Dear Friends,

The year 2021 has seemed to be a year of unmet expectations. After the disappointment that came with 2020, many of us looked to 2021 for “better.” Whether we were looking for better health, better finances, better politics, we expected 2021 to be better than 2020. We may have had glimpses of better this year, but the harder we tried to hold onto it, the harder it was to see – like the fog of a dream upon waking. In 2021, New Mexico didn’t see “better.” In fact, we reached some all-time lows.

But amid discouraging blows, light shined through the darkness.

This year could have been better. Many things could have gone differently but playing the “what if” game won’t help us achieve better in 2022. Looking back, we see where we’ve been and where we are headed if nothing changes. And so, we look to 2022 for change in…

These changes are possible and we will fight to see them flourish, but your support is critical. Please help us see change for a better New Mexico in 2022 by supporting us now. Every dollar you give this week will be doubled by the $150,000 Challenge Grant to have 2x the impact.

Thank you for your support. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for believing in the vision of a better New Mexico.

Ready for Change,

Jodi Hendricks
Executive Director

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you were able to rest this holiday season because, as we advance biblical citizenship in 2022, there is much for the Wyoming faith community to accomplish in the year ahead.

Those of you I’ve spoken with personally know how grateful I am for the growth, impact, and victories this organization achieved in 2021. Because of supporters like you, we’ve transformed the Wyoming political landscape for the better!

Yet, you also know what a critical year lies ahead, and I hope you know the degree to which we are resolved to achieve new heights, incredible victories, and powerful change for our values. Our New Year’s resolutions don’t involve tipping the scales a bit or making minor adjustments – they are to deliver generation-defining victories for our state like:

Just a few short years ago, none of this would have been possible. But you have helped launch and build this organization into the leading advocate for our values right here in our state. You’ve helped save lives, elect godly leaders, and transform our culture.

Now, we must be resolved to do even more in 2022.

PLEASE PRAY. This year could not be more critical. Those opposed to our values are likewise resolved – except their objective is to undermine science, de-value human life, supplant the role of the family, undo the progress we’ve made. They violate both the Constitution and basic common sense. Will we exceed their resolute efforts to do harm with our fortitude to see good realized in our state?

In a month, the Wyoming legislative session will begin – where we will have the opportunity to pass God-honoring legislation. Months after that, we will be in primary season, where we will work to ensure we have the most pro-family nominees possible. Then, in November, a general election that could define our state for decades to come will take place. And, amid all of this, we will be at work to reach the people of Wyoming with the message of how the love of Christ can be displayed in the public square and shown in our public policy.

2022 will be a year for men and women of faith to stand for truth and live as a shining light in the darkness.

Thank you for all you do to fight for righteous values in Wyoming. May you and your family have a wonderful New Year!

Nathan Winters
Executive Director

One of our family’s Christmas traditions is watching different versions of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. My favorite is the one with George C. Scott made in 1984. Regardless of the version, the two major themes running throughout Dickens’ story are redemption and injustice. Those themes continue to characterize the need in our world even in the years that have passed since 1843 when Dickens wrote his much-loved story.

Government can address many of the injustices in our world, but because of our flawed human nature, the bigger government gets, the more flawed it becomes. Sir John Dalberg-Acton was a politician, historian, and a contemporary of Dickens. He is best known for his remark that, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely…” This demonstrates that justice alone is not enough; we also need redemption and a change of heart.

Thankfully, that change of heart is possible through Christ, and in Him we are given a new and righteous heart. While filled with the Spirit, the Prophet Isaiah was given a glimpse of a “Christmas Future,” where our redemption would be complete and all injustice on earth would cease. God gave him a glimpse of a world-wide government whose leader would not be corrupted by power and glory. Isaiah names and describes all the governmental offices and titles that Jesus will hold in his “Eternal Kingdom.

“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” – Isaiah 9:6-7

Each Christmas, we celebrate that wonderful future by faith as we remember the birth of Jesus Christ.

Dickens’ story ends with a change of heart for Ebenezer Scrooge and his promise that, “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” When we have made Christ our Savior and Lord, that same heart change takes place in us. There is a coming day when the “Spirit of Christmas” will permeate our government as well. But until that day comes, Family Policy Alliance of Wyoming will work at making our state a place where God is honored, especially in the areas of religious freedom, family, life, and moral values.

