"Can't Have One Without the Other"
SEAT WORK - The Seminar
Abortion: From Debate to Dialogue is a five-hour seminar that teaches you to be a good ambassador for Christ. You will learn to create dialogue on abortion and give good reasons for the pro-life position. While we call this “Seat Work” (there are short lecture segments), JFA mentors use role-playing and small-group interaction to keep you actively engaged throughout the seminar.
The goal is simple: Help you feel competent enough to start a dialogue with someone who disagrees with you about abortion.
While we encourage you to continue your training with us at a campus outreach event (our dialogue tools make it easy to start conversations about abortion), we understand that not everyone can attend. In those cases, we always give you an alternate Feet Work assignment that you can complete on your own.
FEET WORK - The Campus Outreach
Training continues on a public university campus where JFA, at the invitation of a campus club, uses one or more of its visual tools to create a debate about abortion on campus. These tools include three large museum-quality open-air exhibits, an 8-foot version of the original Justice For All Exhibit, various smaller kiosk displays, free speech boards, and poll tables (for instance, “Should Abortion Remain Legal?”). As Abortion: From Debate to Dialogue seminar participants, you become volunteers at the outreach, and you have one job: Turn the debate about abortion into a dialogue.
To begin, you shadow your mentor for a half-hour or more, listening to her begin conversations and dialogue with college students. When you feel ready, you start your own conversations by asking students questions like, “What do you think?” or “Have you seen pictures like these before?” or “I’m a volunteer. Would it be helpful if I gave you an explanation of the exhibit?”
We encourage you to debrief with your mentor throughout the day after your conversations. At the end of the Feet Work training day, JFA mentors will challenge you to do something in the coming week to repeat what you’ve learned.
REPEAT WORK - DIALOGUE IN DAILY LIFE
Training begins with Seat Work, where you learn the skills to talk with those who disagree with you. It continues with Feet Work, where you join JFA mentors at a campus outreach event to put your skills to the test in real life, in real time.
The next step is Repeat Work, where you continue life-saving dialogue about abortion in everyday life.
Once you have experienced Seat Work and Feet Work, Repeat Work is no longer scary or out of reach. Through Abortion: From Debate to Dialogue training, you can gain an amazing new ability...the ability to change hearts and save lives.