Trinity, Texas – July 20, 2015: For the last six years, Pro-Life teens have flocked to iconic Texas locales to learn about Life issues, leadership, and outreach – all while enjoying the fun of summer camp along the way. This year, dozens of high school students have gathered at the Trinity Pines Conference Center in Trinity, Texas, for the 6th annual REveAL Summer Camp. Teens will spend the week immersed in Pro-Life talks, discussions, and unforgettable activities.
No Pro-Life stone goes unturned at REveAL, with presentations and discussions encompassing every facet of the cause. This year, topics include: how Pro-Life bills are passed in the legislature; how to share the Pro-Life message with people who identify as pro-choice; the science behind Life issues like IVF, abortion, abortifacients, stem cell research, and euthanasia; how to start and effectively lead Pro-Life student groups on high school and college campuses; and the dark history of Planned Parenthood’s founding. Timely issues, such as the Obama Administration’s contentious HHS Mandate, will also be covered, arming students with the crucial information they’ll need to respond to challenges they face when they return to their communities.
In 2012, the New York Times found the concept of the REveAL Summer Camp so interesting that the paper sent a reporter to learn about the impetus driving the Pro-Life generation to get involved at such a young age.
“They all have a passion; that’s why they are here,” Jen Rumpf, a second-year counselor and the president of Pro-Life Aggies, said of the campers. The purpose of the camp, Ms. Rumpf said, is to plug students into the movement and help them refine their passion into knowledge they can use to advance the cause in their own communities.
This year is no different. Veronica Arnold, the Director of Outreach Development, who oversees the camp and educational outreach for Texas Right to Life, reports success. She says,
Today is the third day of camp, and the students are already gushing about how much they’ve learned. They are shocked that they have never been taught these topics in school. They are learning things like bioethics, fetal development, political history, and how to defend the Pro-Life position. But even more importantly, they are learning and practicing how to be that friendly voice of a first responder, how to help anyone in a crisis choose Life.
The passion Arnold describes, shared by so many young people, has driven the explosive success of the Pro-Life movement – in Texas and across the country. Teens want to be equipped with the tools that will ensure Pro-Life victory in their lifetimes. They want to know the facts, how to share them, and the strategies that will encourage the Culture of Life. Pro-Life leaders used to talk about young people being the “future of the Pro-Life movement.” Now, young people are the Pro-Life movement. And that’s why programs like REveAL are so successful.
Founded in 1973, Texas Right to Life is the oldest, largest, and only statewide Pro-Life organization in Texas. Recognized as the statewide leader of the Pro-Life movement in Texas, TXRTL works through legislation and education to protect the rights of the unborn, persons with disabilities, the sick, the elderly, and the vulnerable through legal, peaceful, and prayerful means.
