DAY 18: Whatever the weather
Today’s update almost sounds like a weather report. We have wind, blowing snow, freezing cold, hail and lightning – and finally, sunshine.
We pray that just as the sun will come, so will the end of abortion come. And we know it will!
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MONTREAL, QUEBEC
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“Artic temperatures, snow, wind, blowing snow have all challenged those having visited the vigil location,” said Brian in Montreal. “My heartfelt thanks goes to all who have braved these conditions, suffering numb toes and frozen finger tips.”
Each day has seen about 20 people praying at the 40 Days for Life vigil – more would be great, but Brian says “the weather dominated the proceedings.”
Still, there have been special prayer hours as part of the campaign. “Prayers were recited, meditations read, and hymns chanted,” he said, with extra thanks going to two members of an order of religious sisters who led the singing.
Prayer has continued after the end of the daily vigil – in church, where the warmth was no doubt welcome.
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McKINNEY, TEXAS
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“It was an amazing day!” said one of the 40 Days for Life prayer volunteers in McKinney.
“A guy came by around 2:30 and insisted that we have coffee and pastries, which he brought,” the vigil participant said. “He saw us out there and decided to come pray with us. He had no idea what 40 Days for Life was.”
Not long after that, a woman with a camera came running up – insisting on taking a picture of the folks praying so she could send the photo to her daughter-in-law, who is considering having an abortion.
“She was quite distraught about it and we told her we will pray for her, which the four of us did right after she left,” the volunteer said. The woman said that finding the vigil was “a total God thing” — that He had brought her there.
“Just when I was asking myself what difference are we making,” the prayer volunteer said, “God sends not one sign but two – how great is He? I am so inspired to press on and continue making a difference.”
For a photo from the vigil in McKinney, please go to:
http://40daysforlief.com/blog/
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TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA
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Fran in Tallahassee was glad to see some sunshine return to the Sunshine State – praying in the rain is one thing, but being outside in a thunderstorm is another matter altogether. She passed along a note from a prayer volunteer that shows a true servant’s heart.
“She gave me permission to share this,” Fran said. “God is so good!”
“I just wanted to thank you for organizing the 40 Days for Life in Tallahassee,” this vigil participant said.
“My husband and I prayed from 5-6 this evening. I am 40 weeks pregnant today – our due date – and it was especially wonderful to be able to pray with 40 Days for Life on this day,” she wrote. “Because of the hail and lightning, we had to pray from our car. I hope that’s OK! We’ll try to sign up for another time closer to Easter after the baby is here.”
Now THAT’S answering God’s call to pray! (And yes, if there’s hail and lightning, it’s OK to pray in your car.)
Here’s the link to today’s devotional.
Yours for Life,
Shawn Carney
Campaign Director
40 Days for Life
PS: How has 40 Days for Life in your community affected you? Please let us know by posting a response below.
March 2nd, 2013 at 5:47 am
Let us all pray for an end to abortion. God Bless.
March 2nd, 2013 at 7:26 am
Yesterday sixteen of us (teachers, parents, and students) from Holy Cross Academy in Oneida, NY, drove 40 minutes to the 40 Days for Life vigil site in front of Planned Parenthood in Syracuse. We all lined up along the sidewalk and one of the young gentlemen knelt on the cold wet sidewalk and began to lead the Rosary. Many of the other students knelt too. After the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet, the students and our choir director began to sing in harmony “Before You Were Born” one of their choir songs which is based on Psalm 139. Nobody had to cajole these dedicated teens into joining 40 Days for Life. They asked us to take them, and we’ll be going every week.
March 2nd, 2013 at 8:48 am
Would someone let me know where exactly is the 40 Days for Life being held in Montreal? I live in Plattsburgh and might be able to get up there. Thanks to all who have a vigil this time. We were not fortunate enough to hold one in our city………..few here seem to truly care!
The vigil is at Park Lahaie, located across the street from the Morgentaler Abortion Clinic at 30 St. Joseph E. in Montreal, between 7 am and 7pm.
–Admin
March 2nd, 2013 at 9:05 am
Friday was one of the busiest days in the last two weeks, with many women and their escorts coming, almost all of them, before the posted opening time advertised on the door.
These last few weeks have seen several snow storms, freezing temps and even a closed school-day which made it necessary for one of the abortion staff workers to bring her two children to work with her.
“This whole effort is surrounded by spiritual warfare,” said one young woman who responded to the need for prayer by volunteering at the last minute for a one and a half hour shift. “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world!” she posted on our FaceBook site.
