“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” –Psalm 107:1

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving here in the United States, I wanted to share some wonderful news with you, and at the end I have a prayer request.

Let’s start with the great news…

The final reports from this fall’s 40 Days for Life campaigns are now in and you are the very FIRST to get this news.

Thanks to your prayers, fasting, participation in peaceful vigils outside abortion centers in 179 cities, and grassroots outreach, the total number of documented lives saved by this fall’s 40 Days for Life is…

614!!

That’s 614 children — made in the image and likeness of God — who are alive today because of YOU.

That also represents 614 mothers who have been spared a life of regrets because of YOU.

As you gather with friends and family to eat turkey, watch football, and celebrate Thanksgiving, please remember these 614 beautiful reasons to be especially thankful this year.

And here’s my prayer request…

Over the last two weeks, we received 6,177 surveys with great input on where this national effort needs to go from here. To be honest, we were shocked — and a bit overwhelmed — by the huge response which was nearly TRIPLE what we’ve ever gotten before.

Your insights were eye-opening. For example…

• 35.0% of the respondents said that 40 Days for Life was the first pro-life activity they have EVER taken an active role in
• 92.2% said that they experienced personal and/or spiritual growth through their participation in 40 Days for Life
• 99.0% told us it was “critically important” or “important” to expand this effort (88.6% said critically important, 10.4% said important)

With the mandate you have given us to expand this effort, we reviewed the information from your surveys during strategic planning sessions over the last few days where two things became crystal clear:

1. The two 40 Days for Life campaigns now scheduled for 2009 (February 25 – April 5 and September 23 – November 1) are going to be gigantic efforts, requiring a massive scaling-up effort on the part of our national team. 
2. A tremendous need has been expressed to build on the momentum following a 40 Days for Life in a community. Tools, training, and strategies — with proven results — are desperately needed to educate, equip, and empower local people to establish and/or grow pro-life efforts that can “fight the good fight” over the long haul.

These are ENORMOUS opportunities…

…But so are the daunting challenges we will have to face together.

Why God has given such an enormous mission to a fledgling little effort like 40 Days for Life is beyond me.

Keep in mind that the 40 Days for Life organization is only 19 months old.

Our national team is made up of only one full-time employee (me), three contract workers, and a handful of dedicated volunteers who have worked tirelessly to ensure the success of this effort.

We don’t have an office and we work at all hours from our homes or on the road by laptop and cell phone.

We invested every resource we had into this fall’s campaign because the stakes were so high.

And to top it off, we’re coming off the devastating national and state elections that make local pro-life efforts more important than ever.

(Isn’t it just like God to give us an opportunity to stretch our faith while doing His work?)

Bottom line — you’ve made it very clear that we have an opportunity to turn the tide together and make a decisive impact against the injustice of abortion…

…And with much prayer and planning, we are nearly ready to announce aggressive strategic plans to do just that…

…But I have to be totally honest and tell you that we can’t do it on our own.

We’re going to need your prayers and your help.

Next Tuesday, watch for a post here with the subject line:

“Major Announcement”

In that message, I’ll let you know the specifics of when we will be unveiling the big plans for the next phase of this growing effort — and how YOU can help make a lifesaving impact.

In the meantime, our national team, my family, and I would deeply appreciate your prayers.

The best is yet to come!

In Christ,

David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

P.S.- Have a very safe and blessed Thanksgiving. We certainly have much to be thankful for!

As we reflect on last week’s election results, we all recognize the urgency of building on the momentum of this fall’s 40 Days for Life campaign — to save more lives at the local level where together we can make the greatest possible impact.

Even the national media recognizes the fundamental shift that is happening before our eyes.

Yesterday, the Associated Press ran a major story in newspapers across the U.S. stating, “Despite election setbacks on many fronts, anti-abortion leaders sound more defiant than deflated as they brace for a future with fewer friends in high places.”

The article reported that the pro-life movement is now re-focusing on, “street protests, grass-roots activism and state legislation,” and quoted a prediction that, “activists would stage more mass demonstrations and abortion-clinic vigils.”

A political scientist who studies the pro-life movement told the reporter she’d be “shocked” if we didn’t continue in our local efforts because, “that’s been the area where they’ve had success in closing some abortion clinics.” She then added, “If you compromise, you lose the core of the movement.”

For once, the secular media is right.

Now that it’s settling in that we’re facing the most pro-abortion administration in our nation’s history, we must commit to move aggressively forward and work tirelessly to save lives RIGHT WHERE WE LIVE.

