Faith in Action—Mary's Choice Giving Hope Banquet, September 28, 2026

Tune in to Faith in Action at 9 a.m. on Mondays on Channel 88.1 FM, Siouxland Catholic Radio. This week, Host Joanne Fox talks about The Mary's Choice Giving Hope Banquet. 

Faith in Action is brought to you by Mary's Choice, a Sioux City Pregnancy Resource Center. Previous Faith in Action programs can be found at siouxlandcatholicradio.com, on YouTube, and on several other podcasting platforms. Programming is subject to change.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Well, hello listeners of Solan Catholic Radio channel 8.1 F K F H C Fox 66 and K-O-I-A-Storm like that. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts to take time out of your busy schedule to listen to Faith in Access. I'm your host at Joanne Fox. And maybe it's 9 a.m. on a Monday, or maybe it's 7 p.m. on a Saturday. Or maybe you went right to our website at LandcatholicRadio.com, clicked on programs, clicked on local programs, clicked on Faith in Access, and you're looking at your convenience stuff. And for that, we are very grateful. And we are also on Spotify and a number of other podcasting platforms that all different generosity of Mary's Choice. Which is the exclusive underwriter for this cell phone. And so you know, I I always like to promote wonderful events, and I can't tell you how many times I've promoted this event and this one is for Mary's choice. So it very much touches our heart. And I can hardly get my head around this, but I think this might be the sixth annual banquet. So now you have to get a pencil, piece of paper, your phone. October 13th. It's a celebration event center here at 6th. The doors open at 5 p.m. And then dinner and the program will start at 6 p.m. And again, Tuesday, October 13th. It's just a wonderful opportunity for that. Now you can find out a lot more about how to get tickets and things like that if you just uh either Google Mary's Choice Ticket or you can go right to MarysChoice.org. And there's lots of information about how to get tickets and information about the banquet itself. It's just a great opportunity to help with their missions. But they can continue to offer all this free emotional and material support. And it's not just for mom and a baby, it's for a whole family sometimes. And of course, it's an unexpected pregnancy, but we know that many lives. Many more than just moms. And also they um they have these wonderful opportunities to get an altered child so mom might know a little better about the baby's development. And they just do such remarkable, wonderful work. Um we love them to death here, you know, not only because they're exclusive underwriters, but they just provide so many wonderful opportunities for everybody here in the Silent area. So I am so lucky and blessed I have got on the line with me the keynote speaker this year. It is Josiah Presley. And he's got quite a story to share with you today. So, Josiah, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with me so the listeners know a little bit more about you.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Thanks for having me on, Joanne.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Well, I would be remiss if I didn't ask you right out of the shoot if you're any relation to Elvis Presley. I'm sure nobody ever asks you that.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Oh, never been outside in my life. Uh no, we uh my dad, a few generations back, I think they're some distant relatives, distant cousins of sorts.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

Oh my gosh. Well, that in a buck and a half will get you a cup of coffee at McDonald's. So, Josiah, why don't you tell the listeners a little bit about your background?

SPEAKER_01 3:54

Yeah, so I'm currently in uh Edmund, Oklahoma. That's where I live with my wife and my three children. So we have a three-year-old, an 18-month-old, and a one-month-old right now. So we are um definitely living the uh life by caffeine and coffee um lifestyle right now with uh Littles, but we are enjoying it, loving it a lot. Uh I serve as a student minister at a church here in Edmund. I've been in church ministry for uh a little over a decade now. That's what I went to school for uh in Dallas. Um but then I also um have the privilege to be able to travel the country and and to work with different pro-life groups. Uh I particularly get to work with pregnancy centers a lot. Uh, those are one of my favorite groups to get to work with, um, much like Mary's Choice and to support the work that's going on there. And so I get to travel the country as well, speaking, sharing my story, and being a part of the work that God's doing um all over through uh prime uh primarily through pregnancy centers. And so that's that's been a real joy to get to to do for the last number of years as well.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

