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KortneyDear Friends,

 

Meet my niece Kortney - my brother's firstborn child.

 

Here she is beginning her pro-life stand with Life Chain in Lodi, California around 1990.

 

Several years later my brother Larry, who is a teacher for Apologia Academy, called to tell me that Kortney announced to the family her intention to "be like Uncle Don" and become an "abortion abolitionist."  

 

Kortney wasted no time influencing her friends at school and church with her passion for the preborn babies.  

 

Kortney's motto became "Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and  abolishing abortion is my passion." 

 

And as you read this special email, you will see she lived it all!  

kort and IKortney graduated from Montreat College in North Carolina with a degree in journalism and used her education and high IQ to take on the world with the truth.  

 

Kortney eventually signed on to a ministry called "Survivors" in Los Angeles, and began stepping onto college campuses each week, engaging students. 

 

One of my most cherished photos is this one of the two of us engaging students with the message of life on the U.C. Davis campus. 

Colleges and high schools tried hard to silence Kortney's free speech.

 

In the years following, Kortney and I were falsely arrested a combined fourteen times, and were found "not guilty" every time by the courts.

 

Many colleges around the country changed their unconstitional, restrictive policies after losing their cases.  

 

On one occasion Kortney spent the night in the same jail that Martin Luther King Jr. was thrown into for speaking against injustice. The false arrest of Kortney and her team for standing on a public sidewalk, talking to students about abortion outside of a public high school, cost the city of Birmingham a lot of money when the dust settled.

 

 

 

Kortney traveled all over the country speaking in hundreds of colleges and high schools and was eventually hired by Students for Life in Washington DC.

 

But her greatest moments in ministry came when women, changed by the powerful message Kortney proclaimed, would show Kortney the fruits of her labor:  babies saved from abortion. 

 

For Kortney, these twins made all of the sacrifice and labor worth it.

 

Heaven is still keeping a record of the changes made around the country through Kortney's passion to end the American Holocaust and "rescue those being led to death." Proverb 24:11

 

 

me and kort 

Kortney and I stayed in touch as she traveled the country changing lives by sharing the Gospel and speaking out against abortion.

 

When she traveled to the West Coast, we would get together and share stories of our adventures and spend some quality time together.

 

Kortney's life verse became:

 

"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."  Philippians 1:21

 

Sometimes Kortney would say to me that when she dies, it would be most important that the Gospel be preached at her memorial and that her lost relatives and friends would turn from their sins and be saved. A few months ago Kortney told me, "Uncle Don, if it takes me dying for people to be saved, then so be it."   

 

But Kortney had one other dream to fulfill.

 

kortney wedding 

That dream came true this year when she met, and then married Ben Gordon in a Renaissance wedding in the forests of Virginia.

 

A marriage made in Heaven, there was only one part left in her dream:  to be with child.

 

In no time at all, Kortney was carrying baby Sophy in her womb.

 

(Sophy is named after Sophie Scholl, a young German woman who was arrested for handing out literature on a college campus in opposition to the German Holocaust.

 

Sophie Scholl was tried in Hitler's court in 1943; and you must rent the DVD "Sophie Scholl-The Final Days" to learn the rest of this true story.  Kortney and I have watched this movie a dozen times.)

 

Ben and Kortney were ecstatic about their little girl. 

But on Saturday evening, October 8th, my precious niece Kortney and baby Sophy were taken from this earth.

 

After speaking at a pro-life conference in Georgia, Kortney and three others on her team were struck by a drunk driver who hit Kortney's car head-on, killing Kortney, Sophy, and one passenger in her car, Jon Scharfenberger.

 

That evening, our family's faith was rocked and the world lost a great witness for the cause of the Kingdom. 

 

There is so much I could tell you about the past four weeks of grief and sorrow. And the whole time the Lord has been there keeping our heads above water. He was and is constantly placing little things in our path through friends and family, not leaving us alone.

 

One such moment came from a stranger who emailed us a few days after the tragedy.  I am including his email, my thank you email back to him, and his response to me, for you to see how God was using others to help our families work through the process of healing during this terrible event in our lives.

 

Email: October 10th 

 

Hello,

My name is Joshua Biron.

I was there last night at the scene of the accident. My wife (Ashley Biron) and I came upon the accident no more than thirty seconds after it happened. There were five other people there that witnessed the crash. They were all waiting for help to arrive. Knowing the area and knowing how long it would take emergency crews to get there, my wife and I stopped the car and got out to help.

