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Dear Friend,
People often wonder why I left being a litigation attorney to dedicate
my life to the women and babies of China. Here is my personal story and
journey of faith.
This article is republished with permission from Skip Vaccarello.
A Woman on a Mission — Reggie Littlejohn, Founder and President, Women’s Rights without Frontiers
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Littlejohn at a Congressional press conference, with 200,000 signatures
on a petition to end gendercide and forced abortion in China.
Littlejohn and Cong. Chris Smith attempted to deliver these to the
Chinese Embassy on April 24, 2013, but the Chinese Embassy refused to
open its doors.
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Reggie
Littlejohn is a woman on a mission. Her life comprises an amazing
journey from atheist to believer, from litigator to international rights
advocate, from a person with boundless energy to a bedridden patient
for 5 years – then back again to an energetic world traveler, leader,
screenwriter and public speaker. She views it all as part of God’s plan
to give her the passion and skills to shed light on abuses done to women
and girls worldwide, especially in China.
Littlejohn grew up in a Christian home, but at age sixteen
announced to her parents that she was an atheist and refused to go to
church. Littlejohn moved from an atheist to an agnostic when she read
the Bible for the first time in an ancient literature course in college.
As I read the Gospel of John, I realized
just who this person Jesus was and what he did. I told myself, “This is
not what I rejected.”
She married her college sweetheart and went to Yale Law School,
while her husband, Robert, attend Yale Divinity School. She took a year
off from her studies and traveled around the world. On two separate
trips, she had the opportunity to meet Mother Teresa and volunteer with
the Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.
Every morning I was at Mass, every
evening I was at Holy Hour. Mother Teresa was repeatedly reaching out to
me. Every day I was ministering either to the people who were dying or
people in tremendous need. By the end of this, I totally believed in
God.
Following law school, she gave birth to her son, Nico. She decided
to wait a year before taking a job at a law firm in San Francisco, to
take care of her newborn. During that time off, she audited classes at
the Yale Divinity School, where her husband was attending. Littlejohn
comments,
It was the first time I ever read the
entire New Testament. The whole message just blew me away. By the end of
that I was a committed Christian.
Littlejohn and her husband headed off to San Francisco, where
Littlejohn took a position as a litigation associate in a major law
firm. She planned to stay at the firm only until her debt was paid off,
but found that she loved her work as a litigator. She practiced
litigation eight years. During her time as a litigator, she also
performed pro bono work helping Chinese refugees seeking asylum in the
United States.
My first refugee was someone who was
persecuted as a Christian and forcibly sterilized. That opened two whole
worlds up to me. First, I didn’t know that Christians were persecuted
in China. Second, I knew that China had a one-child policy, but I never
stopped to think how it was enforced. I did not realize until I
represented this first woman that it is enforced through forced
abortion, forced sterilization and infanticide. I was utterly appalled.
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During her years as a lawyer, Littlejohn got pregnant with her
second child. Sadly, this pregnancy ended in miscarriage. Littlejohn was
heartbroken. She called her mother and said, “Why would God allow me to
get pregnant with a child that would be so loved and so well cared for,
and then take that child away?” Her mother said, “We may never be able
to answer that question. But I believe that somehow, God will use this
pain for a purpose.” Littlejohn believes the pain of that miscarriage,
and a second one, are what sensitized her to the suffering of women
losing babies against their will.
Of course I have never suffered the
violence of a forced abortion. But I do know what it’s like to lose two
babies that I wanted. I believe that, because of the painful loss of my
own babies through miscarriage, when I heard that women are being
forcibly aborted in China, my response was visceral. I just couldn’t
look the other way.
Struck Down by Mastectomies and Infection
In 2003, Littlejohn developed multiple breast lumps. Because of her
strong family history of breast cancer, she had bilateral mastectomies
with implant reconstruction. Unfortunately, during the surgery she
contracted an MRSA staph infection, which is often deadly. She left the
practice of law on a medical leave of access and was disabled for five
years. During that 5-year period, Littlejohn had to undergo several
surgeries and developed chronic fatigue syndrome as well. Her time as a
patient, however, became a spiritual awakening.
“I cast myself on the Lord and He gave me
this hunger for His Word. I read the Bible over and over. The Bible
says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind.” I felt that the Lord was renewing my mind. Then I
felt called to begin praying for those worse off than I was. I began to
pray for Christians who were being tortured for their faith, and women
who were being forcibly aborted. It became my sole focus and consuming
passion to do something about this abuse.”
Her life mission changed.