And I'm just curious, you said you went to school in Dallas. Did you grow up in Dallas? Because I'm not picking up a like a J.R. Ewing um accent from you at all.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Yeah, no, so I I grew up in Oklahoma. Okay. So uh I went to school in Dallas at a small uh uh Bible Christian college there called Criswell College. So I did my bachelor's and my master's at Criswell. Uh that's where I've met my wife. She's from Texas. Uh, and then I did ministry in Texas, but then about four four years ago, we were able to move back in back to the area where I'm from, and so we're near family, and so I've got you know, I've got three kids, but I've got lots of siblings. I'm one of 12 kids. And so most of my siblings are in the area, and so we've got lots of nieces and nephews and cousins for my kids to grow up with, so it's been a real real blessing to get to be back in the Oklahoma area.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Well, I'd say so. Um, now one of the things I noticed, because I Googled you because I wanted to know a little bit more about you before the interview, is uh you you have this kind of mantra. It's almost like going to Alcoholics Anonymous and you say, Hi, my name is Josiah, and I'm an alcoholic. But you say my name is Josiah, and I was almost aborted. You've got to tell the listeners a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Yeah, so so uh that's a big part of my story uh and the work I do, particularly when it comes to the pro-life world, and and I'll share in detail uh on October 13th with Mary's Choice for that special evening. Uh but just kind of briefly, um, some of that kind of pieces of my story. So I already mentioned I'm one of twelve kids, but ten of us are adopted. So I'm I I grew up in Oklahoma, but I'm actually adopted from South Korea. And my parents, when I was thirteen, they told me some more news, um, information about my adoption story that I had not known before that, and that was the reality that my birth mother in South Korea had actually attempted an abortion uh when she was just a couple months pregnant. And so that abortion had obviously failed. Obviously. Obviously, and then when I was born later on, I was um placed with a foster home and then adopted and brought over the states to be raised as a presley. And so that story, I mean that that piece of my story uh impacted my life greatly, still impacts my life today. Um, and as I go around and share, I share a lot about just um the pain that I I I had to struggle with dealing with that. Um a lot of that pain um came from a reality that I think innately we recognize that human life is valuable, um, and we recognize that human life does start at conception, whether or not we have fooled ourselves into thinking otherwise. I think there's something deep inside of us that just recognizes that reality. As a Christian, I definitely recognize that reality. Um, my dad, he's the pastor of the church I grew up in, and so I grew up in a very Christian home with those convictions, knowing those truths, and so for me as a kid there's a lot to reconcile knowing what I knew to be the truth, um, about the value of life and the decisions my birth parents had made. Um, and then also uh another piece of that, another side of it that I share a lot when I share is the reality that, you know, up until I was 13, up until I learned that part of my story, I really didn't care too much about what I meant to be pro-life. Um and those convictions didn't impact the way I live my life, uh, and they do now. And so helping folks to see, like, hey, that is an important conviction for us to to know, to hold, and to live out. Um, and I love Mary's Choice because pregnancy centers, they live it out the best, I think.

SPEAKER_00 8:46

Yeah, I would agree with you a thousand percent. I've spent my entire career in the field of journalism, and I've done so many interviews with the folks with Mary's Choice and how they've evolved over the year, and I just admire the heck out of them because uh their mission is just uh so important in this day and age. Uh and again, we don't want to spoil everything because then people will go, well, I kind of know what he's talking about, so I don't really need to come to the banquet. But yes, we do, look at it, even though we might have a few spoilers in here. Uh and I would never say that um uh you know, uh when you found out the news up until that point you really weren't interested in pro life. I'd be uh uh uh stunned, you know, if you said you were, because most young boys aren't. They've got a lot of other things on their mind. So but you must have been a little curious. I think once the folks said, you know, this is kind of what has happened to you. So have you had a chance to find out a little bit about your biological parents?

SPEAKER_01 9:50

So as far as information I have on my biological parents, I don't have any information other than what was in the report we received, which is is very a very small amount of information. Uh it was a closed adoption, and so a lot of those avenues aren't really open to us.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

Okay, but uh how did anybody come to find out that you were, and I'm gonna put it in air quotes, almost aborted? How did that how did you find that out?

