Sixteen years ago, Students for Life of America flew me to Washington, D.C., trained me, and deployed me as their first West Coast regional coordinator. I was assigned to California, Nevada, and Arizona and visited new campuses each week. Last week, I brought Sarah and our four children to visit the SFLA offices in Virginia. I even got a photo in front of the sign.

Here’s a photo from the “old” days with the SFLA team.

We were at Holly Knoll in Gloucester, Virginia, where Martin Luther King Jr. is said to have drafted portions of his “I Have a Dream” speech beneath a 400-year-old oak. We were there for a leadership retreat, young and full of conviction, with no idea what was coming.

The woman in the center with sunglasses on her head is Kortney Blythe Gordon. She flew out to California more than once to keep me on track when I was getting started in pro-life ministry. I spent many weeks alongside her uncle Don on college campus tours. She was a mentor, a friend, and one of the most genuinely committed people I have ever known.

Kortney and her pre-born child, Sophy, died in a car accident on October 8, 2011 — not long after this photo was taken. She was 28.

The pro-life movement is full of people who give everything. Kortney was one of them. I think about her when I think about what it means to invest in someone, to show up, to travel, to stay on someone’s case because you believe in what they’re doing.

This photo of SFLA staff was from a while later. Saving it here because who knows if I’ll ever dig it up again.

Kristan and Tina are still at the helm at Students for Life and carry on this most important work. Their office was busily preparing for a incoming crop of leaders, what we used to call the Wilberforce Fellows.

I pray the Lord continues to raise up faithful men and women to lead the pro-life generation.