(Editor's Note: This article was first published in the January/February 2022 print edition of The Stand.)
In January 2021, Lynne Littrell was sitting in her bed reading AFA Journal (now The Stand). A brief news story caught her attention…and her heart…that night.
“I came across a short blurb about a city [Lubbock] in West Texas where the citizens wanted to ban abortion, but the city council voted not to follow the will of the people,” Littrell told AFA Journal. “I thought to myself, ‘That is terrible!’
“And then God said, ‘You are supposed to do that.’ I thought, ‘Do what? Ban abortion in Athens, Texas? I don’t even live there.’” Littrell lives about 20 minutes from Athens in an unincorporated area of Henderson County.
“God’s response was ‘No, all of Henderson County.’
“That message from God was obviously too big for me,” Littrell said. “So I just turned out the light, rolled over, and went to sleep.”
The cause of conviction
For three weeks, the Lord kept convicting Littrell to initiate some pro-life activism efforts in her part of Texas. Finally, out of exasperation, she surrendered to His call.
A series of divine connections led to Mark Lee Dickson, founder of Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn (sanctuarycitiesfortheunborn.com), an organization helping cities effectively ban abortion by passing a legal ordinance.
Dickson came to Athens, but the city council did not respond favorably. However, people from the nearby small town of Murchison did. The Murchison City Council passed an ordinance in March 2021, birthing an entire pro-life movement in Henderson County.
During 2021, Poynor and Brownsboro, even Lubbock, became sanctuary cities; Athens held a Right to Life Festival; a countywide pro-life Facebook page was created; a mobile pregnancy unit began visiting Athens weekly; the idea for a local pregnancy resource center arose; a director was found within an hour; and a local church provided financial support.
The channel for change
“Those are…the sparks for the real change that is happening in Henderson County, Texas, which is the tangible help we plan to provide people,” Littrell said. “We think that it is wrong…to tell people they cannot have an abortion then do nothing to help them or show them the love of God.”
Thus the reason for Abundant Life Pregnancy Resource Center (ALPRC), a faith-based ministry that will offer free pregnancy testing, counseling, parenting classes, prenatal and postnatal resources as well as post-abortive support.
Today, ALPRC is in the funding phase and is expected to have its grand opening as a 501(c)3 in January 2022.
“Honestly, we’re not just interested in saving the lives of the pre-born,” Littrell admitted. “We’re interested in saving the lives of their mothers and fathers through the salvation of Jesus.”
For more information, to make a donation, or to access the center’s gift registry, visit abundantlifeprc.com.