SPEAKER_01 10:19

Yeah, so it was actually a a big part of that was honestly by um kind of by happenstance. So, um for people who aren't familiar with adoption, um when my parents were adopting me, some of the things that they received was the agency would just send over just all the records that they could find about um the pregnancy, uh any reports, things like that. And so they kind of send piles of the stuff if they have it, the best that they've got. Um, and so my mom, she was going back through paperwork, and uh this was after they had decided to adopt me and things like that. Um, but they were going through the paperwork and they uh they came across in a a report and uh the report outlined that um the specific language it used was that um two months in their pregnancy with me, uh my birth mother was living out of wedlock with my birth father, and they already had eight, eight, a daughter, and they um decided to have a DNC abortion or a curatage abortion due to financial difficulties, and then three months later realized that the abortion had failed. Um, and then at that point uh she continued um through pregnancy with me, and I was born later on that year, and then placed with the uh the adoption agency I was adopted through.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

Just a fascinating story, almost made-for-tv kind of story. And and then, of course, um your adoptive parents found you and and decided, you know, you would be a good fit for their family. And so you're growing up in a family, you said that dad was um a minister. And a minister for what faith, I should ask.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

Yeah, so he's he's a Baptist pastor, he's a pastor of worship at the church I grew up in.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

Okay. So Baptists tend to be fairly conservative, uh, like we Catholics are, and uh m by and large, you know, support the the message of being pro-life. And so what was it like growing up? And by the way, where are you in the birth order of these 12 siblings?

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Yeah, so so I'm a middle child, so I have five older than me, six younger than me. Um now, again, with a lot of us being adopted, the interesting thing is I was the I was the fifth addition to the family. And so um I have an older sibling who's adopted um when they're older, but then they're older than me, and so they're you know, it all kind of moves around sometimes with adoption on base b birth order compared to actual uh addition to the family order.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

Well, God bless your parents. I mean, what a wonderful choice to to adopt, you know, that many kids and then raise them. And did you ever sit around and go, you know, mom and dad, don't you think we've kind of hit uh the wall here with how many more kids we want to bring in? Or like my husband's the oldest of nine. And by the time the last two came along, they were very excited about, you know, uh because I think he has uh four brothers and five sisters. Yeah. And it was like, well, which which uh gender are we gonna get this time? So kind of tell the listeners a little bit about living in a family with uh, well, you know, a dozen kids.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

Yeah, well, of course, obviously as we started getting down to the last handful, of course, we were asking, like, hey, are we sure about this? But you know, you don't really take into much account a teenage boy saying, Hey, I don't really want siblings because you know that's not that Right. That's not far off, anyways. Um, but it it was overall a blessing. Obviously, there are difficulties with it, uh, but there's also huge blessings with it. Um, and so you know, my family were a lot of uh and I share about this one, I'll share uh on the 13th, but you know, we're we're from all over. There's a lot of different ethnicities represented in my family, and um a really beautiful picture I think of uh adoption is of of what God does with us.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

And one of the things um we have on a show uh here, it's uh uh Dr. Ray Garendi who adopted ten children of different ethnicities, but also uh uh d different challenges of and you know, especially with the older children that he adopted. Uh you know, it wasn't all babies. He did adopt some children, you know, came out of uh challenging backgrounds, we'll say. And I'm gonna guess just from what you just shared with me now, is that uh that might have been what your folks were doing as well, because you said that they, you know, they were coming in at different ages. So maybe you could share with the listeners a little bit about that dynamic.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

Yes, I mean I have a number of siblings who've come from from really difficult backgrounds as far as um situations that they were born into and circumstances that they um lived through. As far as different uh abilities, disabilities, things like that, I I probably kind of stand out in our family. Obviously, you can't see me because this is a radio interview, uh, but but I have a deformed arm actually, so um I'm I'm missing um the majority of my left arm. And so um a lot of that um is a part of my story as well, just growing up with those deformities, those struggles, things that you know it it really ultimately hasn't held me back from doing the things I wanted to do in life. Um, but it definitely um impacted so much of the way I viewed myself, so much of the way that I viewed my purpose and my value, uh, especially as I was going through my teenage years. That's a difficult time uh for everybody, uh, I'm pretty sure. I I I work as a student minister right now, so I work with teenagers, and you know, we know that those years are not easy years to begin with, and so that coupled with those uh disabilities, coupled with the circumstances um surrounding my birth, uh there's a lot of struggle there for me particularly uh in that season of my life, but God is faithful and and he brought me through it, and uh I'm able to today use that story, share that story to remind others of the value of life, um, but also to remind others that like, man, God's got a plan for us and he wants to use each and every one of us uh in a unique way in our lives.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Amen. That is absolutely the truth, too. And uh I I I guess this is the burning question when you mentioned the uh deformity in the arm, is was that a result of the abortion that never took place or just a genetic challenge?

