Merry Christmas from Nathan and Betsy Pierce and the staff of Family Protection Ministries! This holiday season we at Family Protection Ministries are focused on family more than usual. The Pierce household has six school-aged children this year, and are looking forward to having our first high school graduate this spring. This joy is coupled with grief from the unexpected, sudden loss of Betsy’s father. This is a bittersweet time for the Pierce family, and by extension, all of us at FPM.
These are certainly moments of refining as we contemplate life’s deeper issues. These times do clarify priorities and bring deeper appreciation for the people that we love and care for. Most of us in the FPM office did not know Rody Johnson personally, but the testimony of a faithful man—a dedicated husband, father and follower of Christ—still speaks to us.
As we prepare to gather with friends and family for the holidays, we give thanks to God for your partnership in prayer, volunteer hours, and financial support. We were so encouraged this year by the victories we had and by everyone who got involved with this year’s legislative battles by making phone calls, writing letters, and attending committee meetings. We cannot do this important work without your help!
The Battlefront:
Throughout the year, FPM protects your homeschool freedoms by monitoring all legislative proposals, interacting with the California Legislature and other governmental agencies. We intervene on your behalf by analyzing bills, working the phones, developing contacts, and attending committee meetings and legislative sessions.
This past legislative season saw the California Legislature rise to a new level of anti-family extremism by introducing an entire slate of bills aimed toward creating a division between parents and their children. The current Legislature is openly seeking to undermine the foundations of the traditional family and Biblical truth. We must stand firm as government authorities press in, seeking to supplant parental authority with their own. Despite this onslaught, we have retained 100% of our homeschool freedoms! However, they are on more tenuous grounds than ever as the pillar of parental rights is actively chiseled away.
Bills such as AB 223, which allows minors to legally change their gender without parental consent, deeply undermine the parent-child relationship and the ability of parents to protect and care for their children. As we see parental rights being eroded, we must ask ourselves some questions. If parents are not going to have the right to train, educate and care for their children, who is going to be training, educating and caring for them? If parents do not have these rights, someone else must. That someone else pushing in to claim the right to raise your children is the State of California.
We must remain vigilant. While our homeschool freedoms have been preserved, several bills were signed by the Governor that break down parental rights—one of the two pillars that homeschool freedom rests on (the other pillar being religious freedom).
Legislative Victories:
Our legislative work was intense this year—with Nathan spending more time at the Capitol than ever attending committee meetings, and with staff members helping to draft amendments to problematic bills and making several trips to deliver letters to legislator’s offices. This hard work paid off in the form of several substantial legislative victories.
One such victory was our amendments to AB 249. This bill would have required every school, including private homeschools, to test and potentially repair their water systems. The new requirement would have put the cost burden of repairs on the school in such cases where the tests delivered unsatisfactory results. Since homeschools operate as private schools, this would have caused homeschooling families to bear the burden of test and repair costs to their homes based on state standards for lead in water. FPM’s amendments were accepted by the author exempting all private schools—including all private homeschools—from the requirements of the bill. Ultimately the Governor vetoed this bill.
Another victory came with Governor Newsom’s veto of AB 1057. This bill would have established a system of home visits—assigning a social worker to every newborn born in the state! During one committee hearing, Nathan presented a number of concerns related to the high cost of implementing this program. These concerns were directly cited by Governor Newsom in his veto letter.
One major reason FPM opposed AB 1057 is that it violates the familial and church spheres of authority. The authority of the state does not extend into the building and maintenance of families. That authority and responsibility belongs to each individual family. Additionally, there are already a plethora of non-profit charities and organizations that offer many services for the care of new parents and their infants. One of FPM’s goals is to promote and protect the Biblical design for the family. Community and faith-based support systems are already available to help those in need of assistance, training, support, and encouragement.
A third victory for parental rights and educational freedom involved SB 767, which would have required kindergarten prior to entering first grade. Legislation to mandate kindergarten has come up many times over the years. But once again, FPM crafted amendment language that the author accepted. This bill no longer impacts students in private schools—which includes private homeschools. This is a huge win for parental rights. Parents should absolutely have the final word in the important and personal decision of when their child starts school.
In spite of the victories we have had this year and the rights that we have retained, we must be vigilant! While these issues have been satisfactorily resolved for the time being, these ideas will be brought forward again. It is important to note that Governor Newsom did not veto these bills based on principle, but rather because he saw language that needed to be tweaked or because of costs. His comments on this legislation indicate that he is favorable to these ideas. We could see bills again advancing these agendas as soon as January when the session resumes.
Investing in our future:
The work we do at FPM is an invaluable, long-term investment in the future of California. The current financial hardship that many of us are facing can cause us to focus on providing basic necessities for our families without considering other needs around us. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to consider sharing our limited resources with ministries and missionaries. Looking around, the need seems unending, while the bank account seems to be ever-shrinking.