My mission went from making lots of money
as an attorney to helping women and babies devastated by forced
abortion and female gendercide in China due to China’s One-Child Policy.
Littlejohn recounts the unintended consequences of China’s One
-Child Policy – forced abortion, forced sterilization, death from
botched procedures, and the situation where there are 37 million more
men than women living in China, which in turn results in human
trafficking, sexual slavery and a high rate of female suicide.
Please Help Us Continue!
During her period of convalescence, Littlejohn prayed for guidance
on what God would have her do specifically with her passion and new
mission. God gave her the direction, “to write a screenplay.” Since she
had had no previous experience or aspiration in this regard, she was
astonished by this persistent direction and looked for confirmation. She
recalls, “God’s voice would not go away – ‘write a screenplay’, ‘write a
screenplay’ is what I kept hearing.”
Confirmation also came from her friends, who encouraged her to
write the screenplay and started praying for her. Littlejohn came to
realize that a film would be the most powerful way to communicate the
devastation caused by China’s One-Child-Policy, and to move hearts and
minds to end it. She wrote “Pearls of China,” a feature-length drama.
The script has won numerous awards, including first place in the
“Adventure and Action” category. She has taken the project through
development and is currently raising production funds for the film.
Women’s Rights Without Frontiers
By the end of 2008, Littlejohn had begun to emerge from her
disease, or her “five dark years,” as she calls her period of
disability. With renewed energy, she founded the non-profit
organization, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers (WRWF), which has been
called the leading voice to expose and oppose forced abortion,
gendercide and sexual slavery in China. In addition, the organization is
directly saving the lives of girls at risk of sex-selective abortion
through its “Save a Girl” Campaign.
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Littlejohn testifies on behalf of blind activist Chen Guangcheng at an
emergency hearing of the Congressional Executive Commission on China,
May 3, 2012. Photo credit: The Epoch Times
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As the WRWF leader, Littlejohn has had the opportunity to speak
many times on the Voice of America, the U.S. official broadcast into
China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. She spoke before the European Parliament,
the British and Irish Parliaments,and at universities, including Harvard
and Stanford law schools. She has briefed officials at the White House,
the U.S. State Department and the Vatican. In addition, she has
testified six times before the U.S. Congress.
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Littlejohn meets Pope Francis at the Vatican on September 20, 2013
She has had many television and radio appearances, including on
CNN, C-Span and Voice of America. In January, 2013, Littlejohn was given
the National Pro-Life Recognition Award at the 40th Annual March for
Life. In May, 2013, she addressed 25,000 people in Ottawa, as the
keynote speaker of Canada’s march against gendercide. In June, 2013
Littlejohn was the keynote speaker at the National Right to Life
Convention in Dallas. In September, 2013 she met Pope Francis in Rome.
In November, 2013, she will travel to Hong Kong as the featured speaker
of the screening of “It’s a Girl” at the Amnesty International Film
Festival.
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Littlejohn with blind activist Chen Guangcheng in Washington, DC in January, 2013.
In 2009 to 2012, Littlejohn led the successful, international
effort to free blind activist Chen Guangcheng. In 2013, Littlejohn
successfully led the effort to bring the daughters of prominent
dissident Zhang Lin to the United States. She and her husband are now
raising ten-year-old Zhang Anni in their home, as their own.
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Littlejohn greets Anni and Ruli Zhang at the San Francisco Airport on September 7, 2013.
God’s Plan
Looking back on her life, Littlejohn clearly sees God’s hand in
giving her the skills, experience and passion to pursue her mission.
I
see it all as part of God’s plan for me – Mother Teresa, my illness,
the opportunity to represent Chinese refugees as a lawyer, and even my
miscarriage. If I had not lost my own baby in miscarriage, I might not
have developed the passion to help women who were victims of forced
abortion.
The scripture that most inspires Littlejohn in her work is Proverbs 24:11-12.
Rescue those being led away to death;
Hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
Does not He who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not He who guards your life know it?
Will He not repay each person according to what he has done?
YES, I WANT TO HELP END GENDERCIDE AND FORCED ABORTION IN CHINA!
Your
donation enables Women’s Rights Without Frontiers to continue to be a
voice for the voiceless women and children of China. This huge effort
comes at a cost. We need your support. Please give as generously as you
can. Every donation makes a difference! Thank you for your generosity!
Read the original article: http://findinggodinsiliconvalley.com/a-woman-on-a-mission-reggie-littlejohn-founder-and-president-womens-rights-without-frontiers/
Women's Rights Without Frontiers is not a religious organization. That
does not, however, prevent Reggie Littlejohn from expressing her
personal faith.
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