SPEAKER_01 17:15

Yeah, so um so for a number of years, um I I blamed the fact of my deformity on the abortion. Um in more recent years, just in the last handful of years, uh I was able to um finally sit down. I I'm actually sat down in an interview um with live action with a a previous abortion doctor, someone who had had done abortions. And so for the first time I sat across the table from an abortion doctor, and so I you know had the opportunity to kind of have some questions, and that was a question I asked. Hey, like, I mean, this is something that I've struggled with that for a lot of my child that you know I I blame this reality. Is that you know, is that true? Like, could that be the case? And and they actually told me that it likely, likely that the deformity is not from the abortion, um just because of the way that they work. Um, but there's also still a lot of questions as far as what abortion looked like, how it worked, especially back in this would have been 95, you know, and so just even those during that time, how those things, what they knew, how things were conducted were a lot different from even today.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Oh yeah, absolutely. 95 that that was quite a few years ago. But how interesting. Um, you know, because I I think when you share your story and the audience is going to sit there, that is going to come to their mind just like it did for me when you mentioned it. So in in growing up in this kind of atmosphere, I'm kind of curious. Yeah, and that's what I'm passionately curious about. Um you could have gone in different directions when you went to school. If you're surrounded in a family with a whole bunch of siblings with different kinds of needs and challenges. And I wondered why you chose the direction you went. And maybe I expect to myself, I think this guy could be a great social worker, or I think this guy could be a really great actor. So and that wasn't the directions you went. So maybe tell the listeners a little bit about that. You know, as you're in school, and you know, I can remember my first year in college, my folks going, What are you gonna do with this degree? And I I don't know. I I'll think of something. Tell the listeners a little bit about that uh education journey.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

Yeah, so I mean I a big part of m my decision making as I was wrapping up high school and I was looking to college and and beyond, um, a big piece of that was really came to my story um and the redemptive got work God had done in my life, the restoration that God had done in my life, and and one of the catalysts I believe he used in my life was the church. And so growing up in the church, um, you know, having the community of the church, uh having the teaching um that I received uh through the church, just like the impact of it on my life, uh was formative for me while I was going through those struggles. So that was a big piece. Um a second piece was my dad um is uh I I think my dad's one of the greatest men in the life. I mean, he's he's my hero who who I model much of my life after, and he's served in the church faithfully, and I saw the way he served in the church as a pastor, and I saw the way the church, even though there was difficulties, ups and downs, things like that, I saw those the way that the church um cared for our family. And so through that example, and then also I believe, um, just as a pastor, I believe that scripture talks about a calling that God places in our lives. Um He He calls all believers to minister, but some He calls to minister um in vocational ways, I believe. And then I believe the church calls that out in people as well. And so as I was involved and active in my church, I believed God was placing that call in my life. I believe that the church I grew up in was affirming that call, and so a lot of that then led into the decision making for me as to what I would do when I went to college. And so as I went to college, I went to college specifically, I wanted to do ministry. Um actually my bachelor's is in psychology, and then I have a master of arts and Christian leadership. Um but all along I knew that where I believed God wanted me to use that was in the context of the church. Um, because I believe it's the church that God's going to use to to change the world. And um and so as I have been served in the church, um so much of what we do when it comes to being pro life and that work is so closely tied to the church. As I've had those avenues um as they've overlapped Um I've really seen God use both that work in the church to also then impact the work I'm able to do in the pro-life world um as far as advocating for life and encouraging Christians to continue forward and to be who they're called to be in Christ and to love their neighbor, the very least of these being the unborn.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