On behalf of our team, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! We are honored that you have partnered with us, and we look forward to greater growth and effectiveness in the coming New Year 2022.


Nathan Winters
Executive Director

 

Family Christmas Tree

If you enjoy the tradition of Christmas Lights as much as I do, you can thank a man named Edward Johnson for that. He was Thomas Edison’s assistant, and he has the distinction of being called the ‘Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights.’  One Christmas he had 80 red, white, and blue electric incandescent light bulbs the size of walnuts made especially for his Christmas tree. On December 22, 1882, Johnson invited the public to his home on 5th Avenue in New York City and proudly displayed his tree. The rest is history! As the electric light bulb started to be mass-produced and became affordable, Christmas lights invaded the darkness and illuminated homes across America.

The spiritual analogy should not be missed. Christmas lights symbolize Jesus, the true light, who gives light to everyone (John 1:9). He told his followers in no uncertain terms, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12). Christmas is a time to refocus and let our light shine. The world is a dark place, but we have the ability and the responsibility to bring the light to bear on that darkness, especially here in our own state of Rhode Island.

This past year the Family Policy Alliance of RI joined with the Ministry Training Network of N.E. to bring you the ‘Bible, Gender and Sexuality Conference.’  Many pastors and ministry leaders attended it and the feedback was tremendous. Dr. J. Alan Branch and Dr. Michelle Cretella were our main speakers, who addressed the theological and medical aspects of sexuality with a special focus on the rise of transgenderism amongst teens and young adults.

They covered these topics: Born this Way, Celebrating the Gift of Sex and Gender, Good News for Broken lives, and Transgender Belief: Healing Minds, Embracing Bodies, Saving Lives. A highlight of the conference was when Brenna Simonds shared her own very moving story of same sex attraction and leaving the LGBTQ lifestyle. She now leads a ministry called Alive in Christ that helps others do the same.

These six sessions were individually recorded and are available here for your viewing. Please watch them and share this helpful resource with others. I can assure you that these speakers shed immense light on these dark areas our culture that are affecting so many families. And they bring HOPE!

The Family Policy Alliance is networking with other organizations, legislators, and community leaders to strengthen the family. We have accomplished a lot this year and with your help we can do more in 2022. Because of a generous donor you can DOUBLE YOUR GIFT with a $150,000 Matching Grant. We can do more to make our state and our nation a place where religious freedom flourishes, families thrive, and life is cherished.

From my family to yours, have a very Merry and Blessed Christmas!

Dave Aucoin
Chairman, Board of Advisors – Rhode Island

 

Dear Friends,

We live in a society today that makes no room for the Living God. It seems that at every opportunity He is pushed out and ignored…no more prayer in schools, religious freedoms under attack, churches being governed and told they can’t meet, life threatened with no consideration of the one who created it. In this social climate it is easy to become discouraged and disheartened, but this isn’t the first time there has been no room.

“And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” – Luke 2:7

Jesus was not born early. He was not born late. He was born precisely when and where He was supposed to be. It was no accident that there was no room for them. In His sovereignty, God knew this world would never make room for Him, but that didn’t hold Him from His purpose. He came; He loved; He died; and He changed hearts and lives. He is alive and He is the same God yesterday, today, and forever! Though there may seem to be no room, that will not hold Him from His purpose, and it should not hold us from ours.

This Christmas, may you be encouraged with great joy because our Savior isn’t held off by a world that isn’t ready. He makes a way when there seems to be no way, and He changes hearts and lives. Our role in His purpose is to glorify Him. My prayer for you this Christmas is that you glorify Him by shining light into the darkness as the angels did on the night of his birth; that you glorify Him by overcoming lies with the truth of the gospel; glorify Him by showing love in a world of hate; glorify him by not being put off by the fact that there is no room, but by making room one heart at a time.

Let us glorify the Living God by recognizing that the manger was infinitely more powerful than a room in the inn.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Jodi Hendricks
Executive Director

Dear Friends,

Last week in New Mexico, a special session was held to determine how our state district lines would be re-drawn. Many candidates fought hard to have fair consideration throughout their districts. Fair consideration and balance would ensure that any candidate has a fighting chance no matter what their party affiliation. However, the results of last week’s special session landed as a hard blow to the conservative voter. All over our state, new lines have been drawn that purposefully diminish the conservative voices in specific industries to reduce their impact in the outcome of a vote. To see the accepted redistricting map visit, see here. The left has taken balance and fairness out of our elections as they have created new district lines that will tip the scales to their liberal agenda.