Much of the work that we do does not yield immediate results. We sometimes do not get to see the fruits of our labors for many years. But God is faithful to provide for us as we continue to protect His design for the family.
It is vital that we keep FPM going for the sake of future generations. If our children and grandchildren are to have any hope of living with religious and educational freedom, we must take our stand now. Given the vast amount of anti-family legislation to come out of this session, we must be more diligent than ever to protect our freedoms. Some may understandably choose to leave California, but the reality is, that left unchecked, the ideas that begin here in California will spread throughout the nation. We must hold the line here and not abandon California to the radical agenda promoted by our Legislature.
We must stand firm in our defense and not allow any government overreach into private family life and private home education. We can only do this with your help. When it comes to defending private home education in California, Family Protection Ministries is the first line of defense. We are constantly on the alert, watching for challenges to your God-given rights to raise your family according to Biblical truth. We must have resources at our disposal to mount this defense. Just as all our valiant first responders need personnel and equipment to protect our lives and property, FPM needs personnel and equipment to take on legislative challenges.
Please consider supporting us financially so we can continue to invest in the current and future freedoms of our children and grandchildren.
Like many non-profit organizations we have experienced significant losses in our funding the past couple of years. During the Covid years, we lost several regular supporters. This drop in revenue coupled with the crippling inflation driving up costs causes us to have a pressing need now, especially for increased monthly donations and generous one-time gifts. Would you partner with us so we can continue leading the fight for our God-given liberties in 2024?
As the world begins to truly recover from the pandemic, we are slowly recovering from the significant financial losses we experienced over the last two years. But we have by no means recouped all of those losses. The drop in funding last year has set us behind in a number of areas that really need our attention.
With things returning to normal post Covid, God opened the door for Nathan to travel and speak at 24 separate events nationwide! In addition, the Pierce family’s involvement in FPM grew as Betsy was given the opportunity to speak on behalf of FPM on eight separate occasions. While these are excellent opportunities to get out the word about FPM and teach people about the principles of Biblical authority and the practicalities of private home education, the reality is that the offerings received at these events often do not even come close to covering FPM’s costs. Would you consider making a donation so Nathan may continue to give people instruction and encouragement and updates throughout the state?
A New Battleground Emerges:
As the number of homeschooled students has grown, so has the amount of media attention, which generally focuses on any parent who has been accused of something criminal. This only increases the likelihood that legislation will be brought forward to regulate this precious freedom. The Washington Post and Amazon Prime, among others, have put private home education in the spotlight with their sensationalized portrayals of homeschooling. Elites and educators have opined in the media that homeschooling should be banned, or at least strictly regulated.
These attacks continue to mount, and it takes additional resources to monitor and analyze them. Please pray for wisdom for us as we consider when, how, and to which of these portrayals to address.
FPM is 100% donor-funded:
We are completely dependent on the Lord using faithful people like you to support this critical work. FPM is unique. There is no other full-time ministry in California completely dedicated to detecting, analyzing, monitoring, and intervening in all legislation affecting the rights of private home educating families. We so appreciate the faithful, regular support that some of you have continued sending to FPM. We are humbled that you continue to support us when you are impacted by the soaring costs of everything that you need to care for your own family. We are deeply thankful for you!
In these challenging times we can choose to rest confidently in the Lord and His continued provision as the prophet Habakkuk did. Habakkuk knew that his country was soon to be taken over by a foreign power, yet he still trusted in the Lord, sharing his amazing prayer for our edification:
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.” (Habakkuk 3:17-19)
Habakkuk rejoiced in the Lord, even though his circumstances were dire, and he knew they were about to get worse. By God’s grace we may also rejoice in the Lord in difficult times, striving to build His Kingdom to the best of our ability. As followers of Christ we know that He will always provide for us when we are faithful to walk in obedience. Proverbs 11:24 tells us, “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.”
This Proverb may seem paradoxical, but it illustrates that God’s Kingdom does not operate within the same principles as this earthly kingdom we live in. Giving financially is one way we can stretch our faith and invest in God’s Kingdom. That is a far better investment than any earthly banking portfolio. As followers of Christ, we can be generous, knowing that we are dear children of the greatest giver of all, whose birth we are celebrating this season. Jesus Himself promised, “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:48).
You can donate to FPM online at fpmca.org/donate. Thank you for considering the needs of this ministry. Please tell others about our work and encourage them to support FPM as well, and please continue to pray for us.
As we look forward to the upcoming Christmas season, we cannot help but ponder the greatest gift ever—the Lord Jesus—given as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Our great God is our model for giving. As we strive to grow in our faith, seeking to model our heavenly Father, let us also strive to give as He did!
We are praying that you may stand confident in the Lord’s faithfulness in the coming year. May you look forward with hope, knowing that our great God has every circumstance in His caring hand and that His plans will prevail.
Thank you so much,
