DAY 22: God has blessed us
In the first half of a 40 Days for Life campaign volunteers can be hesitant and some in the community may be skeptical of the ongoing vigil … BUT by the second half of the campaign, the focus shifts to the reality of abortion in the community and the campaign effort begins to rapidly snowball!
In fact, we are starting to get reports of clinic workers on the brink of conversion (more on this in a future e-mail) and the numbers at the vigils are growing — and growing fast!
Here are a few examples.
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ST. CLOUD, MINNESOTA
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Students at the Father Pierz School of Religion are taking part in the St. Cloud campaign. The school administrator says these 8th to 12th graders watched a video on abortion, made pro-life posters, then participated in 40 Days for Life events outside Planned Parenthood.
“We talked about how women who are seeking abortions need our love,” said the administrator. “Women who have had abortions need our love more than ever – and the love of Jesus.” Students were inspired to stand up for what they believe in and to not be afraid to stand up against abortion.
“The students held their posters with pride as cars drove by and honked or waved. Every time a car would honk, the students would cheer loudly,” she said. “It was a beautiful site to witness.”
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LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA
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“As these days tick by and we stay out consistently, we are starting to attract more attention and reactions,” said Erin in Lancaster.
She said it’s especially gratifying to see teenagers and young adults at the 40 Days for Life vigil in Lancaster. “It is our age group that has the largest percentage of abortions,” Erin said, “and we need to represent what freedom God has blessed our generation: freedom in truth, goodness, love and life.”
There have been some unfriendly reactions to the vigil, Erin said, “but it seems that for every one bad gesture or comment, there are maybe twenty affirming ones. That is better than expected!”
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CANTON, OHIO
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About 50 people gathered outside Planned Parenthood recently for a special event during the Canton 40 Days for Life campaign – the Day of Mourning for African-American Babies and All the Unborn.
About 12 percent of the total U.S. population is black. But an estimated one third of all abortions involve black mothers. Other estimates suggest that as many as half of all African-American pregnancies end in abortion.
“The event, conducted by Pastors Walter and Darleen Moss, was an hour of prayer, praise, sermons and testimonies,” said Linda in Canton. “Due to his stand for all the unborn and his willingness to speak out from the pulpit, his road has not been easy.”
She thanked them for speaking the truth and spreading the Word of God with the love and compassion of Jesus Christ. “We are so lessed to have both of them leading us to building a Culture of ife,” she said.
Here’s the link to today’s devotional
For Life,
Shawn Carney
Campaign Director
40 Days for Life
March 14th, 2012 at 6:45 am
Keep up the good work God bless fantastic
March 14th, 2012 at 7:20 am
May the good LORD give us more and more love for those suffering from
post abortion effects and the abortion workers. Help us to love the “hell” out of them, the discouragement, despair, neglect and abuse. Turn them to
hate evil and love the good.
March 14th, 2012 at 8:23 am
Greetings Brothers and Sisters in Christ around the world,
As the battle for truth continues remember that “we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” Romans 8:37. There are two special words in this powerful verse. Conquerors and love. We are involved in a spiritual battle and according to Ephesians 6:12 and it is spiritual wickedness in high places. When the enemy destroys signs and tries to intimidate us remember that love was demonstrated toward us while we were His enemies Romans 5:8. As we believe the Bible we know how this spiritual battle ends. So continue to stand and demonstrate God’s love for those that are blinded and need to see the light of Christ’s love Matthew 5:16. We are having many opportunities to smile and wave as we watch and pray at the Kennewick Washington Planned Parenthood facility. We use our vigil time to clean up cigarette filters and other garbage left or blown in because we are encouraged to overcome evil with good Romans 12:21. Thank you for all the examples of this love we read about in the daily updates.
March 14th, 2012 at 8:55 am
Our Lady of Life ask your son Jesus to provide healing for mothers and fathers of aborted children.
March 14th, 2012 at 10:48 am
David in Kennewick WA… inspired words! and I LIKE your idea to clean up the area while we are praying at the vigil sites! People are making wonderful signs!! so bright and colorful, too!
-from Minneapolis area
March 14th, 2012 at 10:53 am
Rock on St. Cloud!
March 14th, 2012 at 11:34 am
Day 18 of 40 Days for Life – At War for Life
Today a young woman gets out of her parked car and walks toward the shopping plaza. I hope she’s going to the salon to get her hair done. But no, she walks past the hair salon without stopping. Maybe she has come to shop at the dollar store next door. No, she walks past that store as well, and heads…to the Planned Parenthood “Health” Center adjacent to the dollar store.