But…

All is not lost. While last week’s decision was discouraging, the fight isn’t over. While many would have the conservative believe that we are sorely outnumbered, it’s just not true. Let’s take the life issue for example. Our state is shameful when it comes to its anti-life legislation. Many would have us believe that there is no hope in changing that. But did you know that in a Quinnipiac poll in 2017 it showed that Millennials are nearly split down the middle on the issue of abortion after 20 weeks? That tells me that life has a fighting chance. Did you also know that here in NM only 40% of the millennial population shows up to vote? How many pro-life voices are not being represented because of a loss of hope? How many pro-life voices are not being represented because they don’t really know what’s at stake or that they could possibly make a difference?

We must awaken the conservative voices in New Mexico.

That’s why Family Policy Alliance of NM is here. To make sure these unrepresented pro-life voices have the information and the hope that they need in order to cast their vote and make their voice heard. We exist to help the conservative find their voice and use it effectively.

How can you use your conservative voice effectively?

Together, we can be the change and the hope our state desperately needs!

Standing with Grace,


Jodi Hendricks
Executive Director

Recently I had a conversation with someone about the difference they experienced between living in Rhode Island and other Midwest states that are more conservative. They remarked that the culture in New England is darker and more oppressive, and they can feel the difference. Why is that?

Well, it seems that when Christian values dominate a geographical area, they bring light and life to their surroundings. There is a bible verse that validates this, and it’s often found on Christmas cards this time of year. “The people living in darkness have seen a great light, and for those living in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned,” Matthew 4:16 states. That verse is a quote from the prophet Isaiah describing the effect the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would have on the ungodly cosmopolitan area around him where he lived and would preach.

Darkness and light are metaphors often used to describe the impact those living by godly values have on the ungodly culture around them. The mission of the Family Policy Alliance is to protect, preserve, and promote those godly values in Rhode Island as well as in 40 other states. And we are making a difference!

Our Alliance is heavily involved in the current efforts to overturn Roe V. Wade with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case debated in the Supreme Court earlier this month. This case challenges the Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks. We have also been strategically involved with the recent pro-life victory in Texas regarding their heartbeat bill. Nicole Hudgens, Government Affairs Director of Family Policy Alliance, said in a statement recently: “Today, the Court has ensured that more Texas children will have the chance to celebrate a birthday. We celebrate today’s victory with our friends in Texas, and eagerly await the day when every child across America has a chance to celebrate a birthday. By dismissing the Biden-Harris administration’s attack on preborn children – and the attacks of many others – the Court has sent a clear signal that life is winning!”

It is the Bible that sheds light on the truth that God is the Creator of life. Evolution darkens our understanding of life, devalues it, and affects so many aspects of the family and society. The efforts of Family Policy Alliance in Rhode Island next year will be to continue fighting for life as well as other areas affecting family values, morality, parental rights, and religious freedom.

A few years ago, the Barna Research group found that of The 10 Most Post-Christian Cities in America, Providence ranked #3. That means there is a lot of darkness that we must shine the light on. This coming year we will once again work with legislators to expose bills and policies that adversely affect families and our freedoms. We will provide them with resources to pass bills that will honor God, cause religious freedom to flourish, and help families thrive and cherish life. We are growing and we need your help. If you have never given to the Family Policy Alliance, would you consider doing so and join our ‘Year End Matching Gift Campaign.’

For Faith and Family in Rhode Island,

Dave Aucoin
Chairman, Board of Advisors – Rhode Island

Dear Friends,

In this week’s special legislative session we are seeing conservative voices fighting to bring back accountability in New Mexico government and it is something beautiful to behold. When a voice is heard, hearts and minds can be affected.

As I continue making connections and having conversations with conservatives of New Mexico, I find a common thread. There’s a deep-rooted desire to be heard. For too long our voices have been drowned out by the shouts and chaos of anti-life, anti-family and anti-God voices. The common sentiment in this silence is frustration and discouragement. As we continue to re-launch FPA here in New Mexico, our goal is to STOP BEING SILENCED and be a voice for you.

We’ve been that voice before in the form of:

Will you entrust us with the honor of being your voice by supporting us?

