Young parishioners from Holy Innocents Church in Long Beach recently launched “Life Boats,” a new pro-life parish youth group devoted to embracing their motto — “Going against the flow” — in a collective effort to end abortion.
“We’re young and dangerous; they’ll never see us coming,” said high school student Mariana Marquez, co-leader of the group with her twin brother Moises. “We’re rising up to promote awareness of what abortion really is: murder. We can do this; we’re ending abortion.”
“As soon as I knew what God wanted, I dropped everything and went to work — to go do His work,” said Moises about choosing to start Life Boats.
About 15 youth members attended the inaugural meeting of Life Boats on the evening of Sept. 11 to commemorate the estimated 3,000 innocent lives lost on 9/11, which is about the same number of babies lost daily to abortion in the U.S.
Guest speaker Kristina Garza, campus outreach director for Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, an ecumenical pro-life youth ministry, discussed the strides being made by combined pro-life efforts. For example, in 1991 there were 2,176 abortion clinics operating across the country. Today there are 573.
Life Boats will meet weekly at 7 p.m. in the parish hall of Holy Innocents, 425 E. 20th St. in Long Beach. The parish, which has an active pro-life apostolate, will start hosting a monthly “Holy Hour for Life” beginning Oct. 4, 7 p.m. Information: (562) 591-6924.