With that in mind, I need your advice.

This is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT request I have sent to you throughout this fall 40 Days for Life campaign cycle, and your response is crucial.

The unprecedented growth and widespread impact of 40 Days for Life is a direct result of the input received from many people over the last year.

Now it’s your turn!

Regardless of your level of involvement in this campaign, please fill out a short survey to let us know your thoughts about 40 Days for Life — AND MORE IMPORTANTLY — to help shape the future of this collective effort!

http://snipurl.com/5cz66  

It’s a simple survey with just a handful of questions that should take you about 5 minutes to complete.

I would really appreciate if you could make the time to complete this survey today — or by the end of this week, if at all possible.

There are enormous opportunities for us all to build on the momentum of this campaign, and your input will be vital in shaping the direction of these collective efforts in the future.

http://snipurl.com/5cz66

The next few months promise to be exciting, and I truly believe the best days of the pro-life movement are just ahead of us!

In Christ,

David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

P.S.- Thank you in advance for your willingness to complete this survey, and we promise to read each and every response. Here’s that link one more time: http://snipurl.com/5cz66

What a day !!

We finished out the fall 40 Days for Life yesterday at a concluding event in Sarasota, Florida, that was attended by more than 300 people (along with the local Planned Parenthood CEO, who was furious as hundreds of people gathered outside her new 40,000+ square foot abortion mega-center that is nearing the completion of construction.)

This day after 40 Days for Life has finished, there are more blessings than we can count, and I thank you for every contribution you’ve made to this largest coordinated pro-life outreach in history.

It’s a good day to look at where we’ve been — and where we’re going.

For one thing, 40 Days for Life has gotten far more media attention than it’s ever gotten before, meaning more people in more cities saw for themselves what this effort is all about. Here are a few of the many newspaper articles local teams have generated:

Washington Times: http://snipurl.com/4ymh0  

Chicago Sun-Times: http://snipurl.com/4ymf6  

And here’s what 40 Days for Life looked like on local TV newscasts (be sure to watch the video clips!):

WREG-TV Memphis: http://snipurl.com/4ymkn

KFSN-TV Fresno: http://snipurl.com/4ymlo  

WPTY-TV Fort Wayne: http://snipurl.com/4ymnn  

We’ve had numerous reports of clinics shutting their doors on days when abortions are usually scheduled.

Other abortionists apparently decided to take time off. “There’s a sign on our clinic door — closed until November 5,” wrote one vigil participant. “God is moving.”

In Oklahoma City, Karen reports that someone called the clinic and was told the abortionist won’t be back until November 6. “That’s two whole weeks plus two days of closure for the clinic,” she said. “I know our prayers had an effect on him!”

The abortion businesses expect that we will simply “go away” after 40 Days for Life is over. But they don’t know the hearts of the people who’ve stood vigil and seen the results.

“Why not 365 days for life?” asked Pablo. “We could keep the pressure on … I’m sure we can find volunteers.”

“I agree with Pablo,” wrote Ed. “Why not a perpetual vigil for life? My wife and I drove 3 1/2 hours each way to pray for two hours at an abortion clinic last Saturday. We’re going again tomorrow.”

One of the local teams has been praying for the security guard at an abortion center. They wave at him, and he waves back. This has been going on since the start of 40 Days for Life.

Just this week, he finally approached the group on the sidewalk. “I heard that you help women if they need food or clothes or anything for their babies. If I find women in need, can I send them to you?”

“How do I tell the security guard no? That 40 Days for Life is almost over, so if you find a woman in need we won’t be here anymore?” asked the local campaign director.

“It was such a clear sign that we can not stop. If he would have just quit the job we would have thought our work done, but because he wants to help us with our work it was a clear sign that we have to keep going.”

And keep going, we will. As to what form that will take, and what specific needs we’ll address — we’re already praying hard for discernment and the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

We encourage you to do likewise. The conclusion of this 40 Days for Life campaign is just the end of a chapter, not the end of the book.

“I am hearing the same thing over and over,” said Jennifer. “40 Days for Life may be over, but it is only a beginning. A volunteer told me today the clinic workers are not going away and neither are we. We will not quit until this clinic closes down.”

Here’s today’s “bonus” devotional from Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life and President of the National Pro-life Religious Council…

DAY 41 INTENTION:

Pray that the witness of 40 Days for Life bears abundant fruit, and that we begin again each day to storm the gates of hell until God welcomes us into the gates of heaven.

