“Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.”  Edmund Burke

Almost every activist has it.  That lightbulb moment when everything clicks and like it or not, your life has changed forever.  From that moment on, you refuse to stay silent, so you kiss apathy goodbye.  You are suddenly living for something bigger than yourself and ignorance is no longer "bliss."  Conviction sweeps over you and leaves you ready to do whatever it takes to stand for what you know is right.  You have passed from immovable to unstoppable and there is no going back.  Are you equipped?  Prepared?  Maybe, maybe not.  That doesn't matter anymore.  Ready or not, you are an activist.  

For Jonathon Van Maren that moment came in 2007 when he watched a graphic video of an abortion.  Since that day, Jonathon has "run toward the cries of injustice" all across North America.  An activist, writer and speaker, Jonathon is a triple threat to all pro-aborts.  Jonathon holds the title of Communications Director at the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform.  You might also recognize him from his column over at LifeSite News where he unashamedly shares about abortion, sexual immorality and other controversial topics.  Jonathan is a pro-active pro-lifer and a strong advocate for using abortion victim photography to change hearts and minds.

Jonathon has mastered the art of communication and conversation and is a skilled debater.  A student of history and lover of literature, he has a library of over twelve thousand books and his home resembles a museum filled with old newspapers and other artifacts.  One of the newest additions to his collection is a medallion from the abolition movement in great Britain that says: “Am I Not a Man and a Brother?”  Someone once said, “study the past if you would define the future,” Jonathon Van Maren is doing just that to define the future.  

Jonathon had this to say about the Conference:

“I’d like to urge all pro-lifers to attend the International Pro-Life Conference. Your voice is needed.  When I debate abortion in public, I usually highlight basic science and human rights doctrine to prove that the pre-born should be protected. But when thinking of how to urge Christians to speak out, I can’t help but think of the spiritual aspect of this battle. How tragic it is that our society has so completely perverted and destroyed the concept of love. It is one of God’s great blessings that when two people love one another, that love can bring about a completely new human being. Now, that human being is considered by many to be a threat, an inconvenience—even, some say, a parasite. God uses human interactions to bring about brand new, unique, unrepeatable human beings—and we violently carve “Return to Sender” into their tiny corpses and fling them back into Eternity. I shudder to think of it—God’s Blessings, millions upon millions of tiny souls, appearing before Him after the briefest of tenures on Earth, hacked short by the blood-stained hands of those still below.  In light of this staggering responsibility, only one response will do: Run toward the cries of injustice.”

Do you want to learn how to run toward the cries of injustice” at this year’s International Pro-life Youth Conference?  Don’t miss this opportunity to meet Jonathon and countless others who are taking a stand for life.  Register for the IPYC today!!