The Wilkes Team

During a recent family field trip to Richmond, VA, we had the awesome joy of visiting the Virginia Family Foundation. They provided a meaningful tour around Capitol Hill in Richmond, answered questions, and took the time to share powerful testimonies, one of which we felt would encourage all of you.

This is impossible. Humanly speaking, all odds are against us. Through only a miracle could this come to pass.

These and similar thoughts were sure to have pervaded the mind of Chris Friend of the Virginia Family Foundation during the winter months earlier this year. After seeing the inclining of Virginia leaders to strangle religious freedoms of public school students, the Family Foundation knew it was time to make a stand. On one occasion, a Virginia student was harshly reprimanded for including the phrase, "God Bless America," in a 9/11/01 school project. Other similar prohibitions of Christian expressions revealed the effect lawless officials are having. Proactive family groups in Texas lead the charge in favor of religious freedom. Through the assistance of a wise lawyer, a bill was carefully written, lobbied for, and passed into law guaranteeing the right of students to express their faith in school projects.

With the help of the ACLJ (American Center for Law & Justice), the Family Foundation compiled a similar bill. The morning of presentation came quickly. As Mr. Friend shared, he had little hope that this bill would pass. He was to face one of the legislature’s most liberal committees (5 members in all – 3 democrats & 2 republicans). Walking up the hill to the Capitol building from his office on Main Street, Mr. Friend offered up a prayer with the little faith he had. Once inside, he faced the formidable 5, the ACLU, and a liberal Jewish organization. The bill was presented and to Mr. Friend’s surprise, the committee appeared strangely favorable.

Hope began to rise only to be dashed again by the dissenting Jewish organization. They stood up and offered their own religious freedom bill.  Mr. Friend and his accompanying ACLJ attorney took the paper, feeling this may be the death of their vision. Silence echoed across the room as each party read the revised bill. Upon reading, Mr. Friend turned to his attorney friend in amazement who shared the same view. The bill was practically identical, as a matter of fact, better written. Mr. Friend then turned to the Committee and said the Family Foundation accepted the revision. Confusion erupted within the Jewish group for they did not expect such a response from the Family Foundation.

Then with no real explanation or reason all 5 legislatures voted in favor of the bill. It later passed the House 83-15 and the Senate 39-1. Democratic and liberal governor Tim Kaine later approved the bill after changing one word that in no way reduced the impact of the bill. HB 1135 (Student Religious Viewpoint Anti-Discrimination Act), sponsored by Delegate William Fralin, goes into affect July 1st, 2008 and will now protect the right of every child to write about their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God wrought a miracle. From man’s perspective, the passing of this bill was next to impossible, and it was. But we know"…With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible (Matt. 19:26)."

The principle Mr. Friend emphasized to our family was that God does not call us to be successful, but rather faithful.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 7:34 pm and is filed under Family News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.