SCRIPTURE:

On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

– Matthew 16:18

REFLECTION by Fr. Frank Pavone:

When we read this verse, we usually think that the Lord is promising that the church, which is His Body, will withstand all the attacks launched against it. Of course, that is true.

But when we think about it more carefully, we realize that in a battle, the gates do not run out into the battlefield to attack the enemy. Rather, they stand still to defend the city from the enemy attacking it.

So when the Lord says that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, who is doing the attacking? It is the church storming the gates!

The church, all of God’s people in Christ, is called to take the offensive, to run into enemy territory, and to gain ground for Jesus Christ. We do not wait for an invitation; we already have a command. We prepare, but we do not wait for circumstances to be perfect; we already have one who has gone before us.

During these 40 days, we have stormed the gates. We have taken the offensive. We have pushed forward the boundaries of the kingdom. And we must keep doing so, in numerous ways.

Indeed, the gates of hell will not prevail. The gates of falsehood will flee in the presence of truth. The gates of sin will melt in the presence of grace. The gates of death will fall in the presence of the church, the People of Life!

PRAYER:

Father, we praise you. We have heard the voice of your Son, and therefore we can make our voices heard. We have done battle with the power of evil, and therefore we can have compassion on those still within its grip. We have been freed from the kingdom of darkness, and therefore we can bear witness to your Kingdom of Light.

May the witness of all your people through these 40 Days for Life bear abundant fruit, and may we begin again each day to storm the gates of hell until You welcome us into the gates of heaven. We pray in the victorious name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Today’s 40 Days for Life devotional can also be downloaded at: http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2008day41print.pdf

With just one day remaining before Americans go to the polls to decide the most critical election in recent history, here are some things that ALL of us can do to positively impact the outcome on Tuesday, November 4:

1.) PRAY AND FAST

If ever there was a time for massive, unified prayer for our nation — that time is NOW! Please commit to pray fervently, and if you feel led — fast these last two days.

2.) EDUCATE YOURSELF ABOUT WHAT’S AT STAKE

Here are several short, but highly effective videos that underscore what’s at stake in the elections:

For all Christians:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwLY_HRt-AM

For Catholic Christians:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61wj4tJICcc

3.) EDUCATE YOURSELF ABOUT THE CANDIDATES

A great resource to learn about the candidates and where they stand on life issues is:

http://www.politicalresponsibility.com

4.) GET TO THE POLLS EARLY TO CAST YOUR VOTE

Find your polling place by visiting:

http://www.vote411.org/pollfinder.php

Go early in the day and be willing to wait in a line, if necessary, due to likely high voter turnout.

5.) GET LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE OUT TO THE POLLS

This is not the time to argue and debate with people who do not understand the importance of protecting life. We must use every available minute to encourage pro-life friends, family members, co-workers, and fellow believers to turnout to vote.

Also, be sure to contact the offices of pro-life candidates and parties and ask what you can do to help with “Get Out the Vote” efforts. For a short video that reminds us WHY this is important, watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5SXjYkQpDk

By each of us investing time and energy into these activities, we can ensure that we will wake up Wednesday knowing we did all we could to “speak up for those who could not speak for themselves.”

Yours for Life,

David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

 It’s Day 40 — the final day of this fall’s 40 Days for Life effort.

Margaret, Claire, Patrick, and I just arrived in Sarasota, Florida — the 51st city I’ve traveled to during this 40 Days for Life campaign.

When I logged onto my computer and began to read the hundreds of e-mail messages reporting victories from across North America, a wave of emotions swept over me: joy, relief, excitement, peace, thanksgiving.

Together we have witnessed God accomplishing amazing miracles through His people.

I’ll share some highlights of these reports with you over the next few days (before taking a MUCH needed break from e-mail.

I just recorded a 9-minute “wrap-up” audio message that will be played at many of the concluding events for local campaigns across North America today. You can listen to it here:

Listen to the Audio Online (click “Play” button to start audio):

Download MP3 (click to play, right-click to save to your computer):

http://www.40daysforlife.com/blog/audio/conclusion_24.mp3

Though this campaign is coming to an end, we know that there is much work still to do before the day when no more babies die and no more women cry.

Susan in Maryland realizes that as well, offering her thoughts after spending time in prayer at an abortion center — citing the importance of being there today, tomorrow… and as long as it takes.

