At The Well

Ministries

40 years

Taking Truth to the Santa Barbara Colleges

With the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean, Project Truth team member Pastor James Cook makes a friend with a Santa Barbara City College student who, after seeing the pictures and listening to James, decided that abortion is completely wrong. He thanked James for being at their college.

Below, Hannah had a more challenging conversation with three students who could not get past their feelings and soundbites. Hannah reasoned with them and planted truth in their minds, knowing that "our labor is not in vain, in the Lord."

Below, in the background, Hannah presents the truth to a student who says, "I will research this further. If what you say is true, It changes everything. Thank you."

It was a distraction to have perfect weather and a constant view of the Pacific Ocean. For four days, we were challenged by crowds of students and had great dialogues with interested students, including Christian students thankful for our team braving the woke culture among them. On a few occasions, the Christian students would join in on the conversations and some did quite well explaining our worldview versus the secular worldview.

Our victim imagery display sparks real challenges for the misguided students who rely on faulty feelings to form their views.

What got the day started at the City College was a first. A well-spoken student approached us just as we set up the display and loudly said, "Why in the world are you setting up photos of mutilated unborn babies?"

I thanked him for his honest observation.

He spent most of the two days listening and sometimes debating with us, but was shaken by his newfound information. He missed most of his classes just to spend time with us. He was really reflective after I shared the story of Emit Till and the reason Emit's mother insisted on showing his mutilated body to the world. He also listened to the Gospel and it was obvious we were on the campus for this young man.

Some students will sarcastically ask us what right do we have to come onto "their campus" to present our views. This week I was able to point to the great American flag and put my hand on my heart declaring, "That flag gives me the right to talk to you and God gives me the responsibility to bring you the message."

I love when a student tells me "nobody is listening and does not want our information." Then a student walks by reading through our information like the picture below.

Above, Dr. Johnson is a longtime administrator at the City College. He keeps the students from crossing the line and for over ten years he has always been respectful to me and our team when we visit Santa Barbara City College. He is one of the few administrators who is very professional.

He has his work cut out for him as the photo below will attest.

The middle sign just below the middle finger is very odd in the hands of a pro-abortion advocate. We asked, but could not get a coherent answer from the protester. And the misspelling on the sign to the right continues our concern for college students struggling with vocabulary.

This curly-haired guy, above, spent much of the morning mocking our team...until Carol suggested to him that she knew why he was so resistant and loud about the reality of a real baby growing in the womb. She asked him if he was trying to convince himself the baby is not alive so he would not feel guilty if he made a girl pregnant because of his promiscuous life and then later talk her into an abortion.

He got really quiet and she could see by his changed demeanor his conscience was pierced that day.

We, again had the new Survivor's team with us and had a great time working beside them to change hearts and minds on the college campuses. Tim, above, is going to be a good leader and Anna, below, is filled with passion for Christ, having a real heart for people. She was saved through the ministry of the Chino Hills Church of Jack Hibbs.

Below, are two murals that have been on the walls leading to the cafeteria of the college. Those were painted back in 1976.

We asked what they represented and the school administrators did not know.

They are gross and demonic and nobody at Santa Barbara City College knows what the murals are depicting.

So it was even more hypocritical when a student would walk by our display and condemn us for bringing our disturbing photos onto their campus. On occasion, we find other campuses with similar disturbing displays in the campus walkways.

Project Truth and Survivors ventured over to the beautiful UCSB campus located right on the edge of the Pacific Ocean where there were thousands of students in party mode after a campus-wide wild weekend.

We arrived at the right time to be among those in darkness.

This university has its own abortion center offering FREE abortions, as the big fish promoted in front of our signs, below.

The president of the university praised the students in a school newspaper for stealing some of our signs, spitting on some of us, and threatening to throw acid in our faces.

The campus police were weak in their response and seemed to be completely impotent after the woke culture changed the police directives dealing with campus conflicts.

The Lord watched over us and we accomplished our mission without any serious incidents.

Below, the three students wear their thoughts on their faces. The woman on the left made some threatening gestures and called me a "white man." I told her it is racist to condemn my views because of the color of my skin and my gender "that she was assuming." So I told her I would no longer talk to a racist.

She got mad, as you can see, and tried to keep asking foolish questions. I refused to talk to her and the other two woman started asking questions without the personal attacks on my skin color.

So for the next half hour the crowd, including the really mad woman, got to hear our message without all the cruel talk. It is a great tactic for engagement.

The Pro-life Spiderman, above and below photos, Maison DesChamps, with red backpack that I think might have a Spiderman outfit inside, joined us for the week to sharpen his skills for engaging the lost.

He was actually known by some of the students, who had seen him on the news. He used that celebrity platform to lift up Christ and the cause of saving babies.

Above, an eccentric-sounding professor was struggling to keep his composure when confronted with the scientific proof of the humanity of the pre-born child. These professors take a big risk talking to us in front of their students. They can get away with crazy statements in class, but we don't allow them to bully us. Few professors stop to engage.

Above, Mary Rose, striped sweater, spent the day with us. She is the daughter of our great attorney, Katie Short, and a dedicated abolitionist.

Below, I hold tight to our signs after some students ran off with a few.

Matt, above, patiently listens before offering questions that will stump the students as well as put seeds of truth in their minds.

When a student declares that "you are a man and have no say," we nicely ask if a woman can get pregnant without a man? We also ask if it bothered them that nine men decided on the Roe v Wade decision, so it appears men do have a say. We plant the seed that "abortion is a human right issue, not a gender issue."

Most students have NEVER heard these arguments on their campus or with the friends they hang out with. We are often the first Christians they have EVER talked with about the issues of life. Most students know NOTHING about Jesus except a few soundbites they heard somewhere.

Below, Lee walks through the Atheist Test Gospel Tract with an interested student. During the summer he and his wife, Linda, spend their time at Mammoth resorts, hiking and giving out Gospel tracts to fellow hikers. He gets threatened sometimes by campground hosts, warning him not to promote Christian things at the campground. Lee smiles and continues his faithfulness to God, sharing all day long.

We took our brochures to Santa Barbara High School, who I think named their school mascot after me. OK, maybe not.

While our team is away at colleges, a faithful few make sure there is a voice for the voiceless. Below is what happens when mommies change their minds and allow us to help them through their predicaments.

This is why we "speak up for the fatherless."

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