Interview with Cal Zastrow (9.05.2006)

Christian Actvist Pro-Life News: "This is Rescue! It is loving your neighbor as yourself." - Cal Zastrow - 09.05.06

Volume 4, Issue 32 -- September 5, 2006

Dear Friends for Life,

I am blessed to present you with an exclusive interview with Cal Zastrow, a godly man whom I greatly respect who actively shares his faith while rescuing preborn babies with his family. My hope is that you, the reader, will be encouraged and inspired to take a public stand for the preborn, and after reading this interview you will also say:

"This is Rescue! It is loving your neighbor as yourself."

Q: Hi Cal, thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for Christian Activist Pro-life News. First of all, please tell us a little about your lovely family:

Cal: I'm happily married to Trish and we homeschool our children: Corrie, David, Jim, and Eva. We minister together on the streets and in front of death pits (abortuaries). Our home is in Kawkawlin, Michigan.

Q: How many years have you been a pro-life activist?

Cal: While youth pastoring in the mid.1980's, a Planned Parenthood opened in my town. A warrior of the Cross, Mrs. Bettye Lewis, came and explained to me what P.P. was all about. We campaigned in faith, and the Lord closed P.P. quickly. My car got vandalized and the Lewis family cabin was firebombed and destroyed. This strengthened me instead of being intimidating.

In the late 1980's, Trish showed me a picture and article in a newspaper about a handful of people in Kalamazoo that chained themselves together inside of a Planned Parenthood to prevent abortions from happening. The article painted them out to be kooks and criminals. Trish quickly said, "Look at those people, giving Christians a bad name."

It took me a moment before I burst forth: "Finally, somebody is doing something! That is the historic Christian doctrine of interposing oneself peacefully in harm's way to protect the innocent. This is Rescue! It is loving your neighbor as yourself. As long as those people are peaceful and don't whine when they go to jail for trespassing, I think it is great!"

Trish soon agreed with me.

We had our first sit-in Rescue in Saginaw on November 15th, 1991. Our sidewalk counselors talked to over forty moms who couldn't kill because we closed down both death pits in the same mall. We kept up the street preaching, picketing, sidewalk counseling, and rescuing after that. When the church we were youth pastors at received bomb threats and negative media, they released us. With court and jail awaiting us, we stayed in pro-life street ministry.We have been in pro-life street ministry either full-time or part-time since 1992. Even when I had to work temp. jobs to make ends meet, we still ministered as a family two mornings each week when babies were murdered at local death pits. Our desire is to minister full-time as pro-life missionaries.

Q: What organizations have you been involved with, and which ones are you presently working with?

Cal: We have been involved with various peaceful pro-life ministries and we still participate with Operation Rescue National/Operation Save America and Missionaries to the Preborn, spending our vacations on the streets with them. We also network with other local pro-life ministries in Michigan and other states. We praise God for the closed abortion mills and saved babies. The murdering of children in America will end on the streets.

Sure, we support pregnancy help centers, educating the culture about this holocaust, uncompromised political actions, and other pro-life ministries, but ministry on the streets is the greatest need and best way to close death pits down. We have had numerous needy/pregnant moms live in our home. I've been arrested for doing sit-ins, street preaching, holding signs on public sidewalks, and once for singing. My jail stays are always rougher on Trish than I. This past summer, I was arrested twice for simply holding signs along roads in Mississippi. My court trials will probably come up in October of this year, so I'll go back for those and to witness for Jesus, the humanity of preborn children, and the need for the justice system to recognize free speech again.

I'll try to work with just about any pro-life group that isn't advocating shooting or bombing abortionists. It is very exciting and rewarding to live and preach the Gospel on the streets.

We now participate in the unregistered house church movement in America. I've been leading teams to China since 1988 to deliver study Bibles and badly needed materials to the underground Church. We also participate in mass literature evangelism in China and similar activities.

Q: Please give us an update of the Michigan Citizens for Life and the Prenatal Protection Amendment:

Cal: For years, I've been asking churches, political groups, etc. to propose legal language to stop murders and protect all children from the moment of conception. We incorporated Michigan Citizens for Life as a ballot question committee to push for an amendment to our State Constitution declaring personhood at conception. We fell short this year on our petition drive to get the Prenatal Child Protection Amendment on the ballot this November, but we hope to try again and get it on the 2008 ballot. Pro-life activists or elected officials in six other states have contacted us and are interested in amending their constitutions to protect all children. As we have time, we hope to network with them and support wherever we can.

Q: How has the Rescue movement impacted your life?

Cal: It has ruined it, and I'm very blessed that it did. The Rescue movement showed that it is false religion that stays home and lets babies die. The Rescue movement showed that it is normal Christianity to love your neighbors and prevent them from being murdered. Although jail and being separated from my family are not comfortable, they are better than accepting child-sacrifice and tyranny without doing all that I can to stop them

Q: For the readers who would like to help support your ministries, please give us your contact information:

Cal: For those interested in helping our family ministries, they can call (989-686-1937) or e-mail us (calzastrow@hotmail.com). We are very thankful for people who stand with or behind us.