Susan and two friends left church to pray at the vigil outside Whole Woman’s Health — it’s hard to imagine a more erroneous name for a place of death.

This particular abortion facility is tucked away in the back of a shopping center and many people don’t even realize it’s there, even though it’s near busy highways in metropolitan Baltimore.

As the three drove towards the vigil, the sky got progressively darker. “So much so,” she thought, “that I wondered in my heart if a ‘cloud of darkness’ permanently existed over the clinic,” which has been in business for more than 25 years. What does it take, she asked her friends, to close down such an abomination?

Seven others were praying at the clinic. When the three friends arrived, so did the rain. “It seemed like the sky had exploded with a storm fierce and powerful,” Susan said. “Torrents of rain pelted our faces, saturated our clothing, but we did not flinch but held steady in unified prayer for the unborn.”

The wind picked up, blowing signs out of vigil participants’ hands and turning umbrellas inside out. Some ran for rain gear, but no one stopped praying. “The wind blew,” said Susan, “over and over, with countless gusts that whipped our faces and with debris that stung our skin.”

As she prayed, Susan thought about why she was there. “Just the night before, I had visited Whole Woman’s Health web site. They have the most attractive women pictured with such luring lies as, ‘We care about the whole woman.’” For extra fees, this clinic offers a “VIP abortion” package with a private room, light meal and herbal tea.

The thought of that just led Susan to pray even harder. “Again the wind blew and the rain pelted our faces.”

She and her friends finished their prayer time at the 40 Days for Life prayer vigil with wet hair and soaked socks, feeling drenched but not drained. 

“Perhaps, this day, back in the parking lot, God touched a heart from the power of our prayers and had a young mother turn away from the clinic,” said Susan.

“Perhaps, the abortionist felt our presence and thought for a moment what our signs said. Or maybe a nervous parent took their pregnant daughter back to the car and just drove them home. In any event, we pray and continue to pray that we all will see the day when this moral crime will stop. We pray for a country where all will be protected — born and unborn. No matter what weather, we stand with God.

“Pray today for an end to abortion,” she added. “Just do it!”

Here’s today’s devotional from Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life and President of the National Pro-life Religious Council…

DAY 40 INTENTION:

Let us keep our eyes fixed on the New Jerusalem, where death will be no more.

SCRIPTURE:

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”

–Revelation 21:4-5

REFLECTION by Fr. Frank Pavone:

Every activity we undertake in defense of the sanctity of life is prophetic, inasmuch as it points to the day when “death will be no more.”

Every victory we have when an act of abortion is prevented is prophetic of that day when death itself will be definitively conquered.

Every triumph of grace in this world, whereby someone is brought to see the value of life and given the strength to welcome it, is a breaking into our history of that definitive future in which the old order of things will have passed, and all things will be made new.

As pro-life warriors, we must keep our eyes fixed on heaven, and our hearts secure in the hope that the day is coming when all evil will be conquered. It is the future that shapes the present; it is victory that informs the battle; it is the destination that determines the journey.

Daily, we are called to reflect on heaven. When we weep, we are to think of the day when every tear will be wiped away.

When we face the destructive power of death, we are to think of the day when death is swallowed up in victory.
When we labor against abortion, we are to think of the day when we will have the rest and peace of the final triumph of life.

Heaven is as real as earth, and its joys will be as real as our present sorrows.

PRAYER:

Father, you are the God of hope. Your word fills us with the vision of the world to come, when every tear will be wiped away, and death will be no more. Father, how we need that hope, how we are strengthened by that vision!

Keep our hearts focused on heaven, and diligent in the labors of earth. As we struggle against the culture of death, root our souls in the assurance of victory. We pray through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Today’s 40 Days for Life devotional can also be downloaded at: http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2008day40print.pdf

Yours for Life,

David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

P.S.- I, like you, am very concerned about our national elections that happen this Tuesday, November 4. The stakes have NEVER been higher. Over the next two days, I will suggest simple — but highly effective — things you and I can do to make a lifesaving impact in these crucial last few days.

Today is Day 39, and we’re in the home stretch of this fall’s 40 Days for Life effort.

Amazing things are still unfolding all across North America and many people are looking to keep the momentum building beyond the end of this campaign (See the press release we sent out yesterday at: http://snipurl.com/4w8j5 ) 

I had a daily e-mail message planned for you today until something happened a few hours ago that changed all of that…

…I watched in shock as a 16-year-old boy was hit by a car a few yards in front of me.

