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Monday, December 30, 2019
INVEST HERE before the end of the year.
Dear John,
Your investment in the work of Wisconsin Family Action yields returns. It gets results!
You pray and invest some of what God has blessed you with. We pray, and we work; and He blesses your investment and our work—and together we see the results.
Would you consider making an investment before the end of this year to continue to get results like those below, and to protect marriage, family, life and religious liberty in 2020? (If you have already made a year-end investment, thank you! We sincerely appreciate you.)
To invest in Wisconsin Family Action, INVEST SECURELY ONLINE HERE and know the value of your gift is DOUBLED. (As we have explained in earlier emails, we have received a very generous investment of $150,000--a challenge grant--that comes with one stipulation: that we do everything we can to at least double the investment. That is why we talk in terms of "doubling the value" of your year-end investment.)
Your prayers and financial investment have achieved HISTORIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS in 2019.
Here are just a few highlights of what your support helped to accomplish:
 HISTORIC education efforts happened in the WI Supreme Court race with Justice Brian Hagedorn elected. When the deceitful and vicious smear campaign broke on TV and radio, support for this good judge not only stopped, but one organization which had endorsed him and invested heavily in his campaign, caved and rescinded their endorsement asking for their money back!
We were initially the only organization which took a stand and took action. We publicly and unapologetically recognized him for the man of good character and the qualified judge that he is. We stood alone until, at the last minute, other support came in to level the playing field with his opponents, and research shows that our education efforts were instrumental in turning the tide in this election.
VICTORIES in the Legislature are always hard to achieve with divided government (Democrat Governor and Republican majorities in the Assembly and Senate), but we have picked our battles carefully, are standing strong, are your voice for your values, and together we are making a difference! We joined with pro-life groups in support of several pro-life bills; and while Governor Evers vetoed them, the fact that the bills were debated and passed kept the importance of the pro-life message front and center. We are working on some good bills and a number of bad bills, such as eliminating the waiting period to remarry after a divorce and giving pharmacists authority to write prescriptions for contraceptives. A legislative summary is on our website www.wifamilycouncil.org. WFC/WFA president is our main lobbyist and the one who typically testifies at public hearings.
Holding elected officials accountable. Whether Republican or Democrat, when our elected officials make good decisions, we acknowledge them. When they make bad decisions, we hold them accountable as we did when Governor Evers raised the LGBT “Pride Flag” over the State Capitol this past June and authorized other state and public buildings to do the same. We quickly launched a petition drive and in just 2 weeks more than 10,000 Wisconsin residents stood with us to tell Governor Evers that he had gone too far. The petitions were delivered in person to the Governor.
Support for Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers via CHOOSE LIFE license plate sales continue to grow! We were instrumental in bringing Choose Life plates to Wisconsin in 2017. Now, Wisconsin Family Council, together with Pro-Life Wisconsin, oversees the disbursement of these life-saving funds. In the last year alone, over $36,000 was given out to 20 different pro-life pregnancy care centers in Wisconsin. These resources often save two lives at a time – the biological life of the baby and the spiritual life of the mother! When your license plate renews, please consider CHOOSE LIFE.
 Ministering to our elected officials through the Church Ambassador Network was launched in 2019. Pastors from across our state serve as ambassadors, with the sole purpose of developing meaningful redemptive relationships with and ministering to
our elected officials.
Our legislators are often under intense pressure, are surrounded by compromise and temptations, regularly put in long hours for travel, and their marriages and families often suffer as a result. Not to mention, our elected officials need wisdom and discernment when making decisions that govern our families and our state. When it comes to advancing Judeo-Christian principles, our elected officials need, and would benefit from, God’s help just as much as we do. Certainly, those who do not know the Lord as their Savior need to hear the life-giving message of salvation.
Taking advantage of technology, as your voice for your values our work is regularly promoted loudly and clearly thorough a variety of media throughout Wisconsin. In addition to the regularly scheduled radio programs and monthly TV interviews, we provide email alerts, weekly email newsletters, podcasts, and distribute valuable information through social media using Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. WFA or WFC were also featured in more than 50 media interviews this past year on topics affecting marriage, family, life or religious liberty. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Informing our state’s leaders and elected officials of trends affecting our state and families in our state is no easy task, but our Cultural Indicators publication helps meet that need. This important 75-page publication includes critical data and trends on such topics as “Family Structure and Income,” “Childbearing and Poverty,” “Births to Teenagers Age 15-19,” “Expenditures for Public Education (K-12),” “Underage Drinking Among High School Students,” “Juvenile Arrests, and an extensive look at “Family and the Economy,” among many others.
