Hello Melbourne Life Chain team!
I just wanted to recap last week's all-time-best-attended Life Chain. Congratulations of your efforts on behalf of the unborn!
Our videographer, Kevin counted 650 participants this year, over 100 more than the previous record. Almost every church did at least as well as last year, with some improving greatly. And 3 (!) additional churches had at least 10 participants, and thus qualify for their own sections next year -- welcome to:
And thank you, Heavenly Father, for the perfect weather this year!
What is more important, though, is the impact we had on our community. This is not an easy thing to measure, so we trust that God brought out the people who most needed to see our pro-life messages. In addition, we Life Chain participants got a chance to meet each other, pray together, share information, and thus improve our overall pro-life efforts throughout the year.
Some comments and feedback -
1) Some of the distribution stations ran out of signs. I try to use previous attendance to allocate enough signs for each of the stations -- this is where my math degree should come in handy! But some churches end up with a big boost in turnout (that's great!) or have folks from outside their church show up -- oh well, the important thing is to join the Life Chain somewhere. One might think that 960 signs should adequately cover 650 participants. However, since we had 23 stations (19 churches, one with 2 locations, 1 synagogue, and 2 tables at the Mall), it makes it hard to ensure that *every* location has sufficient supply. That leads to the next item...
2) We need to order more signs. Wear and tear takes its toll, and if we have more tables next year (with the aforementioned 3 new sections), it will be even harder to adequately supply every coordinator. Unfortunately, the sign supplier we have been using for many years, Life Support, of Fort Collins, Colorado, (life-support.org) no longer carries several of the signs that seem to be the most popular and effective: "Adoption the Loving Option", "Life the First Inalienable Right", and "Pregnant? Need Help - call 800-712-HELP". And the signs they do carry cost over 3 times as much as they did 4 years ago when we last ordered signs. There may be a local printer who can make some, according to someone at my church, so pray that this works out. If anyone knows of any sign printers that can produce signs similar to the current Life Chain signs, please let me know (321-720-9813).
3) Despite my checking out the pens (and replacing a few) ahead of time, many of them ran out of ink. OK, I will get a fresh supply of pens and attach a new one to every clipboard next year.
4) One of our Life Chain coordinators, Lisa Byl, of Kol Mashiach Messianic Synagogue, has been organizing monthly Life Chains, on the first Sunday of every month, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. at the very busy intersection of Pineda Causeway and Wickham Rd. The next one will be Sunday, November 7. This is an excellent opportunity to reach many passers-by. Please spread the word to your Life Chain participants and anyone else who may be interested. You can contact Lisa at 321-652-0178.
5) Thanks to all who sent photos! See the gallery at:
https://flickr.com/photos/142871811@N03/albums/72157720011852230
Once again, thank you to all who worked so diligently to make the 2021 Melbourne Life Chain a success! Blessings to all!
IN the world, but not OF the world - John 17:13-18
John Boyd
Melbourne / South Brevard County, Florida, Life Chain Committee
[email protected]
321-720-9813
I just wanted to recap last week's all-time-best-attended Life Chain. Congratulations of your efforts on behalf of the unborn!
Our videographer, Kevin counted 650 participants this year, over 100 more than the previous record. Almost every church did at least as well as last year, with some improving greatly. And 3 (!) additional churches had at least 10 participants, and thus qualify for their own sections next year -- welcome to:
And thank you, Heavenly Father, for the perfect weather this year!
What is more important, though, is the impact we had on our community. This is not an easy thing to measure, so we trust that God brought out the people who most needed to see our pro-life messages. In addition, we Life Chain participants got a chance to meet each other, pray together, share information, and thus improve our overall pro-life efforts throughout the year.
Some comments and feedback -
1) Some of the distribution stations ran out of signs. I try to use previous attendance to allocate enough signs for each of the stations -- this is where my math degree should come in handy! But some churches end up with a big boost in turnout (that's great!) or have folks from outside their church show up -- oh well, the important thing is to join the Life Chain somewhere. One might think that 960 signs should adequately cover 650 participants. However, since we had 23 stations (19 churches, one with 2 locations, 1 synagogue, and 2 tables at the Mall), it makes it hard to ensure that *every* location has sufficient supply. That leads to the next item...
2) We need to order more signs. Wear and tear takes its toll, and if we have more tables next year (with the aforementioned 3 new sections), it will be even harder to adequately supply every coordinator. Unfortunately, the sign supplier we have been using for many years, Life Support, of Fort Collins, Colorado, (life-support.org) no longer carries several of the signs that seem to be the most popular and effective: "Adoption the Loving Option", "Life the First Inalienable Right", and "Pregnant? Need Help - call 800-712-HELP". And the signs they do carry cost over 3 times as much as they did 4 years ago when we last ordered signs. There may be a local printer who can make some, according to someone at my church, so pray that this works out. If anyone knows of any sign printers that can produce signs similar to the current Life Chain signs, please let me know (321-720-9813).
3) Despite my checking out the pens (and replacing a few) ahead of time, many of them ran out of ink. OK, I will get a fresh supply of pens and attach a new one to every clipboard next year.
4) One of our Life Chain coordinators, Lisa Byl, of Kol Mashiach Messianic Synagogue, has been organizing monthly Life Chains, on the first Sunday of every month, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. at the very busy intersection of Pineda Causeway and Wickham Rd. The next one will be Sunday, November 7. This is an excellent opportunity to reach many passers-by. Please spread the word to your Life Chain participants and anyone else who may be interested. You can contact Lisa at 321-652-0178.
5) Thanks to all who sent photos! See the gallery at:
https://flickr.com/photos/142871811@N03/albums/72157720011852230
Once again, thank you to all who worked so diligently to make the 2021 Melbourne Life Chain a success! Blessings to all!
IN the world, but not OF the world - John 17:13-18
John Boyd
Melbourne / South Brevard County, Florida, Life Chain Committee
[email protected]
321-720-9813