Last week, 37 high school and college students from Louisiana and neighboring states gathered near Baton Rouge for the 2019 PULSE Leadership Institute (PLI). This year’s camp theme, Discover Life, encouraged campers to discover life and its beauty and share it with others.
PULSE Leadership Institute is a five-day overnight camp where students dive into the pro-life movement and grow into informed and compassionate pro-life leaders. Sessions go beyond abortion into topics like foster care, adoption, third-party reproduction, disability discrimination, and end of life issues. This year’s camp was held at the Timothy Retreat Center in Baker.
Students said they loved the opportunity to learn about these important topics from speakers from around the nation and also to apply this knowledge through PLI’s many hands-on activism field trips.
Elise Cresson, Rene Briggs, and Julianne Reed give a “mock” testimony on why they are pro-life in a Capitol committee room.
Rylee Johnson of LaPlace, a student at Chapelle, said PLI “offers us a chance to be able to find a voice for ourselves, become empowered men and women, and learn how to form compassion and be able to speak to others and persuade them to be pro-life.”
Throughout the week students visited Woman’s New Life Center, located next to the abortion facility Delta Clinic, where they learned about the immediate need for woman’s resources and alternatives to abortion; the Louisiana State Capitol, where they gave passionate pro-life testimonies in a mock-committee setting; LSU, where they practiced pro-life persuasion and campus outreach; and Northridge Care Center, where they visited the elderly.
Students also had a blast together at our PULSE Game of Games, our traditional Coffee House talent show, laser tag, and more. Though the threat of Hurricane Barry loomed, the camp saw mostly sunny skies!
At the closing Commission Ceremony, students shared which activism activities they hope to begin leading and expressed how much fun they had and how deeply they cherish their newly-formed friendships.
Kayla Hallquist practice pro-life persuasion skills with another camper at PLI.
PULSE Leadership Institute 2019 was an incredible week, but it is just the start of pro-life leadership for these students as they join local PULSE teams and confidently defend life in their schools, churches, and local communities.
