidentialities, she said she is aware that some pregnant women have cancelled abortion appointments, and some have sought support from the care centre.

And it is that backup which provides events like 40 Days and the Siege with the longer term care that pregnant women and their unborn children often need.

OVPCC director Theresa White told BCCN the centre is currently putting together some proposals that will help enhance its services to women who need care and compassionate counsel.

Contact: 40daysforlife.com/kelowna or bound4lifekelowna.blogspot.com

April 2010