It is hard to overstate the impact Victor Davis has had on countless lives. As husband, father, grandfather, friend, and pastor, he has made an impact that will be felt for generations. However, this life was almost cut short, those impacts not made. More than 80 years ago, his mother was pregnant and desperate, and she turned to abortion. Fortunately, that abortion failed and Davis was allowed the chance to live out God’s plan for his life.

When Davis was in his thirties, his older sisters told him the true story of his own brush with abortion.

“My sisters told me that (my mother) attempted to abort me also. I don’t know what happened, I just know it didn’t take, but in a way I was born. She named me ‘Victor.’ It had to do, at that time, with Victor Borge, but the true meaning is ‘one who overcomes.’ I didn’t find out about this until I was 30 years old and my sisters related it to me, but there was something in my life that always fought for the underdog.”

Vic Davis and his family in the 1970s

Davis’ mother already had four children from a previous marriage when she married his father. They had a daughter together and, when she became pregnant again, she did not want to keep the baby. Between his sister’s birth and his own, Davis says, “My mother got pregnant again with a male child, and it was a difficult time for her, as the story goes, so she aborted. I don’t know if it was a rough pregnancy or not, but she didn’t want him. She was in a bad spot in her life so, she just aborted the child. She wound up pregnant with me shortly thereafter.”

His mother, who had another son after Victor, became pro-life, and the family would picket abortion clinics together growing up in Michigan, adamantly fighting for the unborn. The pro-life movement, Davis says, “has been a continual part of my life.” Through most of this, his mother was struggling as the sole provider for her family. “She was a rock. My Dad left when I was 5 years old, and I never saw him again after that. My mother did what she could to raise seven kids, and we all respected that.”

When Victor met his wife, she had her own sense of purpose in life. Losing her mother and sibling in childbirth at a young age, she also understood the sanctity of life. “Her name is Faith and my name is Victor and we’ve both gone through traumatic components in our lives and are both very strong pro-life as a result. We value life. She often wonders why God spared her and the next child died? I often wonder why did God spare me and not the one before? We believe these things are no coincidence.”

Together, through 50 years of marriage and ministry in Gary, Indiana, they have worked to protect the unborn. “‘Pro-life’ encompasses such a large concept,” said Davis.

Pastor Davis with his granddaughter

“We are born to the life that God has ordained for each one of us to experience so, therefore, we champion all of life, all of life’s expressions, especially as it pertains to the young ones. That means that we invest in people, we invest in organizations, we support the homeless or the helpless. No one is more helpless than children and babies. Our whole thing is to be involved in supporting life. Everyone who was conceived should have the chance to find the love of God in the context of living, we believe that everyone should have that right and not be denied it. “

Although Davis was already fighting for unborn children, finding out how close he had come to being aborted “brought a clearness to (my ministry) and an understanding of why I was here. It gave me a sense of destiny in my life. … It brought hope and purpose for my life, and it gave me a greater compassion for the struggle of mothers.

“My mom, I know what she went through, the sacrifices she made to raise all seven kids. She did a wonderful job and I’m so glad, personally, that she chose to keep me and not abort me or adopt me out. She paid whatever price that needed to be paid to make sure that I experienced life and the love of God that she subsequently found as she went on in life.

“I think that, when she went on to be with the Lord, there was a great sense of peace in her heart, that she had done the right things at it pertained to birth. Even the mistake that she made, I’m sure that God forgave her for that, and she lived as one who was forgiven and one who was whole and not fractured by it. We always tell the young ladies, “hey, look, you’re not broken.

Victor Davis with his son

“You’re not afflicted with something. If you have aborted a baby, God ain’t mad at you, he still loves you and your life still counts. It’s what you do from this day forward that really matters. We’ve done a lot of counseling that way, mothers who chose abortion, or those who chose to keep their kids and they need help. They need support, and we help. Through all the fifty-some years of my marriage and ministry, those who were wounded like us. We are all flawed.”

Davis has found that faith, politics and race all come into play in the abortion debate. “People of faith tend to be more outspoken about (abortion) than they were 20 years ago. The black community is politically linked to the Democratic party and their message which is that of endowment. You deserve this and you deserve that. So, therefore, at the heart, the black church knows the wrongness of killing the preborn, but they never were that outspoken. It was sort of a lifelong work of mine in ministerial alliance to help them to understand where we were, where we are, what the issue is. They would agree with the issue, but they wouldn’t do anything, even to help the mothers who chose life.” With his ministry at the Spirit of God Fellowship, Davis has spoken out previously about the ways in which blacks are disproportionately victimized through abortion.

However, he has seen hope in recent years. “I’ve seen, especially in these last 10 years, that true prayer and increased perseverance over the issue, I’ve seen a shift in the overall attitude of people towards preserving life and saving the defenseless. I’m sure it has a lot to do with the technology that has been able to show the life of the preborn individual in all of its intricacy. That has really helped to awaken the heart of the populace. Most people are caring people and concerned. The big shift that I’ve seen is that the ‘fetus’ mentality has declined, and the ‘baby’ mentality, the ‘preborn’ has become an individual rather than an object. So, I’m really grateful to see that defense of the unborn has become much more popular. I believe that is a result of prayer, and that those who believe and value life have not given up.”

Pastor Vic’s story could have been tragic but, instead, it is a story of forgiveness, compassion and faith.