In front of the clinic she stops, pauses momentarily, then enters behind the reflective glass door….to an appointment to kill her child? I’ll probably never know for sure. I do know that over 50% of women who have abortions feel they have no choice and over 70% are never told about alternatives.
If an abortion is imminent for this woman and her child, I have no other recourse than to pray. Appropriately, the next Scripture I planned to meditate on to guide my prayer after she drove up was Ephesians 6:10-13.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (NIV)
So I enter the struggle and pray for her.
Then there are the young men – waiting outside the glass walls of the abortion clinic. They were there Wednesday and again today. Standing – seated – waiting…for what? As I prayed today for a young man sitting on the bench near the clinic door, his back to the facility where perhaps his son or daughter is meeting a violent death at the hands of an abortionist, tears begin to well up in my eyes. Does he know what he is doing? Or perhaps he does but has no say in the fate of his child.
I become restless – pacing back and forth. I’m not sure why. Perhaps a sense of helplessness. It hurts to think of his loss. This is personal. My only grandson was born out of wedlock. So are 83% of all aborted children. My grandson was unplanned as are most aborted babies…but by the grace of God not unwanted.
Earlier on my watch this was the text,
“ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44 NIV)
The devil is the enemy. We are at war with him. The one who has come “to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10) has also successfully deceived many moms and dads, many doctors and nurses, many counselors and many owners of abortion facilities.
It is a real war with real victims – preborn human beings (over 3,300 per day), their post abortive mothers and fathers, their grandmothers and grandfathers and other family members who will never meet them.
We must stand in the gap for the helpless, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27 NIV)
The victims of abortion are the most destitute of all orphans – not just abandoned by parents but murdered. Many of their mothers are the widows – pressured, manipulated, even coerced into killing their own young by those closest to them.
“…though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV)
(I am participating in a 40 Days For Life prayer and fasting vigil at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Pembroke Pines Florida. You can be involved in the 40 Days For Life effort at an abortion clinic by going to http://www.40daysforlife.com/ for further information.)
March 14th, 2012 at 11:46 am
This is my first experience with 40 Days For Life and I love it. When we were praying last week in front of Oakville-Trafalgar Hospital, a lady came up to us and said: “You are a blessing! You made my day! We all have our stories… When I was 15, I got pregnant, I had to give the baby up for adoption, one year later I got pregnant again and I had an abortion. Please, pray for me! I need your prayers! I will also pray for the end of abortions. God Bless You!” We prayed for her! It was very emotional. Thank You Lord for 40DFL! We have to pray, fast and be there for all the parents and the babies!
March 14th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
Thank you for sharing the photos of the young people with their posters! They will never forget being involved in 40 Days! It will be part of what is shaping their lives now & for the years to come.
Alice
March 14th, 2012 at 4:31 pm
This is our 2nd Campaign, and we just had our very 1st SAVE today! The mother was 17 weeks along, spoke with one of our coordinators, and changed her mind! Praise God! More details to come!
PS. Our sidewalk midway rally is tonight, but the rain was dampening our expectations for it. This news really gave our team the attitude adjustment we needed!
March 14th, 2012 at 5:13 pm
Let us all pray for an end to abortion.
March 15th, 2012 at 9:52 am
What a priveledge and blessing to be part of the body of Christ, standing, kneeling in prayer for the mothers and infants facing annihilation.
March 15th, 2012 at 10:44 am
You have listed at the top of the page, the number of babies saved this campaign. I’m wondering if you could include a little more info up there:
# of clinics closed and
# of clinic employees that have quit.
It’s a nice reference and would help us to be able to give accurate numbers to those seeking information.
Thanks.
March 15th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Please also pray for men who did not wish or aid in the abortion, but who were dumb enough to get a woman pregnant out of wedlock and then were not smart enough to marry her! Pray God will forgive them for that sin. Thanks!
March 17th, 2012 at 12:48 pm
I used to ask myself these questions – why wasn’t there a single sign or person praying outside the hospital where I had an abortion 14 years back?
I am certain that that would have made my husband and me turn back and go home! Why didnt the car stall midway or just NOT start that morning?
Today I know the answer. In God’s great Mercy He has forgiven me, and now while praying humbly outside the clinic, I am able to reach out to so many others.