40 Days for Life Volunteer Leader Needed
40 Days for Life is the largest internationally-coordinated pro-life mobilization in history, as individuals in
local communities seek to end the injustice of abortion. Started in 2004 in Texas, 40 Days for Life has
spread to 675 cities in 40 nations. Through the prayerful presence of 725,000 volunteers, 40 Days for
Life knows of more than 12,000 children spared from abortion.
Volunteers often hold vigil outside of abortion facilities for 40 days twice a year, but even cities without
abortion providers are in desperate need of a pro-life witness. In Allen County, women receive abortion
counseling and abortion referrals at the Planned Parenthood located at 3914 W Jefferson Blvd. in Fort
Wayne.
Allen County Right to Life seeks to restart our community’s participation in 40 Days for Life. Because Fort
Wayne is Indiana’s second largest city, many Northeast Indiana women visit Fort Wayne’s Planned
Parenthood when they experience an unplanned pregnancy. Fort Wayne’s Planned Parenthood refers
hundreds of Northeast Indiana women each year to other Planned Parenthood abortion centers. In
2015, 226 Allen County women had abortion in Indiana. A 40 Days for Life presence will help us have an
organized, peaceful witness as we seek to end abortion through prayer and fasting.
The 40 Days for Life fall campaign runs Sept. 27 through Nov. 5. Allen County Right to Life seeks a
volunteer leader to organize this effort. This individual will be given support, training and resources from
both national 40 Days for Life and the Allen County Right to Life office.
40 Days for Life is often asked if busy people can lead a campaign. Their response is, “It depends. 40
Days for Life is a demanding effort so we probably wouldn’t recommend hosting your first campaign
while planning a wedding or training for a marathon. But it’s also true that busy people tend to make for
some of our strongest leaders.”
National organizers have seen a wide range of demographics among the campaign leaders. “Part-time
volunteers, full-time pro-lifers, post-abortive women, business owners, full-time students, full-time
workers, people with no funding, people with plentiful financial resources, Catholics, Protestants,
Evangelical Christians, and people of all walks of life have led successful campaigns. We’ve seen
excellent efforts led by 18-year-old students and 82-year-old senior citizens.”
Abigail Eschelbach, Allen County Right to Life Operations and Media Director, asks, “Are you willing to
step up for the unborn and their mothers? Could you use your time and God-given talents to mobilize
our community?
The late Norma McCorvey, the “Roe” in Roe v. Wade, encouraged pro-life advocates to get involved in
40 Days for Life. She said, “I hope and I pray that you will join us in this 40 days of prayer and fasting and
help overturn Roe v. Wade, because we didn't have a choice in the beginning with the Supreme Court
justices — they decided it for us.”
Allen County Right to Life invites anyone who is even remotely interested in leading 40 Days for Life to
contact their office at 260-471-1849. They also encourage interested individuals to prayerfully consider
how God can use his or her talents to help save local babies and mothers from abortion.