This publication is designed to help decision makers and leaders craft policy and programs that strengthen marriage and families and in doing so strengthen our communities and state. We have distributed copies of Wisconsin’s Cultural Indicators, 2019 Edition to the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, all state legislators, secretaries of various state agencies, members of the judicial branch, mayors of the 49 largest cities, superintendents of all public school districts, all public libraries and to over 300 pastors.
When our families are strong, our state is strong. And the converse is true, as well.
Providing resources for Parents. Parents are the first line of defense when it comes to world-view training of our children. Our children are often the targets of the onslaught of deceptive and dangerous ideas and concepts being promoted by LGBTQ proponents.
From the indoctrination of our children in the classrooms, to Drag Queen Story Hour in our libraries, or allowing biological boys in girls’ changing or shower facilities, our children are at risk and parents must be equipped to not only speak to their children about the transgender issue but to know their rights as parents. We are privileged to be able to distribute a very helpful resource on the transgender issue, produced by Minnesota Family Institute. We purchase the booklets from them for distribution. It’s also available for free at genderresourceguide.com.
 Educating, serving and equipping pastors and churches is a privilege we take very seriously. In 2019 we hosted a Pastors’ Day at the Capitol where we had more than 75 pastors and church leaders join us for a conference in Madison. These pastors then walked across the street to the Capitol where we held a press conference and then personally hand-delivered over 130 beautiful Founders’ Bibles to the offices of all state representatives and state senators as the kick-off to our Church Ambassador Network.
We organize small-group pastor events and meetings in different parts of the state and our monthly “CHURCH CONNECTION” is a bulletin insert we print and ship to nearly 400 churches, providing valuable insight and information to congregations. Samples of our Church Connection can be found on our website at www.WIFamilyCouncil.org. If you would like your church to receive the “Church Connection” please call our office.
 Investing in the next generation is a priority and we are thrilled to announce we are bringing the L.E.A.D. program to Wisconsin as a summer camp for youth, starting in August of 2020. This Christian leadership program that uses civics/government as a platform has transformed the lives of young people in Michigan (where it originated), Minnesota and Iowa, opening their eyes to the importance of knowing and learning how to articulate issues of the day. We are excited to bring this proven program to The Badger State! WFC is also the legislative liaison for Wisconsin Association of Christian Schools. Each year we host a Day at the Capitol for WACS students, exposing them a bit to how government works and how important it is to become informed and involved as a responsible Christian citizen.
Representing YOU, wherever you live in Wisconsin! Our shared values bring us together from all across our great Badger state. Whether you live in La Crosse, Rhinelander, Wausau, Green Bay, Appleton, Milwaukee or Waukesha, Madison or Plover…
Our mission partners come from all ages; some live in the city while others live in the country or the north woods. They come from all walks of life: Some are retired, some are raising young families, and their occupations range from teachers, executives, waitresses, farmers, investment managers, business owners, factory workers, pastors, doctors, nurses, mechanics, building contractors to plumbers….
We hope to see you soon! We host community events all over the state to be able to meet with our mission partners. In 2019 we hosted 18 of these events. Most had the theme “Making Wisconsin Great, One Family at a Time.”
Our current theme is “2020 Vision: Contending for the Faith, Challenging the Culture.” Upcoming events can be found on our website at WIFamilyCouncil.org or if you would like a presentation at your church or to a group in your community, please call our office at 888-378-7395.
None of these accomplishments would have been possible without your support.
Thank you for your investment in marriage, family, life and religious liberty in 2019. Together, we hope to accomplish even more in the new year.
God bless you,
Julaine K. Appling
President, Wisconsin Family Action & Wisconsin Family Council
PS. To make your investment count for 2019 please give online now HERE or before midnight on December 31st or if you are mailing your investment please make sure it is postmarked by December 31, 2019.
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