Oh, that is spot on. I agree a thousand percent. And listeners, if you're just tuning in now, again, thank you so much for taking the time to listen to this show. It's Faith in Action. I'm your host, Joanne Fox, and uh now is an a a great time to get a pen or a pencil and a piece of paper, grab your phone, because I'm talking about um the Mary's Choice Giving Hope Fundraising Banquet Tuesday, October 13th. It is at the Country Celebrations Event Center here in Sioux City. And uh doors open at five o'clock, dinner in the program are at six o'clock, and lots more information at Mary's Choice.org for tickets and um uh and other information. But with me on the show today is the keynote speaker, uh Josiah Presley. He is uh well, right now, the student minister at North Point Baptist Church, and it's in Edmund, Oklahoma, and so he's gonna motor on up here and uh and talk about uh you know why he's involved in the pro-choice affair. Pro pro-life movement. Sorry, listeners, pro-life movement. And Josiah, you kind of segued into that a little bit where um you talked about you know getting involved in it. And you know, as a the student minister at your church, I could see how you could be just complacent in working with the young people and you know encourage them to get a relationship with God and being good uh Christians. But what kind of nudged you or urged you to say, you know what, I need to share my story. I gotta go out. There must be a church or a school or pro-life group or someplace that I can talk about my pro-life beliefs. So uh share that with the listeners a little bit, how you kind of embrace that.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Yeah, so I mean I believe I believe the pro-life position, the pro-life belief, I I believe it it's a God position. I believe it's a biblical position, a Christian position to have, a belief to have. Um, because where we draw that conviction is from scripture. We draw it um from what we understand the Bible to say about the value of human life. And it's all throughout the Bible if we look there. And so I believe that every Christian has a calling to care about human life, um, to care about the unborn's life, and I believe that with my story particularly as an abortion survivor, I believe that God um gave me that story, or He is wanting to use that story in my life to help save other lives. Um and I believe that we are all given spheres of influence, we're all given different um circumstances we've walked through, we're all given different um experiences we've been through, or giftings that we have that God's given us to use for the purpose um of making him known, to use for the purpose of showing others who he is. And for me particularly, I believe that that's one of the callings he's given me in my life to say, Hey, you went through these circumstances, you went through these difficult experiences, but there's something that God can do with that. There's good that can come from that that God can use to save other lives. That's a really beautiful thing about the gospel, I think. I believe is is this recognition that, like, man, life is messy, difficult things happen, um, but those things don't have to define us. And and the difficulties we go through, the difficult circumstances we have, um those things don't have to define us, and one of the beautiful things that God can do in his redeeming work is he can take those difficulties and he can use them for his glory, he can turn them for good to point others to him. And how amazing and beautiful is that that even in the brokenness of situations such as mine, um that God can use that brokenness to save others' lives. Uh and he wants to do that with everybody's story. He wants to use the difficulties in all of our lives, um, that if we'll allow him to, he will turn them for our good to show others who he is if we'll if we'll follow him in it.

SPEAKER_00 26:32

And I got a big smile on my face right now because what you just said, I used to say to my students when I taught uh at Western Iowa Tech Community College, because I could see them struggling with life, you know, and they would sometimes think, oh my gosh, you know, I d I I really want a girlfriend or a boyfriend. I don't seem to have one. Here are all these people, they all seem to be happy with one. I walk out to the parking lot and I've got this car, maybe it'll start, maybe it won't. And here's somebody else, they got a nice car. And I would say to them, you know, when you look at your life, uh, you cannot let all these previous uh things uh define you because if you do, you will just slip into despair. And so, you know, don't let these things define you, but find and surround yourself with other people that are like-minded, that want to accomplish something, and I praise them, you know, for doing something, going to school. And I said, then you can drive a lot more. And honestly, I I've told the listeners this before. It's the Holy Spirit working in mysterious ways because I often have guests on the show and they'll say something and I'll think, uh, oh, that was a real God-wink moment. And for you to be so specific with you know, not having things define you that I used to say frequently to the students, uh, it just speaks of volumes. I think, you know, uh that there are a lot of people that do define themselves, and it's so important to hear somebody say, Don't let this happen. And I can imagine as you go on these speaking engagements and you say this, that maybe people are nodding and going, Oh yes, I get it.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

Yeah, yeah, and I think it's an important reminder we all need, I think, um, particularly talking with students, um, as they're young and as they're kind of growing into adulthood and they're learning these things, they really need to hear that because these are things they're probably hearing for the first time, right? But they're not the only ones who need to hear it because you and I know as adults how quickly and how easily we can forget things and we can get caught up um in different things, and and it's a it's a strong reminder for us to be reminded of the reality that we weren't created to be defined by the things we create or to be defined by the circumstances we have around us, but we were created to be defined by our creator who has a plan and purpose for us.

SPEAKER_00 29:07

Oh, that is just outstanding. Absolutely, created by our creator, absolutely. So now think back a little bit. So, you know, you were invited to go and speak about a pro-life message, and um about how long ago was that that you started maybe on the circuit to talk about a pro-life stance.

