Faithful - Therefore Brave.

It is a pleasure to introduce you to Petra Plonner, not only a pastor in the LIFE Church network Austria, but she runs a Christian school and kindergarten and works for the authority of confessional schools in Vienna.  Petra is also politically involv ed in many areas, including sexual education, prostitution, equal rights and abortion.

I asked her to share her story with us - Truly inspiring!

Some people say I have a lot of courage. Probably because I spontaneously give speeches in front of crowds of decision-makers or boldly press down every door handle to see if the door opens. And if it does, I enter with my head held high. I don't know if that's courage. It certainly doesn't always feel that way. It feels more like faithfulness. Faithful to the One who first said yes to me and to whom I gave my yes to many years ago.

Thankfully, you only find out about the challenges afterwards. As a young student saved through a miraculous encounter with God, I didn’t yet know that it wasn’t considered proper for a Christian woman to be loud and bold. No, I’m not a feminist. I don’t believe women should rule over men. But neither is it the other way around. Christianity has opened up a great opportunity for humanity: Men and women should cultivate and care for this world together, side by side. The world out there has no issue with strong women, and we shouldn’t have one in the churches either. We should be causing problems for the devil—together—as sons and daughters of the living God!

After my conversion, a world of possibilities opened up for me! Where should we start? Where should you start? At this point, I often think of the encounter Moses had with God. Moses, plagued by doubts that he could truly make a difference in the world, is asked by God: “What is that in your hand?” (Exodus 4:2)

I was a high school teacher, discouraged by the situation there. Everyone seemed to be against each other: parents, teachers, students. The students didn’t want to learn; their minds were elsewhere. Couldn’t school be done differently? Soon, I found a few enthusiastic like-minded people: We rented a small, dark apartment with a walk-through room. This is where classes and a playgroup for the little ones began. We had nine children, no money, and a lot of passion. But daily work was challenging. It quickly became very cramped in that little apartment. Our son said, “Mama, why is it called a kindergarten when we don’t have a garden?”

Miracles usually happen when there’s a problem. So walk right into the challenges! Ours were pretty big: no more money, too little space, too many children, no legal status. How were we supposed to continue? A businessman whose grandchild attended our playgroup decisively purchased two houses in a beautiful part of town, renovated them for us, and we became an official Christian educational institution. Today, several years later, there are 5 Trinity educational centers in Austria with 250 children who hear about God's love every day.  Sounds good. God Is good. The journey wasn’t easy, but it was absolutely worth it!

You say you have nothing in your hand? God can make something out of nothing. Even from the painful experiences in our lives. As a young woman, I had an abortion. That marked the beginning of the darkest chapter of my life. It came to an end when Jesus found me and turned on the light. I was completely undone! God had come and rescued me from the darkness! My heart was bursting to tell the world! I started speaking in schools about my abortion experience. Then in churches. Then on TV—with great fear and trembling. Men and women began contacting me. They secretly told me about their own abortion experiences. The immense suffering shook me to the core. Something had to be done. The German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said that Christians are not only to tend to those crushed under the wheels, but also to jam a spoke into the wheel itself. That meant I had to challenge the abortion system.

With a few friends, I launched a political initiative: fairändern (“fair change”) . Six demands for better support for women in pregnancy conflicts were to be signed by as many citizens as possible and submitted to Parliament. We thought long and hard about the wording. We didn’t argue from a religious standpoint but in a way that made sense to everyone. In a short time, we collected over 60,000 signatures—on the streets, in churches, even in Parliament. The effort was enormous. But our demands were good and clear. 60,000 signatures mean 60,000 votes to those in power. For Austria, that’s quite a number! Doors in Parliament opened for me. More TV appearances followed. To be honest, I didn’t feel all that prepared. But someone had to speak up! 

Having had an abortion isn’t exactly the first qualification you think of for changing the world. But that’s only at first glance. Because God can use anything we offer Him—both the good and the bad. Yes, it takes courage. Or loyalty. God-adventures usually only seem cool in hindsight. In the middle of them, there’s often trembling and fear and tears. But I don’t want to look back one day and say: If only I had!

What about you?