At one point there were 4 hours of prayer time unfilled. A cry went out on our FaceBook page asking for help. Soon, a priest from a Catholic church 1.3 miles away from the clinic came with a youth minister from another church on the other side of town, and a high school student. One local pro-life group brought 20 college-age students to gather in solemn prayer for the day.
There are signs of hope. The staff at the clinic are saying, “Good morning” and waving to volunteers with a smile, and even some occasional conversation. There are many prayers being offered for those women who work at the clinic and we have handed them the ATTWN.org flyers describing how they can find new work if they decide to leave.
March 2nd, 2013 at 9:55 am
Peace of the Lord is with us – this is our 5th live 40daysforlife prayer vigil participation in San Francisco. Not only are we 369 deep with daily email prayer warriors but at times during the week some of our shifts are 10 prayer warriors deep!
Tomorrow at 5am pst on the local CBS affiliate KPIX the Archdiocese of San Francisco provided 40daysforlife the entire show to explain what we are doing this 40 days of Lent! Mosaic is the show – please pray it airs and Ron and Cathleen with God’s blessing and grace explain the campaign and love of the Lord in an inviting and generous way — Our harvest is ready but our warriors at the moment are few, thus I am just sending this blog today…ARGH I wish I would have done this sooner and sent the shout out for prayer – At the least it is out here now and PRAISE BE JESUS Christ!!!
March 2nd, 2013 at 11:35 am
As I was praying the Rosary to end all abortions in our town (1299 last year) and the world; a tall, handsome, gentle man approached me, smiled & thanked me for praying to end abortion. He handed me a picture of a child & said: “This is my precious 3 yr. old daughter whom I’m am raising alone. Her life is my miracle. My girlfriend, her mom was raped, & eventually succumbed to the attack!
“I pray God raise up dedicated men to step up & become real Fathers like him++
Pray in action…To God be the Glory
March 2nd, 2013 at 5:26 pm
Prayed yesterday outside an abortion clinic. The clinic was apparently closed and no other prayer warriors were present but I felt the strong presence of God’s Spirit.
Prayer for Kentucky
Father, today from all four corners of our state I pray that your power would reign supreme over the powers of darkness.
Let your Kingdom come and your will be done from the halls of heaven to the halls of our courts. Today by the power of your Holy Spirit we speak life and prosperity over our state. By your name, let the chains of poverty and death be broken over the State of Kentucky and our nation.
Let the clinics of death become centers of life and healing for the women of Kentucky and all States of the United States of America. Bring conviction and repentance to the doctors and clinic workers and enable them to walk away from this practice of child sacrifice that is cloaked in the evil deception of women’s healthcare. Provide a way of escape for these workers that they too can find forgiveness and healing that only you can give.
Give our leaders the courage to stand strong upon the principles of your Holy Word.
Cause your people to humble themselves and pray and turn from our wicked ways that our people and our nation might be forgiven and healed. We pray that 2013 with be the year that legal abortion ends in our nation, beginning with the Commonwealth of Kentucky!
In the precious name of Jesus, let it be so!
March 2nd, 2013 at 9:20 pm
All of you inspire me to be the best version of myself possible. Such beautiful prayers and interactions with others. God bless everyone!
March 2nd, 2013 at 10:09 pm
Although we are not officially conducting a 40 Days For Life Spring Campaign in Flint, MI I have to share AWESOME news with you. TWO moms chose life for their babies today as we were praying outside of the clinic. One of the mothers was so set on the idea that she had made the appointment two weeks ago that it took a lot of prayer and discussion to help her realize it was okay to change her mind at the last minute. I praise God that I read your 40 Days for Life Book because I was able to share the story of the woman who was on the table ready for an abortion…and came outside barefoot to get help from prayer volunteers. At that point, it finally connected with her that it was okay to choose life and not go in for her appointment. There is so much more to this story, but I wanted to say THANK YOU to Shawn & David for the book and a special thank you to the brave woman in Orange County whose story helped save another baby’s life today.
March 2nd, 2013 at 11:06 pm
Thanks – Milwaukee vigilers – for coming out today!
God bless all 40DFL participants! We’re almost half way there!
March 3rd, 2013 at 7:36 pm
In Reno today (Sunday) it was raining and we had our Life Chain midway event planned. While the turn-out was lighter than it was during the Fall Campaign, when we were blessed with mild weather, there were still a good number of people present, holding their signs, and praying for an end of abortion, this time near the local University, where the women are so vulnerable to the idea that abortion is merely a choice.
Praise God for the volunteers who don’t shy away from a little bad weather.