2019 Heritage House Catalog

THE STORY OF THE PRECIOUS FEET PRECIOUS FEET HAVE BEEN SAVING LIVES FOR OVER 40 YEARS! All achievements, great and small, originate with an idea. Very often one good idea leads to another, thus compounding the impact of the original idea. Such is the story of our Precious Feet lapel pin, identical in size and shape to the feet of a ten-week-old unborn baby. It was God’s “idea” that you and I should be created in His image and likeness. He declared us His very own children from the moment of fertilization. This is verified in Holy Scripture: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you came to birth, I consecrated you.”— Jeremiah 1:15. Our body, God reveals, is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Dr. Russell Sacco, father of four and a photographer, had the original idea back in 1970. The pathologist with whom he shared a lab kept unborn babies (fetus- es) in bottles of formaldehyde lined on a shelf. Dr. Sacco had become acutely aware of the highly developed state of even the very tiniest of these unborn babies. He envisioned the power a dramatic picture of those tiny feet might have. Most importantly, he acted on his vision. Through the years the remark- able photograph he produced — two perfect feet held between a thumb and forefinger — has become synonymous with the pro-life movement. On the first anniversary of Roe v Wade — January 22, 1974 — in San Diego, California, a group of pro-lifers were preparing for a March for Life. As part of that effort, they placed a full page ad in the San Diego Union. Prominent in the ad was Dr. Sacco’s picture of a ten-week-old unborn baby’s feet. The picture haunted me. I told my husband Ellis, “These precious little feet should be the pro-life movement’s official symbol.” Dr. Sacco has said, “It has been difficult for me to comprehend the enormous impact my picture has had on the pro-life movement.” It certainly had an impact on me. Ellis and I acted on our idea, too, and our Precious Feet are the direct result of Dr Sacco’s important photograph. The impact of these two ideas is being felt around the world. The Precious Feet were designated the “International Pro-Life Sym- bol” at a world-wide symposium in Dublin, Ireland, in 1979. At this writing nearly 15 million have been distributed in 30 countries and on six continents. In the beginning, Ellis and I directed the activities of Heritage House ‘76 from our home in Taylor, Arizona. What started with the Precious Feet has become a source for Pro-Life literature, bumper stickers, videos, and just about anything else a Pro-Life group could need. For six years profits from Heritage House supported a home for unwed mothers run by our daughter and her husband, Mike and Dinah Monahan. We also supported a local crisis pregnancy service known as “We Care.” In 1992, Ellis and I retired and Mike and Dinah took over operation of Heritage House. Two years later, Ellis went to be with the Lord. No doubt he was ush- ered into heaven by countless babies whose lives he worked tirelessly to save. Mike and Dinah continue the work today and have expanded Heritage House into one of the largest providers of Pro-Life material in the country. The greatest reward we have for our labor is the fact that Precious Feet are saving babies lives. We have received numerous testimonials attesting to this fact. From Atlanta, Georgia, we heard about a Birthright volunteer who visited a pregnant teenager contemplating abortion in a juvenile facility. The volunteer gave her literature and a Precious feet pin from her lapel. She explained the significance of the feet (the girl was exactly 10 weeks pregnant). In the course of their conversation she learned the girl’s roommate was pregnant and was planning an abortion. In a subsequent letter, we learned, “The Precious Feet did their work. We were able to save not one, but two babies.” We know God performs His wonders through His children. It is to Him we give our daily praise and thanksgiving for the creation of the Precious Feet. — Virginia Evers