SPEAKER_01 29:29

Yeah, so I started when uh my senior year of high school.

SPEAKER_00 29:34

Really?

SPEAKER_01 29:34

So that so that would have been uh about twelve years ago when I started. Um I was invited, I'd been doing some different projects. Um I just started out kind of sharing my story on a blog and then had been doing had done a couple different projects here or there with some different groups who'd reached out, and um I I tell you, uh Joanne, it was the funniest thing. I got a I got an email, so I got an email inviting me to go speak uh a pro-life rally in Dublin, Ireland, my senior year of high school.

SPEAKER_00 30:10

Did you have a passport at that time?

SPEAKER_01 30:13

I didn't have time to get a passport. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

Um I had one. But I uh I I was like, this can't be real. I you know what I mean. I was like, this has got to be a spam email, you know, some sort of fishing email or whatever, and so I went and I shared my parents like this can't be real, right? And they said, Well, you know, maybe just respond and see what happens. Um and I responded, and when I responded, they responded back with details and and and just became more and more specific and clear to them like, hey, this was uh this was a real event, this was a real person, this was a real invitation. Um so I got to go and do that, and that's really kind of what started as far as public speaking and sharing in different capacities. Um I'd done a couple other things my senior year, um, just kind of locally with different groups and stuff in our state. That was kind of uh uh I would say a launching pad as far as to then begin sharing in the different contexts I've gotten to share in.

SPEAKER_00 31:14

Wow. I that is another godwink moment. I I would have thought the same thing if I would have gotten an email inviting me to come to Dublin, Ireland to to speak on anything. And yeah, wow. And then it's just like from there, it's like Topsy, it just seemed to keep growing. And um You know, when you do these presentations and these speaking events, what typically do you get for feedback? When people come up to you, what do they say to you about your message?

SPEAKER_01 31:47

Yeah, so I get um a lot of times uh I'll interact with a couple different people. Um usually I interact with someone who has been through an abortion, um, who is still working through that or has gone through that maybe and has maybe, you know, been somewhere where there was uh a healing course they went through as far as you know going through that grief and things like that. Um but I usually speak with at least one or two ladies who've had an abortion. Um sometimes a man who was, you know, um complicit in helping someone get an abortion. Um and so those times those are always um I'd say I would say healing moments usually um just for them to be able to have that interaction um and and to and to share with them and and that's an opportunity for me to remind them of their value, and just like you know, I'm not defined by the wrong decisions that my birth parents made, um they're not defined by the wrong decisions that they've made. Um and and no doubt they were wrong decisions, but that doesn't have to be what defines them uh in in who they are today, and so there's usually kind of a healing moment with that. A lot of times I'll have conversations with somebody who has more so been nominally pro-life or a little more maybe nominal in their face, and they and they realize, recognize, like, hey, this is something I do need to care about more, and and I need to be a part of more, and usually that looks like you know, engagement with the pregnancy center because a pregnancy I've been speaking for things like that. Um and I would say the third one that that probably comes up the most when I talk to folks is just a strong reminder um of how closely what we're doing is tied to the gospel. Um, how this work is gospel work. Uh it's it's saving of lives, it's pointing people to Jesus, it's it's pushing back the darkness, the the culture of death that we live in, and creating a culture of life and and and and shining light into that darkness and and going into the darkest places and and moments and situations uh that a lot of people find themselves in and taking the hope of Jesus. And so just that reminder that we need to continue the work.

SPEAKER_00 34:09

Yes, we absolutely do. And a lot of times that's where you touch somebody, I think, you know, is they'll s they'll sit there and they'll listen to your message, and you never know who it is you're going to touch. It's kind of like in the gospel where it's the one lost sheep. And we kind of look at it that way here at the radio station. You know, if someone's listening and we touch them, that's the one lost sheep. And that's the way we kind of, you know, hope that then that lost sheep will come back and, you know, embr embrace our Lord. And that's kind of what I'm picking up that uh you're looking at as well when you speak.

SPEAKER_01 34:48

Yeah, very much so.