The accident was bad, one car was on top of the other. I immediately found myself out of my comfort zone, but I went ahead and climbed into the car on the bottom to check on the driver. I exited that vehicle and went to check on the one on top. The vehicle on top was in a dangerous position. It could have slid off and rolled over at any minute. As my wife and I thought about what to do, I noticed that the other drivers had come out of their comfort zones and offered help. We pulled one young man out of the vehicle and away from the car to safety. We went back for the other who had apparently crawled out himself and we moved him away from the wreck. My wife who is an ER nurse and thirty weeks pregnant cared for them while we went back for the others. We couldn't get to the other two people due to the position of the vehicle. One of them was Kortney, someone you all loved dearly. Someone that passed away doing something she cared so deeply for and devoted her life to.

Ten minutes after it happened, Police and firemen were there and took over.

 

My message is this, I came out of my comfort zone to help the 5 people that were involved in the accident. The other bystanders, seeing my wife and I trying to help, came out of their comfort zones and started helping too. There were 15 of us working to care for the hurt before EMS and Police even showed up. We put ourselves in harms way to help them. There were men holding the car steady while we pulled people out and away from it. It's time for all of us to come out of our comfort zones. Kortney came out of hers a long time ago. In a world where it seems a lot of people think abortion is ok, she stood against it and gave it her all. There is one thing we can do to keep her awesome spirit alive, and that is for all of you who read this to come out of your comfort zones. To help and support those in need and to stand strong for what is good and right.

 

The 20 minutes I was at the scene of the accident and then reading Kortney's story today have changed me forever. I hope her story lives on and does the same for more people.

 

Joshua Biron

 

----

 

Dear Biron family,

In the midst of our deepest of grief and overwhelming sorrow,  my brother, Kortney's father, and I were having trouble working our way through our brokenness, even though we had an inner confidence of the hope of our coming reunion someday, when it would be our turn to meet our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Then your email came in and the power of your careful words and testimony ministered to us and all of the family and friends we shared it with.

I thank you with all of my heart for you and your wife, and the divine appointment God set for you that evening.

Your information has further confirmed in us that our Lord was still there and many concerns were answered by your actions for Kortney.

We began the process of recovery of our spirits after reading your email.

I hope you have also placed your trust and faith in Jesus Christ for your souls, so we can meet you in Heaven too someday.

May the God of Heaven bring an outpouring of love and grace on you and your precious baby as you live out your lives in this world. 

I will never forget you and what you did for our Kortney.

In His Steps,
Don Blythe

--- 

 

Don,

 

Those words came from my heart and what I am about to tell you is too.

 

My faith in God was almost completely gone before that night. I don't think I had prayed in over five years. If I did, it was probably for something so selfish that it wasn't worth remembering. I have prayed more in the past few days than I have at any other time in my life. God was really weighing down on me Saturday and Sunday. I felt like I had to find out who the people in that accident were. When I did, I felt like I had to send that email and to share Kortney's story with everyone I met. I continue to tell people the story of her life and how that night changed me forever.

 

To say that she and the rest of the people in that accident changed my life is an understatement. They saved my life.

 

My wife and I have cried tears over the pain that this must be causing you and the rest of her family. I am glad that sending these emails has helped ease that pain. I love all of God's people and hate to see anyone in pain. I hope you all find a way to make it through this tragedy.

 

I can safely say now that my wife and I will have that chance to meet her in heaven.

 

With love and hope,
Joshua Biron

kort 

Please click on the link below to watch a short video shown at Kortney's memorial service with three of her favorite songs.

 

                                               http://vimeo.com/31563666

 
Our families are still working through this and I have returned to the battle for the souls of men that is set before us. 
 
I know Kortney is enjoying the awesomeness of Heaven and waits for those of us who have placed our trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of our sins. 
 
Kortney is my hero and I thank God for her impact on my life.  It will last till our great reunion. 

 

In His Steps,

Don

 

 

 

I am Don Blythe of At The Well Ministries IncThis ministry of 28 years uses the the abortion issue as a springboard for sharing the Gospel.

 

My Mission Field comprises three main areas of outreach; the abortion mills, high schools, and college campuses.

 

The email newsletters you receive give a hands-on look at what this ministry is all about.

 

I do not use the content of the letters to talk about financial support, and for 28 years the Lord has supplied my needs through the prayers and financial support of a small number of churches and individuals who believe in what I do and have seen the fruit of this labor.

 

If you desire to support my ministry, you can do so through regular mail or through the CashLinq donation link provided. Cashlinq is a Christian direct-giving program that allows you to follow your giving history, and the cost to At the Well Ministries is minimal.

 

Thank you for standing with me.

 

At The Well is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

 

Online donation: https://dlq4.donatelinq.net/qv10/default.aspx?MerchantID=AtTheWell 

 

Mail donation: At the Well Ministries

P.O. Box 78025

Stockton, CA. 95267

 

Email Address: DontheBaptist@sonic.net