A Life-Affirming Legacy: How American Heritage Girls Celebrate the Sanctity of Life

Today’s Christian parents are wading through conversations that they never imagined having to address so soon into their parenting journey.

Conversations with young children about violence and war, gender and identity, suicide and mental illness, and most recently in the news, the right to life. While the overturning of Roe v. Wade was a huge leap toward protecting the lives of the preborn in America, it certainly wasn’t the last step toward restoring the recognition of the sanctity of life in our nation. Today, states continue to examine laws pertaining to life far beyond the womb including unnatural end-of-life practices like euthanasia and assisted suicide. In a word, today’s culture views life as disposable.

Amid a culture seemingly clouded in confusion and darkness, AHG shines confidently and unwaveringly for Christ.

American Heritage Girls celebrates the sanctity of all life, from conception to natural death, and is coming alongside parents to build the next generation of faithfilled women who will continue this life-affirming legacy.

Beyond a Political Issue

Despite the prevalence of issues in debate and at the polls, AHG believes that the sanctity of life supersedes the cultural opinion of today. “Standing for life is not a political issue but rather a God issue. All life is valuable to Him. And if we, as a ministry, purport to love Him and follow Him, life must be valuable to us as well. And we need to teach our daughters this most important lesson,” said Patti Garibay, AHG Founder & Executive Director.

AHG teaches girls that all life has value. To be human is to have an inherent dignity and worth. With this perspective, life is simply more than a social, moral, or ethical issue—it is a foundational Biblical principle handed down by our Heavenly Father. Over and over, Scripture testifies to the devotion and love of God in designing, creating, and pursuing each individual person in His creation. To Respect Life is to see life through God’s eyes. A Biblical Worldview gives girls this lens of righteousness—to see, advocate, love, and live according to God’s Truth. AHG is committed to developing a Biblical Worldview in each and every girl because it is foundational to lifelong, deeply-rooted faith.

The Truth of the Matter

A Biblical Worldview is built upon a number of Scripturally-based precepts that help guide believers toward understanding. A Biblical Worldview sets its foundation in the Truth. Truth, in the context of Biblical Worldview, is in reference to the eternal Truths that God lays out in Scripture. In a world that tells us to “live your truth”, believers know that Truth isn’t relative—it is concrete, a firm foundation set by our Creator. With this Biblical Worldview perspective, the call to uphold the sanctity of life is clear. Truth affirms that God created people in His image and therefore they have unquestionable worth and value. Biblical Truth also obligates that God has a unique design for His people—He created each of us on purpose, for a purpose.

To be pro-life is to see all life—preborn, disabled, ill, elderly—as God does, sacred and crafted with care. The inherent dignity and importance of each life in the eyes of God is indisputable. With this Biblically-aligned view of humanity, a girl’s perspective shifts from caring only of herself, to giving selflessly to others—just as Jesus lived and taught.

This National Day of Service, VA0428 collected gifts for the staff at First Care Women’s Health, a crisis pregnancy care center in Woodbridge, VA. The staff graciously received Troop girls and volunteers, showing them the beauty of life seen through ultrasound and educating girls on the stages of human development through fetal models.

The Call to Compassionate Care

When the Truth of a girl’s faith is rooted in God’s Word and His calling on her life, her identity as a Christ-follower doesn’t stay neatly tucked away, only to be seen on Sundays. American Heritage Girls gives young girls the framework for living life wholly in accordance with God. AHG Alumnae see the world through a different lens. One of great possibility for themselves, yes, but more so they see a world that God has placed them in with a purpose, ultimately working for His glory. To be the hands and feet of Christ on earth is to answer His call for radical compassion, love, and care for humanity. It comes as no surprise that Jesus lived in a way that honored all life—whether honorable or sinful, friend or enemy, neighbor or other.

Raising a generation of pro-life girls goes beyond the basic premise of advocacy, it means raising girls who seek to emulate Jesus in their compassion and care of those in need. It means going to the rally and praying for lawmakers. It means collecting diapers and showing loving respect for a young mother experiencing a crisis pregnancy. It means visiting the sick and spending time with the elderly. Service offers girls a way to see themselves as part of the solution to the world’s problems, rather than idle viewers of the downturn.

It’s commonly said that “service is AHG’s middle name,” this, of course, references the AHG tagline— faith, service, and fun. Today’s youth willingly and excitedly respond to Christ’s call to serve one another. Service is what allows girls to see their faith in action, they feel a sense of purpose and importance in carrying out charity—sharing the pure love freely given to us by Christ to another through compassionate care.

“Our Troop worked with Bright Blessings to prepare materials for the homeless community. Our Troop made birthday banners, placemats, and wrapping paper for children experiencing homelessness on their birthdays. We also prepared materials for the Bless-a-Baby program that provides materials for expecting moms who are homeless, and the Pre-K literacy initiative.” —Lisa Newman, Troop Coordinator for NC0800

Meeting Nationwide Need

In the Fall of 2023, American Heritage Girls unified Troop efforts for the National Day of Service around a common theme—Respect Life. The event encouraged Troops nationwide to find ways to form new connections with local life-affirming organizations to make an impact in their community. Girls participated in four different types of charity as written in the AHG Service Spotlight Resource, a resource available to parents and Troops on AHGfamily: Hands-on Charity (experiential service that placed girls in direct contact with the recipients of their efforts), Witnessed Charity (experiential service that allows girls to see those whom they’re serving but does not include direct interaction), Vicarious Charity (service that relies on others to carry out the actual giving to the recipient), and Abstract Charity (serving to meet the need but without seeing who is directly impacted by the service). These four types of life-affirming charity gave girls the framework to give back, but also allowed them to see how they can grow in compassionate care as they age.

From collecting formula for crisis pregnancy centers to scheduling engaging arts and crafts time with local nursing homes, Troops across the country answered this call to serve God’s people. In addition to this year’s National Day of Service effort, girls are encouraged to learn about and protect the dignity and sanctity of life through several programmatic initiatives including the Respect Life Patch, All God’s Children Badge, and more. (Learn more about these initiatives on page 26.)

The American Heritage Girls Ministry’s commitment to life is palpable—this January, brave girls in neckerchiefs and sashes will rally nationwide for the right to life for all people. Their service to those in need, the preborn, the ill, the elderly, shows a deep compassion and respect for God’s workmanship in every life. With a collective heart for others, a spirit of perseverance, and a desire to uphold God’s Truth, American Heritage Girls nationwide are standing firmly for life. They are a collective generation of Godly girls, a life-affirming legacy.