Today my family and I visited 40 Days for Life locations in Springfield, Massachusetts, as well as Manchester and Greenland, New Hampshire. During those visits we were told about five more lives saved from abortion due to the prayers and faithful participation of local 40 Days for Life volunteers. Praise God!

With 40 Days for Life campaigns going on in 212 different communities, it’s hard to focus on any one. But I keep hearing success stories from Lake Jackson, Texas — small victories, for the most part; but those blessings add up.

Lake Jackson is a community about 45 minutes south of Houston that is holding its first 40 Days for Life campaign this fall — even though there is NO abortion facility there.

“As we ventured into this ministry, we had no idea where God was going to plant us,” said Shannon Hunt, a local coordinator. The group eventually found a spot
to hold its vigil — on a corner near a school.

It must indeed be a good place. People are certainly noticing 40 Days for Life. Linda, one of the vigil volunteers in Lake Jackson, said “we had many people honk and wave in support of life. The Lord’s presence was felt and His power was seen.”

One woman rolled down her window and shouted to Linda, “My baby is alive because of you.” The message — delivered on a street corner in Texas — is indeed having an impact.

Here’s a picture from Lake Jackson’s first 40 Days for Life:

As is the case in many cities, the Lake Jackson campaign is attracting numerous new people to pro-life activity for the first time. “This is the first time I am participating in something like this, and it is awesome to share this experience,” said Gabriella, who noted the vigil has received very good feedback from people driving by.

40 Days for Life is giving people something to talk about — and think about.

Tim said one of his co-workers was grateful for their efforts. “It gave him a moment to reflect that he was adopted and may not be here if laws 40-50 years ago are what they are today. It was a great message of validation.”

The most amazing validation, however, is the fact that three babies have been saved from abortion through this community effort in a city that does not even have an abortion clinic.

Shannon met a young couple who asked what the group was doing. It did not turn long for the conversation to turn to the young woman’s pregnancy. Abortion had been suggested. They had already visited a clinic in Houston. But after talking with Shannon, the woman said, “I can’t go through with it.”

Shannon thinks they were already turning away from abortion when they stopped to talk. “But they needed one more person to be excited for them; one more person to affirm the direction they were heading; one more person, maybe even a pregnant woman, to speak God’s truth one more time so they could finally make up their mind,” she said. “Grace had brought all of us together.”

You may have guessed that the “pregnant woman” sharing the truth is the speaker, Shannon. (Congratulations, Shannon!!) There was no one signed up for the vigil at this particular hour, so even though she wasn’t feeling especially well, Shannon went out to pray.

“I was very, very sick the second I got home that day, and did not get out of bed for the next three days,” she said. “God’s grace got me to that vigil site during that empty hour. Imagine if no one had made it.”

As Shannon noted, “even in a town with no abortion clinic, God is making a difference.”

Here’s today’s devotional from Rev. Rob Schenck, President of Faith and Action and National Clergy Council…

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DAY 19 INTENTION
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We pray for a renewal of our zeal to offer generous help to the unborn and their families.

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SCRIPTURE
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If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant When they complained against me, What then shall I do when God rises up? When He punishes, how shall I answer Him? Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?

– Job 31:13-15

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REFLECTION by Rev. Rob Schenck
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The ground is level as we stand before God.

Job lived with an awe provoking sense of God’s expectation of him, particularly regarding his obligation to care for the weak and needy. He knew that in God’s economy everyone stands on level ground when it comes to our status as God’s creatures. Because of that central truth, we must take care of each other.

Job also knew that he didn’t deserve any of the good things God gave to him. Instead, those blessings came to Job from God’s benevolent heart. As an extension of that knowledge, Job instinctively linked his obligation to be generous to others to God’s kindness toward him.

As in Jesus’ parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:23-35), Job knew that it is an egregious sin to deny to others what we enjoy ourselves. He actually calls down on his own head severe condemnation and even punishment should he fail to share with others out of his own abundance (see verses 16-23).

Proverbs 3:27 reads, “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.” Some things are so obvious that we don’t even need to pray except to ask of God forgiveness and the power to do what so obviously needs doing.

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PRAYER
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God, forgive us when we try to explain away the obligation we have to help others who need help. Enable us to not devalue them because they are in the circumstance that they are in, but to see them for what they are, those, who like us, were formed by your hand in their mother’s womb. Amen.

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PRINTABLE DEVOTIONAL
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To download today’s devotional as a formatted, printable PDF to share with friends:

http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2009day19print.pdf

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For Life,

David Bereit
National Director
40 Days for Life

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 11th, 2009 at 12:50 am and is filed under 09 Fall Campaign, 40 Days for Life, Devotionals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.