Sterling Heights, MI
LOCAL NEWS

 
ABOUT DR. HODARI  Click here for a brochure about the doctor at the WomanCare clinic in Sterling Heights (this is a two-sided, tri-fold brochure when printed).  This was put together by the Southfield 40 Days for Life team.  This doctor owns six Michigan clinics.  The 40 Days for Life campaign has targeted four of these clinics. 

TESTIMONY FROM A WOMANCARE PATIENT  Click here to read a letter we received this past June from a woman who had an abortion at the facility where we will hold our 40 Days for Life vigil.

Welcome to our JOURNAL pages called NEWS FROM THE FRONT LINES (SEE BELOW).  This is the place were prayer warriors document their experiences out at the abortion clinic.  God has set us on an amazing journey and we are very thankful for being able to go back and reflect on the good, bad and heartbreaking times at the clinic.  From each experience we come away a little stronger in our character, a little more determined in our prayer life, and a little more hopeful in our battle.  

PLEASE...email me your experiences so they can be included in our Fall 2009 Prayer Warrior God Story..... 

Read our Spring 2009 journal under the section navigation.  

Also, read our Fall 2008 story by clicking on either the  2008 Daily Journal OR the 2008 Vigil Recaps from our Fall 2008 40 Days for Life Campaign.


 
 NEWS from the Front Lines... 

(For September reflections...click on the September 2009 link in the section navigation column)
(For October 1-10 reflections...click on the October 1-15 link in the section navigation column)



Sunday, November 1-- DAY 40

From Maribeth:  (4:00 p.m. Vigil)  About 25 of us gathered in the windy, chilly afternoon for a group vigil lead by our vigil team.  We began our praying with the Stations of the Cross and the Litany of St. Anthony.  How wonderful it was to see so many faith-filled prayer warriors come together on our final day of the campaign.  We had a couple people stop by to ask “what was this about?” and we were glad to share the reason behind our gathering.  Many of the cars going by waved and gave us thumbs up.  We are making a difference! Thank you to our amazing Vigil Team – they did an amazing job this campaign in bringing us together as a group to praise God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit while lifting our prayers to end abortion and to bring heart hearts back to respecting life.

 

From Maribeth:  (11:00 p.m. Vigil)  Eleven of us joined in prayer under the twinkling stars for our final vigil of the Fall 2009 campaign.  We praised the Lord for His wonderful blessings He gave us throughout the past 40 days:  gracious police officers; faithful prayer warriors; saved babies; abortion workers who changed their hearts; protection at the clinics; bringing new people on board; new ministries in the works; etc.    We also asked for Jesus’ continued protection and mercy as we go forth with day 41 and beyond.  We used the national daily devotionals as part of our praying and then recited the Litany for Life.  Our time was also filled with many songs – How Great Thou Art, Amazing Grace, Make Me a Channel of Your Peace, and We Remember.   Thank you, thank you to all of you for your prayers for life and for your commitment to our campaign.  God Bless!

Saturday, October 31-- DAY 39
Thank you to Bethlehem Temple Apostolic Church for coming out to be a public witness for LIFE!
From Jenny: It was really cold tonight and at times really windy.  I was the "lone prayer warrior" so I "sang" the rosary... sang all the Our Fathers & Hail Marys and said the other prayers, plus I sang four different short prayers at the end of each Joyful Mystery that I was meditating upon.  My fingers were pretty cold but the rest of me was double layered, so it was not that bad. I know there are prayer warriors in other parts of this world who are in a lot colder temperature than I was tonight, so I just kept going and pretty soon my hour vigil was over and I warmed up in minutes once I got into my car.  I got  couple of negative folks this evening but then the nicest young man was walking by and smiled and he nodded so nice to me that it just made my night, plus lots of happy toots from those driving by. God is soooo good to us prayer warriors!!!  We get 99% positive reaction to the 1% of cowards who yell at us as they drive by. May God forgive them for being so clueless about what us prayer warriors are trying to do for the unborn.

From Maribeth:  It was a double joyful blessing this morning at the clinic.  First…the clinic was CLOSED!  Thank You Jesus!!  (Odd how they close for Halloween but are open the day before Mother’s Day…but I’ll take it!!)  Then, there were many, many prayer warriors gathered on our “holy ground” taking the stand for life.  Pastor Bradley’s church did an amazing job of covering the 12 hours – with little vigils throughout the day.  Thank you Carol W for organizing a faith-filled day of prayers for the unborn and for LIFE!  I was so blessed to be a part of the momentum this morning

Friday, October 30-- DAY 38
Thank you to St. Hubert's Parish for coming out to be a public witness for LIFE!

Wednesday, October 28-- DAY 36
Thank you to St. Martin de Porres Parish for coming out to be a public witness for LIFE!
From Jenny P:  When I arrived at the abortion clinic for my prayer vigil hour (7-8 p.m.), there were over 10 folks there already...today was St. Martin de Porres Church "Adopt-a-Day-to-Pray" for the unborn.  Some of them had been there all day and decided to stay and pray with me... how wonderful!!  I was joined by Regina, Erik, Don, Jerry & Jean (St. MdP),  as well as Mary (St. Lawrence) and Marcella (St. Blasé).  I blessed the ground with holy water and let everyone bless themselves as well; set up my "Pray to End Abortion" sign and crystal cross with flickering lights surrounding it underneath my sign and then we began our prayer vigil.  We started out with The Prayer for the Helpless Unborn and the special prayer for those women coming to this particular clinic... then said the Rosary for Life meditating on the Glorious Mysteries.  We went from person-to-person so that all could join in and lead the various prayers of the Holy Rosary... that was a nice way to pray the rosary!!!   We then prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song and sang some songs for our Blessed Mother... Immaculate Mary, etc. and then for our country... America the Beautiful and God Bless America...  We ended our prayer vigil with Amazing Grace.  We heard lots of happy toots from those passing by and didn't hear any negatives. Thank You, Jesus!!  It was my honor this evening to join all these dedicated prayer warriors in peaceful prayer for our unborn brothers and sisters...our unborn fellow Americans! 

