After connecting with Alyson, she agreed to do a Question and Answer post with me. I hope you enjoy getting to know this incredible young lady:
Q1. How did you get
interested in Pro-Life?
A. I have
always had a passion for “the least of these." When I was a
little kid, I wanted to help the poor or those who could not help themselves.
As I grew up, that desire expanded into even wanting to help people
with disabilities. As I grew older, I learned about other people who
would fall under “the least of these” category. Now, not only
do I desire to stand up for those who are killed in the womb, but my heart also
breaks for the Muslim people. (After college, I plan to become a
Missionary in closed countries to reach Muslim women and children with
the hope of the gospel.) I cannot pinpoint an exact day or time when
I decided to be Pro-Life. I have grown up in a Christian home, and so I
always knew abortion was wrong. Although I knew it was wrong, I did not
jump out there and get involved with Pro-Life marches or anything like that.
It was more of an understanding, but no action accompanied it. I
did hold some Pro-Life signs on the side of the road with a group of
Pro-Lifers one time, but that was it. Now, this past January is when I
began to consider taking more of a public stand. It was when I
read WORLD magazine's article by Marvin Olasky,
called “Incapable of Shame.” For more on how that changed me: https://opinyoureyes.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-story-behind-opin-your-eyes.html
Q 2. What was your
impression of the Paperclips movie?
A. My first impression of the Paperclips movie was how amazing it was
that those middle school kids worked hard to create such a beautiful memorial
for all those who had died in the Holocaust. It also made me cry, to
just imagine what all those Holocaust survivors went through! As I
watched it, it confirmed my idea to do a project like the Holocaust
Memorial for the babies who have been aborted. I thought, “if
these little middle schoolers could do this for
something like the Holocaust, why can’t I, a high schooler,
do something like that for abortion which is 10x worse (in amount of babies who
have died)?” I had no idea what all this project would ask of
me, even after seeing that movie. The movie did prepare me for
the time and effort I would have to pour into this project, but
it just scratched the surface.
Now, after reading the
WORLD magazine’s article, that is when an idea of bringing
national awareness concerning abortion was birthed. The actual oPIN your
eyes idea was conceived when I remembered the Children’s Memorial
Display of the Paperclips that I had visited several year ago.
After considering how I could collect diaper or safety pins like
those middle schoolers collected paper clips, that is when we watched the movie
to see what all was involved.
Q3. Why safety
pins?
A. Well, I associate safety/diaper
pins with babies, especially diaper pins. Plus, it was the closest thing
I could think of to paper clips. They are roughly the same size, and
people (mainly ladies) seem to have plenty around the house. It just
seemed to practically fit the idea, both collecting wise and in proportion to
how big these aborted babies are and how they are uniquely different.
Q4. What is your goal
with the Project?
A. While my goal is to
collect a certain number of pins, my ultimate goals are:
1. To glorify God
2. To bring awareness of what we have lost as a nation.
3. To be able to visualize this massive number.
Q5. Share a cool story
since starting the Project:
A. Oh dear, there are a lot. I have talked to people who
were almost aborted, and those are such neat stories of how God spared
them and then to see how God is using them. One of
those stories was about a little girl who was at a church I was
speaking at. Her grandmother introduced us to her 3 year old
granddaughter who “was a walking miracle.” The child’s mother had been on
meth when she found out that she was 32 weeks pregnant and “her tummy was flat
as a board." They didn’t know what to expect when the baby was
delivered. Would she have all her fingers and toes? What about her brain?
How would it be affected? When we first arrived in the packed
(small) sanctuary that night, this little girl was the one that stood out to me
above all the rest. She was adorable!! She was attentive and engaged in
the whole service. We overheard her grandmother prompting her to quote
John 3:16 to an older woman sitting nearby. She touched our hearts before
we even met her. Her grandmother said she was born without any problems.
Indeed, she was a walking miracle!
Q6. What is the most encouraging
part of this for you?