SPEAKER_00 34:50

Yeah, and then not only an individual you know, it may be a woman who made a poor choice and ended uh, you know, her child's life in an abortion, it could be a dad who you know it was out of his hands that perhaps uh his wife, girlfriend, whatever significant other made that choice and he had no choice, and then grandparents who maybe find out that this has happened. And you know, I think your message is so uh profound in that uh you can go forth because God is all loving, God is all merciful, and you should not be defined by all of this, and you can go forth. And that's what I'm picking up on, Josiah, is that is that that's kind of your message.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Yes, very much so.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

So uh I know that there are people listening who are thinking to themselves, oh, this all sounds very interesting. He sounds like he's got a compelling story, and I'm pro-life, and I, you know, say the rosary and you know, to end uh the evil of abortion, but I don't know if I wanna come and hear him. What would you say to nudge that person off the fence so that they would come to this banquet?

SPEAKER_01 36:05

Man, I I've been I've been going to these banquets um for years now. Uh sometimes I go just as a participant, but most of the time I'm going as a speaker, and I and I'm telling you, if you want to be encouraged, uplifted, like, I mean, yes, it's a fundraiser ring, yes, we're trying to continue the work that's being done, but man, it's also a celebration of all that God's doing through choice. And man, if you want to be reminded of the goodness of God and uh of those who God is using in a very dark world, um, because we look around us and we see the darkness, it seems to be closing in all over. But if you want to be reminded, you want to see a picture of the light and what it looks like in this darkness, you need to be here on October 13th because that's what these evenings are about. Yes, continue to work, yes, we challenge to go forward, but also to be reminded of the goodness of God and what he's doing right here in your own backyard.

SPEAKER_00 37:06

And I think that is a great reason. I've often said, you know, our Lord says in the Bible, where two or more of you are gathered, I'm there. And when you have an opportunity like this fundraising banquet to go there and see like-minded individuals, that is so powerful in your own life is that you know what? I'm not the only one that thinks this way. There's a whole room full of individuals, and even if they're nominally pro-life, the message I'm hearing that night is so powerful that I'm going to become more involved, however that may be, more prayer, monetary, uh, volunteering, whatever. Because again, where two or more of you are gathered, that's where our Lord is. And so that that was an incredibly powerful uh analogy that you just made, Josiah. And I bet that's not the first time you've said something like that. So listeners, that kind of wraps up another edition of Faith in Action. I want to remind you again that um this whole show has been about the um Married Choice fundraising banquet, giving hope. And isn't that it? I mean giving hope. And it is Tuesday, October 13th. Uh the doors open at 5 p.m. It is a country celebrations event center here in Sou City. Uh dinner and the program start at 6, and they always have a really nifty option. I've come away with things there that make me smile. And listeners, obviously, they would like you to make the reservation there at MarysChoice.org, or you can call them. And if you Google Mary's Choice, all this information comes up. But don't wait until Tuesday, October 13th, to walk in the door because they might not have enough food for everybody. And you know that the reservations need to be made in a timely manner. I will tell you another hook on this, if you're thinking, oh, I don't know if I'm gonna go, is the catering is Snake's Chicken. And of course, Snake's Chicken, another huge supporter of everything here at Catholic Radio, and we love them as well. So really think about this, listeners, because it's a wonderful opportunity to hear my guest on the program today, Josiah Presley, who um will talk about his pro-life journey and his experience in the pro-life movement. I want to thank you so much, Josiah, for taking time out of your busy schedule and um chatting with the listeners and me about um what you're gonna bring here to Sioux City. We wish you safe travels from Oklahoma coming north. Very safe travels.

SPEAKER_01 39:56

Thanks for having me, and I look forward to seeing you all on October 13th.

SPEAKER_00 40:00

Okay. So again, listeners, Mary's Choice Giving Home Fundraising Banquet, Tuesday, October 13th at Country Celebrations Event Center. Lots more information at Mary'sChoice.org. So if you tuned in late or um you'd like to hear the parts of the program again because you were distracted or you had to go answer a phone, all you have to do is go to schoollandcatholicradio.org, click on local programs, click on Faith in Action, um, it's right there. Uh we are also on Spotify and a number of other podcasting platforms. That's all due to the generosity of Mary's choice, which has been the focus of this program today, and they are the exclusive underwriter for this show. So on behalf of myself, I'm the host of this show, Joanne Fox, and my executive producer, Ann Reed, I want to remind you that a faithful reaction is good, but faith in action it's so much better. Thanks for listening and God bless.