Here’s what happened…

All day, our family had been visiting 40 Days for Life locations along Florida’s Atlantic coast. In the evening we finally rolled into West Palm Beach to spend the night before heading out to visit more vigil sites in the morning.

A sweet local family had invited us to their house. While driving over to meet them, we stopped at a red light at a busy intersection.

As we sat there in the dark, a boy shot past us on his bicycle and rolled right out into the traffic in the middle of the busy street.

Before I knew what was happening, an SUV going 40 miles an hour plowed into the young man, sending him and his bike flying through the air before they crashed to the pavement.

The driver slammed on his brakes and narrowly missed running over the boy.

I jumped out of our rental car (as Margaret, Claire, and Patrick began to pray) and was the first one to the boy’s side. Within 30 seconds, nearly a dozen other people had stopped to help.

The boy was injured, but thankfully not in a life-threatening way. He had cuts and scrapes all over, and his leg was in severe pain — probably broken.

He told me that his bike’s brakes had failed.

The police and paramedics arrived quickly and were able to rush him to a nearby hospital to begin treatment and healing.

Having seen the accident from about ten yards away, I can tell you it is a miracle he is alive.

While driving away from the accident scene, Margaret and I were reflecting on what we had just witnessed, and came to two realizations…

1.) WHEN ANOTHER PERSON’S LIFE IS AT RISK, HONORABLE PEOPLE STOP EVERYTHING ELSE AND TRY TO HELP.

I was impressed by how many people stopped to assist, and by the response of the police and paramedics.

Nobody was worried about being late to where they were going. Nobody was thinking about how their stock portfolio was doing. Nobody was concerned about what church anyone else attended. Nobody was worried about each other’s political affiliations.

When another person was at risk, people set aside everything else to help save a life.

2.) WE WERE REMINDED OF JUST HOW FRAGILE — AND PRECIOUS — EVERY HUMAN LIFE IS.

In what seemed like a millisecond, this boy went from happily riding down the road to lying bleeding and in pain on the pavement next to the twisted remains of his bicycle in the middle of a busy intersection.

He certainly didn’t expect that to happen to him.

In the same way, none of us knows exactly how much time we have left on this earth and, as a result, we need to make the most of every single moment.

These two realizations made us immediately think of YOU, and the tens of thousands of other faithful believers participating in 40 Days for Life all across North America.

When the lives of innocent, pre-born children have been at risk of death, and women have been at risk of devastation from abortion, you stopped to help by participating in 40 Days for Life.

And your heroic efforts to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” demonstrate that you ARE making the most of every moment and showing the world how precious and sacred every human life really is.

Let’s pray for the swift healing of the young boy who was hit by a car, and let’s press forward together in our efforts to protect every human life.

Here’s today’s devotional from Carmen Pate, Co-host of the “Point of View” radio talk show…

DAY 39 INTENTION:

Pray that God will continue to bless the efforts that have gone into the 40 Days for Life campaign, as we trust Him for the results.

SCRIPTURE:

Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name.

– Nehemiah 1:10-11

REFLECTION by Carmen Pate:

Nehemiah provides an awesome blueprint for volunteers in God’s service, particularly those responding to the devastation abortion has caused our nation.

Nehemiah grieved for God’s reputation as he witnessed the condition of the city walls of Jerusalem. The walls were broken down which was seen by neighboring people as a sign of weakness on the part of Jerusalem’s God. No wall meant no security for the city and its people.

We learn from his story that he covered every detail in prayer; inspired others to join the cause; organized others to help do the work; confronted opposition directly and turned to God when discouraged; and finally celebrated what was accomplished and gave God all the glory!

Like Nehemiah, we must acknowledge God’s sovereignty as we serve Him before a mocking world. We too need to be reminded that we are “fighting” for our families. We too must have an attitude of confession and repentance before a Holy God. We must pray for strength, refute slander, and not be diverted from our work.

Like Nehemiah, we will draw attention from the enemy when we are seeking to protect the well-being of God’s people. We too must stand firm and seek God’s help to persevere until the task is done. We too will be victorious.

PRAYER:

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in heaven and in the earth is Yours.

We pray for your continued guidance and protection throughout the remainder of this 40 day campaign. May we be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in Your work, knowing that our labor will not be in vain. We pray in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Today’s 40 Days for Life devotional can also be downloaded at: http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2008day39print.pdf

Yours for Life,

David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life