A. There
are two things that have been encouraging to me. (1) When pins do
not come in as quickly as they used to, God sends some form of encouragement.
Sometimes it is a person I have not met who contacts me, or sends me
pins, or I get a chance to speak somewhere about my project. (2) I
have seen so clearly how God has placed a passion to stand against
abortion on certain people’s hearts. I have found that even if I present
my project exactly the same to two different people, their reactions
can be quite different because of how God is working in each one. The
first person might respond with an “oh that is nice” comment and move on, while
the other might respond energetically, eager to help me in any way
possible. I have been so encouraged when God directs me to multiple,
like-minded, and passionate people during this project.
Q7. Why should people
send you pins?
A. These pins, at the end
with the final display, will be a way to help our nation
be aware of how many babies have died. It is a way they can play a
part in bringing awareness. My prayer is that God will use this awareness
and the final display of pins to help Christians realize how many babies we
have lost and to stand up to change how our country views abortion.
Q8. What was the
initial response and how has that changed?
A. When people heard about my project, they were surprised
to see a young person being willing to stand up against abortion. But as
time has gone on, responses have varied. I think that it depends on who I
talk to, if God has already stirred in their heart a desire to stand up
against abortion, or not. I also think that the amount of time I spend on
the project affects the amount of pins I receive and the
number of responses as well.
Q9. Who has given you
the most support? Pins? Emotionally?
A. The most support in general, has been my mom. She has been
right there with me through every step, pushing me to take initiative and
to do it myself, while also being there for me if I need advice or an idea.
She has been the back bone of this project, though she won’t admit
it. :)
The most support pin-wise, I would say is a church in our area.
They gave 50,000 pins after I spoke at their church.
The most
support emotionally, would be God, my mom, our prayer team, and my family.
Without all of them, I would have quit a long time ago. At our
church, there is a dear older lady who has been so sweet and supportive of my
project. When I told her about the project she hopped on board and asked
how she could help. I had no idea at the time, but she has been so
passionate about it and collecting as many pins as she can for me.
She has been extremely supportive and encouraging.
Q10. What is the
biggest surprise you experienced from the Project and why?
A. Oh goodness, God sends such great surprises
to me nearly every time the project begins to feel slow. I would say that
the biggest surprise was when I contacted several Christian radio stations, and
Chris Fabry responded, asking me if I would come on his show! So I did,
and God worked through that to send me pins from people who had
heard me share about my project on the radio.
Q11. Who is your public
inspiring figure and why?
A. Honestly,
my role model is Jesus and if I had to pick an earthly one, it would be my
mom. She is always so strong and knows just how to get what needs to
be taken care of, completed in the most efficient way. She seems to
be always right and gives the best advice. Now, my dad is also my
role model. He is the most solid man you could ever find.
His counsel holds fast to God’s Word and he continually holds
up God’s Word as the guidelines for our thinking and way of life at home.
Both of my parents are my role models and I hope to, one day,
somehow reach at least a half of what they are!
Q12. Where do you store
the pins?
A. In Ziplock bags and in
cardboard boxes in our sunroom. My brothers help me count the
pins that are not sent in counted. (But, we do ask people to send in
their pins counted.)
A. I have not fully created a final display. But I want to create some sort of large container that looks like a large baby bottle. Hopefully the container will be somewhat clear so that people can see the pins inside. I hope to place the display in a public area.
Thank you so much, Alyson, for taking the time to do this Q&A and especially for dedicating 9 months of your year to this cause. God bless you in the last month of your collection and in your future endeavors.
All Alyson needs is ten people to send in 2,000 pins each by Thanksgiving and she will reach her goal. Through Amazon Prime, 2,000 safety pins can cost as little as $10, 1,000 at $5 and so on. Go to opinyoureyes.com to learn where to send the pins.
To learn more about oPIN, visit https://opinyoureyes.blogspot.com/ and follow the project on Facebook and Instagram. Alyson shares easy links to Amazon to show your support with pins, pins, and more pins.
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