To mark 10 years of Bound4LIFE, key leaders Matt Lockett and Lou Engle have shared their stories. But what about the young man who first envisioned Life Tape in a dream?
His name is Brian Kim, and he went on to establish ACTS School. Below he recalls an incident he experienced, just months after Bound4LIFE was founded.
“Another day in Con Law“, I thought as I sat down in class. During my last semester at this college in the cold northeast, I had a serious case of senioritis. “I belong in DC, not here.”
I had a target on my back in that Constitutional Law class as the only pro-life conservative in a very liberal, pro-choice crowd—most of all, my professor.
Only months earlier, I had been caught up in the excitement of seeing Bound4LIFE come into being. As the team in Colorado Springs continued to pray for the upcoming elections night and day, I had a vivid dream: Thousands of young people were wearing tape over their mouths, with the word “LIFE” written on it.
I had finally gotten through to Lou Engle and told him over the phone what I saw. His first response? “Well, Brian, that’s kind of a dumb dream,” he told me.
Yet within hours of that first Silent Siege on October 4, 2004, they called to tell me they “did the dream”: wearing red Life Tape in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, an indelible image that spread like wildfire in the national media. I desperately wanted to go join the team contending for life in Washington.
Instead I was stuck in a hostile class, working to finish my college degree. Glancing at the day’s reading in my textbook, I realized we may have more conflict than usual. An image of pro-lifers holding signs of bloody pre-born babies featured prominently under the heading “Free Speech and the Right to Protest.”
“Oh boy, here we go,” I thought.
“As with all Constitutional rights, Congress as well as the courts through case law have established limits on the right to free speech in public places,” the professor began.
“The FACE Act is an interesting example,” she continued. “That stands for Freedom of Access to Clinical Entrances, and it came about because these anti-abortion activists got a little aggressive. Some of your friends, Brian?”
I ignored her icy stare aimed in my direction.
“Essentially, the FACE Act says anyone posing a threat outside an abortion clinic entrance—even noise or any disruption—can face jail time and be fined up to $10,000,” she stated. “It’s really quite effective at keeping these medical facilities safe from any outside influences.”
Then she said something really interesting.
“Except, I’ve been seeing something on the news lately that seems to get around this law. These anti-abortion protesters are wearing red tape on their mouths with the word ‘LIFE’ written in black.”
My Con Law professor continued: “These activists can essentially stand there all day, because they’re not making any noise and they’re not threatening to make any noise. I must say, it’s one of the most brilliant strategies I’ve seen in a very long time.”
I was stunned. There’s no way she knew that my dream was the inspiration for Life Tape.
Some might call that day in class a coincidence. To me, it was God confirming that I was where He wanted me—and soon, I’d be joining the team in D.C. on the front lines.
Watch Brian Kim discuss the Justice House of Prayer D.C. in a 2005 interview:
Brian Kim is the founder and executive director of the Antioch Center for Training and Sending (ACTS School), which exists to equip and send young pioneering leaders to plant prayer furnaces in the hardest and darkest places. He and his wife, Grace, live in Colorado Springs with their three children. This post is reprinted with permission from Bound4LIFE.
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