December is a valuable time in our organization. We are hard at work raising funds in preparation for the upcoming legislative session, creating educational material to inform New Mexico’s citizens of vital issues, gearing up for the coming election season and so much more! But, we cannot do it without you.

Anti-life groups gain millions of dollars in support each year…but we have an army of millions and we will prevail!

Can we count on your voice?

Donate now to keep our voices from being silenced.

Sincerely,

Jodi Hendricks
Executive Director

 

In Wyoming, we are surrounded by glorious mountains and vast plains. Such beauty that when witnessed over a century ago caused Katherine Lee Bates to write, “purple mountain majesties, above a fruited plain.” What she didn’t do is turn around to take a selfie!

Bates was not of our narcissistic age. She wasn’t driven by “self,” trying to show the world that she had been “there.” She wrote of a dream far bigger than herself. She wrote, “America, America! God shed his grace on thee. And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea!”

Theologian Dallas Willard once remarked “you cannot stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon and shout, I am awesome!” When confronted with vastness and beauty of such enormity, it should cause us to see ourselves as we truly are, “one out of many.” God’s humble creation. Only then can we finally understand the dream of America, “out of many one” e pluribus Unum.

This merits some explaining. E Pluribus Unum does not mean that we are Marxist masses deriving our rights from government. No, our rights are God-given. What makes us one is a shared dream of America. “One out of many” is not in the sense of those who preach the secular doctrine of radical autonomy apart from God-given morality, where “every man does what is right in his own eyes.” Such “oneness” is driven by self.

True liberty is neither anarchy nor tyranny, it is seeing ourselves and our fellow man as God sees us. This liberty loves God with an entire “heart, soul, mind and strength and loves neighbor as self.” Such a vision is what drives our motto of “Advancing Biblical Citizenship.”

Biblical Citizenship works to protect life, to ensure human dignity, to ensure that Wyomingites are free to express themselves at home, online, at work, at church, and on campus. It seeks to protect families, build strong marriages, and protect the minds bodies and relationships of children.

Biblical Citizenship happens when men and women see themselves as part of God’s Creation and know that they will answer Him for how they live their lives. A wonderful sense of hope arises from knowing that God is with us as we stand together for Him!

Please help us by giving a gift of any amount to help us meet our goal of matching the Challenge grant of $70,000 by this year’s end. This gift will help us train and elect new men and women to serve God and their neighbors in the arena of public policy in 2022.

God bless,


Nathan Winters
Executive Director

Dear Friends,

This week, I am thrilled to announce a new initiative towards our goal of seeing life cherished in New Mexico. It is an initiative that brings to mind Ezekiel’s vision in the valley of dry bones. Ezekiel’s vision was a promise that God would restore his people. You see, we are dry; void of life because of sin. But God brings life in one powerful breath and brings dry bones to life! New Mexico is currently a pile of dry bones when it comes to our current legislation regarding life. We need a revival. We need dry bones to come alive and I believe God is preparing a way for that very revival. It is possible, but we need you!

What’s coming?

As you know, Roe set the precedent for our country in its recognition of ‘abortion before viability’ as a constitutional right. Today, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could lead to the overturning of this precedent. If Roe is overturned, Roe’s viability standard no longer holds up. While this will be a great victory for our country in the stand for life, it unfortunately does not change anything for New Mexico.

In 2021, New Mexico repealed a pre-Roe trigger law that would have banned abortion in the state if Roe is overturned. This trigger law required that abortion could only take place if it was a justified medical termination and could only be performed by a licensed physician, using acceptable medical procedures in an accredited hospital. The repeal of this law stripped our state of all protections for the unborn. In fact, we have been called, by some, the late-term abortion capital of the nation. The 2021 repeal also stripped conscience protections from healthcare workers. We have no delay requirements, no parental consent for minors, no counseling requirements for a woman desiring abortion, and no standards of care. This means that we have a lot of work to do in order to gain ground in the fight for life.

We Must:

There is a long road ahead of us, but we are determined to stay the course. Now we have to fight like our lives depend on it because there is an unborn child’s life that does.

We need your help!

This organization is able to make a difference because of the generosity of people like you. We run solely on the donations of our ministry partners and this month I am asking for your help. We have set a goal of raising $25,000 to help our organization continue to be the active voice for the issues that matter most.

Are you with us? Will you support a revival that could be as life-changing as dry bones coming alive?

Standing Firm,

 

 

 

Jodi Hendricks
Executive Director