Bound4Life, the grassroots prayer mobilization movement suggests that "YOPP" stands for "Young Ones Praying and Prophesying." With that in mind, they have posted a video of a "young one" speaking some remarkable words of truth; simple and direct.
Lia, a 12-year-old seventh grader recently gave a very profound speech in her school, on the topic of abortion. According to Bound4Life, her teachers "strongly encouraged" her to choose a different subject, but Lia is obviously passionate about life. She courageously stayed with her topic, and her speech is fearless, and informative.
Lia's mother wrote in an email about where her daughter's passion originated, and what happened in school after she chose to speak on abortion…
"It was really a family thing. I saw Lou [Engle] speak at a conference several years ago. I came back to my family with the "Life Bands," and we all wore them, made our covenant, and prayed the prayer for abortion to end… We were invited to participate in a "Life Tape Siege." Once my kids heard of this invitation, they all agreed: "We have to do that!" Since then, Lia's passion for seeing abortion end has continued. Being impacted by Lou's words regarding Horton [Hears a Who], she was excited to watch the movie when it was released (and the rest of the family were too!).
"As part of her class requirements, she needed to prepare a speech; however, the classroom presentations were also meant to enable the teacher to select the best speeches to go on to a more serious competition. As I mentioned, several teachers discouraged her from picking the topic of abortion; she was told it was "too big", "too mature" and "too controversial." She was also told that if she went ahead with that topic, she would not be allowed to continue on in the speech competition. Initially, I tried helping her find other topics to speak on, but, in the end, she was adamant. She just felt she wanted to continue with the topic of abortion. So she forfeited her chance to compete in order to speak on something she was passionate about."
Bound4Life encourages people to forward Lia's video to their friends, to encourage her and to "shake the nations with God's truth."
For more information on Bound4Life, follow the source link provided.
The Trophy of a Life Saved: Updates on Lia's LIFE Speech
"Please join us in continuing to pray for her YouTube video to spread virally and impact countless lives."
Although she initially encountered resistance from her teachers to choose another topic or forfeit her opportunity to participate in a speech competition, Lia decided to stay with her topic, and eventually her teacher—moved by her presentation—relented and allowed her to compete.
Lia then gave her speech in front of the entire school, and although the principal and other teachers deemed her the "obvious winner," the judges disqualified her because of her topic and stance on abortion. (Photo: Lia/Bound4Life.com)
However, later that day, and after much discussion, the judges reversed their decision, making Lia the winner of the speech contest. Lia advanced to the regional competition with her message of Life.
On Tuesday night, Feb. 17th, Lia again gave her speech, and was said to have done an "outstanding job," however, she did not win. It was suspected that Lia's topic was still keeping her from advancing further.
Sometimes though, we cannot measure victories with trophies, and such is the case with Lia's speech, as you will see when you read the excerpt from her mother's email below—from the Bound4Life website:
"Lia wasn't really that upset…especially when she considered that the only difference between winning the competition and not winning was having a couple extra pictures taken and being given a small trophy. Lia has a much bigger trophy—somebody commented to us on our YouTube account that her aunt watched Lia's video and decided to NOT have an abortion because of it. Yay God! Others have commented that they either never thought of the issue before or were pro-choice—but now they have changed their opinions. So, having a life saved is the best trophy ever!"
Bound4Life adds, "We're thrilled with Lia's courage and conviction. And YES, the best trophy is a life saved. Please join us in continuing to pray for her YouTube video to spread virally and impact countless lives."
