National Prayer Luncheon Held in Dallas
Live Action, an organization reporting, investigating, and influencing public opinion for life, has been named the winner of the 2022 National Prayer Luncheon for Life Pro-Life Impact Award and given a $50,000 grant for their continued pro-life work. Live Action was selected by voters from among six top nominees chosen out of a field of forty for recognition by thousands of life advocates who gathered online and in person on March 25, 2022, to elevate, celebrate, and accelerate the work of high-impact pro-life organizations.
Each of the top six nominated organizations received a National Prayer Luncheon for Life Pro-Life Impact Grant. Second place vote getter, compassion-centered Embrace Grace, a Texas-based organization, was lauded for equipping churches to support both women in unexpected pregnancies and young moms and claimed a $20,000 grant, followed by The Radiance Foundation, which received $15,000 for its innovative work of broadly utilizing wide-ranging media platforms to change hearts and minds for life.
Kimberly Bird, Vice President of External Relations for Live Action, accepted the title award and the top grant of $50,000, thanking the National Prayer Luncheon for Life, and urging all present to support one another. “We are all doing this together. It takes all of us to end abortion.” Live Action, begun by founder Lila Rose when she was only 15 years old, is known for its investigative exposés of the abortion industry and its powerful influence in social media.
The remaining nominees included the passionately driven Pro-Life Action League, which prepares people to be pro-life activists in their community, along with ProLove Ministries, which provides tangible assistance for women in unexpected pregnancies through a nationwide digital platform. Also, among the honorees is Support After Abortion. This Florida-based group is reaching out across the nation with healing for those wounded by abortion. Each of these nominees were honored with a $5,000 National Prayer Luncheon for Life Pro-Life Impact Grant.
Students for Life of America took home the 2021 National Prayer Luncheon for Life Pro-Life Impact Award for the organization’s work equipping young leaders to stand firm against a culture of death and speak out for life. President Kristan Hawkins was on hand to help pass the baton to the newly selected honoree for the 2022 title.
Hawkins encouraged the crowd to prepare for a post-Roe society, noting that despite all the “woke cancel culture,” “we know what’s coming.” She reported that research reveals that the “majority of our country does not know who we are in the pro-life movement.” She encouraged those present to “let them know about our non-violent resources,” because, “no woman should stand alone.”
The crowd welcomed the Most Reverend Joseph Strickland, Bishop of the Diocese of Tyler, in Texas. Strickland, known for boldly speaking out against abortion, encouraged the participants in taking a stand for life. Rev. Walter B. Hoye II, President of Issues4Life Foundation, talked about the decimation of Black Americans, blaming plummeting fertility on the abortion industry. Rounding out the trio of clergy, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, addressed participants via video, offering bilingual reliance on God’s Word in the battle for life.
A retired Army colonel and surgeon, Sister Deirdre (Dede) Byrne of Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts, who is also a provider physician in the Abortion Pill Recovery Network, was welcomed by the crowd. She turned hearts and minds toward global unrest and tyrannical forms of government, sharing her belief that all of “the attempts to remove God from our life stems from one source – what’s happening at ground zero…the mother’s womb,” demonstrating the negative ripple effect that abortion has had on culture.
“It was wonderful to be able to present pro-life advocates across the country with an opportunity to pray and unite to save lives, and recognize these excellent organizations for their tireless work on behalf of life,” exclaimed Karen Garnett, National Prayer Luncheon for Life Executive Director. “We are honored to be able to acknowledge and reward them for the difference they make.”
Founder and former CEO of 40 Days for Life, David Bereit, served as emcee for the event.
The award and grants were presented to the winning organizations by Garnett and National Prayer Luncheon for Life Chairman Brett Attebery.
More than 13,000 people participated in the 2022 National Prayer Luncheon for Life, many watching online as the recipients of the award and monetary grants received the news in Grapevine, Texas, where an in-person audience gathered for the occasion at the Dallas-area Gaylord Texan Resort. The entire program is available online at nationalprayerluncheonforlife.org.
About the National Prayer Luncheon for Life
Originating in 2016 as an in-person event hosted by Heroic Media, the National Prayer Luncheon for Life has evolved to encompass thousands of participants to unite in fervent prayer and select the prestigious National Prayer Luncheon for Life Pro-Life Impact Award winner and Pro-Life Impact Grant recipients. Learn more at nationalprayerluncheonforlife.org.
(SOURCE: National Prayer Luncheon for Life)
