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After speaking with Ann LaBar for even a little while, it quickly becomes apparent what saying ‘yes’ to God can lead to and the difference one person – with a deep commitment to serving God – can make.
Ann, a presenter for Family Honor’s affiliate team in Atlanta, Georgia, is soft-spoken, but her determination comes through clearly when she speaks about the need to get out a positive, hopeful message about chastity to families.
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Family Honor Presenter Ann LaBar
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“Kids are hearing the lies of the world when it comes to sex,” she states. “And I see Family Honor as absolutely critical in helping to bring the truth about the real meaning of their sexuality to them and also to their parents.”
Ann’s involvement with Family Honor started in 2002, when she decided to take the Family Honor presenter training course, but, in recalling events that led up to her taking the course, she can understand with more clarity now how God was preparing her to become a Family Honor presenter through various life experiences.
After graduating from Marquette University in 1987 with a degree in Psychology and minors in Biology, Chemistry and French, she joined the Peace Corps for 1 ½ years, living in the Central African Republic in order to teach teachers about the basics of health, so they could pass this information along to their students.
She returned to the U.S. after her time of service in the Peace Corps and worked in a variety of jobs before enrolling in the Medical College of Georgia to become a Physician’s Assistant, graduating with her degree in 1993. After working in Endocrinology for 5 ½ years, she then went to Honduras for eight months for additional missionary work.
Ann comments that at various points in her life, the Holy Spirit has prompted her to tackle something new and significant. Typically, after praying about it, she would do so, but with some initial reluctance, only later understanding that this was, in turn, preparing her for the next task God had in mind for her.
Shortly before she took the Family Honor course, she began to dig deeper into her Catholic faith, to find out more about what the Church taught and why. Although raised Catholic, Ann had grown away from her faith for a time and found that she now very much wanted to participate in Bible Studies and other opportunities that would help her to grow spiritually and embrace her faith again. Subsequently, she also attended three conferences in one year which all related to pro life and pro family issues. And thus, the stage was set and the timing right for Ann’s career to enter a new phase and, ultimately, for Family Honor to enter the picture.
In 2000, Ann went to work for a pro life OB/GYN who also worked with Natural Family Planning (NFP), a natural way to achieve or postpone pregnancy which is approved by the Catholic Church. Ann commented with a smile that she realized “I had a new ‘mission’ site.” She worked as a Physician’s Assistant in this office for four years. This was followed by a brief period of working with a Catholic pro-life midwife.
It was at this point, as her interest in pro life and pro family efforts grew, that Ann registered for Family Honor’s course, which prepares adult men and women who want to present family-centered chastity programs.
As she found out more about Family Honor’s work, she decided to participate in a fundraising opportunity in her area so that she could raise money for Family Honor’s apostolate. Thus, in 2002, she entered an inline skating race sponsored by the Atlanta Peachtree Road Rollers. Ann asked friends and family to make a per-mile pledge based on the number of miles she intended to rollerblade, with the understanding that all the money she raised would go to Family Honor.
Although she had never attempted anything like this before and readily admits: “I don’t like to exercise,” she was determined to not only enter the race, but finish the entire course, starting in Athens, Georgia and finishing in Atlanta, Georgia, a total of 87 miles! “I knew I could never accomplish such a feat, unless I was doing it for a very good reason, a very worthy cause, which I found in Family Honor,” Ann stated emphatically.
Wearing a t-shirt that said: Chastity, The Choice of the Next Generation, Ann did complete the event – in 9 hours and 56 minutes– and raised nearly $5,000 for Family Honor! “Because I knew Family Honor’s work is so important, and they can’t do their work without funding, I knew I could help make a difference by raising awareness and funds for them.”
Ann is now working as the Nurse Manager at a pro life crisis pregnancy center/ pregnancy resource center, where she performs ultrasounds on pregnant women, some of whom are considering abortion. She has found that her experience as a presenter for Family Honor for the last several years has been a significant help in counseling women and girls in crisis pregnancies. “I now know how to talk to our clients about their own dignity and worth as individuals and also how to explain to them the dignity and worth of their unborn baby. And I can witness to them how God intended the relationship for a man and woman to be.”
Ann sees herself continuing as a presenter for Family Honor’s parent-child chastity programs indefinitely. “During our programs, I feel like I am teaching parents and entertaining kids, all with the goal of helping these moms and dads and children to be able to speak to each other about the really important things in life. I run into parents regularly – sometimes months later – who tell me that participating in our Family Honor program transformed their relationship with their child.”
Ann, who is single, encourages other single adults who believe in chastity to find out about becoming a Family Honor presenter. “Everyone is called by God to love others with a Christ-like love, whether married or single. If I can learn how to help families communicate with each other on important topics like chastity, other single adults can, too. And, in the process, it can help them to transform their own life as well.”
To find out more about becoming a Family Honor presenter, please e-mail our office at famhonor@aol.com
© 2009 Family Honor. This article may not be reproduced in any format without express written consent from Family Honor. Contact famhonor@aol.com for more info.
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