From Maribeth:  I arrived at the clinic around 5:30 p.m. -- coming from a funeral.  I thought how I just left one place of sadness and death, which wasn't by choice, to come to a place of sadness and death that is by choice...that just boggles my brain.  It was comforting to join in prayer with my family and people from my parish!  We prayed a Rosary for LIFE (praying for the moms who would be coming in tomorrow; for the medical staff; for the public; for our 40 Days Prayer Warriors; and, for protection on the ground we stand).  Since it was Wednesday, that meant it was the day for the red containers and red garbage bags to be brought out from the clinic -- little lifeless bodies which are now called "medical waste."  Such a heartbreak.  I know God was thankful for all the prayer warriors there to pray for the little sweet souls who now reside on His lap.  Thank you Regina and Jerry (parish reps for Adopt a Day) for being out at the clinic all day!

Tuesday, October 27-- DAY 35
Thank you to Grace Christian Church for coming out to be a public witness for LIFE!
From Maribeth:   It was another beautiful gift of a day!  I was able to join several prayer warriors from Grace Christian Church, along with Ellen, Richard, and Cindy in standing and praying for LIFE.  Thank you Mike and Marty (parish reps for Adopt a Day) for being there all day.

Monday, October 26-- DAY 34
Thank you to St. Anne's Parish for coming out to be a public witness for LIFE!
 From Maribeth:  I joined Jenny, Shelley, Marie and Erik during the 7:00 p.m. prayer hour.  What a blessing!  We began with blessing the ground and ourselves with Holy Water from Lourdes (wow!) and said the Prayer for the Unborn.  After we prayed the Rosary for the Unborn we sang the Chaplet -- my oh my....it was such a glorious sound (but it helped to have four angelic voices--and mine was not one of them!).  The weather was very friendly to us as we held our signs and gathered around the candles and the sparkling Cross.  Aside from a group of boys going by and yelling "why are you out here?" to us, nothing negative...just peace and love and prayers.  A lot of smiles and waves from the patrons of the food places.  We ended our praying with song – Amazing Grace and Immaculate Mary. AND…we were very blessed, once again, with the beautiful singing of Shelley as she sang What Wondrous Love is This…our hearts were so moved. Yes, we praised the Lord for His gracious love and mercy that He so generously pours out on us daily. Tonight we offered up our prayers for Dr. Hodari, the women who had abortions today, and a young woman who had an abortion before and is now 6 weeks along and doesn’t want to do that again. This young woman made contact with one of our dedicated prayer warriors today--(they met earlier in the week--thank God our prayer warrior was at the clinic for this encounter to happen!)   So let us lift this situation up to God and ask for His guidance and direction. We will keep you informed. Thank You Jesus for a most encouraging evening of praying with friends! 

Sunday, October 25-- DAY 33
Thank you to New Life Ministries Church for coming out to be a public witness for LIFE!
From Maribeth:  God blessed us with another beautiful day today! Thank You!! I was able to come out for a little bit to join the numerous teens from New Life Ministries in taking the stand for life. How awesome it was to see about 20 young faces line the street with their signs for life.  As I was leaving, another family came from Mass and brought their young children and teens (eight altogether!). So, along with Sue, Ellen and Janie, it was a perfect day to say LIFE IS PRECIOUS!!

Saturday, October 24-- DAY 32
Thank you to St. Peter's Parish for coming out to be a public witness for LIFE!
Thank you to the American Heritage Girls club for coming out to be a public witness for LIFE!
From Maribeth:  How beautiful to see so many prayer warriors gathered...even in the wet, cold rainy weather of the morning.  Thank You Jesus for that blessing.  At various times from 8:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., we had up to 20 prayer warriors.  We prayed the Rosary, the Chaplet, the Divine Praises, and we sang songs -- two very appropriate ones:  Amazing Grace and Make Me a Channel of Your Peace.  The clinic was open and several cars were there.  The doctor left and the women began leaving.  One group, with two women and one man, pulled up to us and said the girl in the back seat was to have an abortion but didn't...that the staff made them feel very uncomfortable so they didn't go through with it.  I pray that is the case and that the young girl kept her baby.  A little while later we had a very angry and emotional woman drive into the parking lot to scream at us -- you could tell she had a lot of pent up anger over this -- maybe she had an abortion and doesn't know how to deal with the after affects.  We let her talk (rather, scream) and quietly prayed for her.  She finally drove away ... but I don't think all that yelling she did caused her any less anguish or brought her any peace.  We prayed even more for her soul.  Later I found out that this same woman comes by every week...doing the same thing.  I do pray she finds counseling and spiritual healing.

From Maribeth:  It is always such a blessing to join in prayer with the American Heritage Girls.   There were about 20-25 of us praying the Rosary, the Chaplet and singing songs to our Lord. Seeing those bright and smiling faces of the sweet girls just makes you embrace life to the fullest.   God has truly given us a gift in our children!! Thank you to Sue C and the leaders for taking time out during each of our campaigns to join together in prayer at the clinic. Your presence speaks volumes to those that go by.


Thursday, October 22-- DAY 30
Thank you to St. Cletus' Parish for coming out to be a public witness for LIFE!

Wednesday, October 21-- DAY 29
Thank you to Sts. Cyril & Methodius' Parish for coming out to be a public witness for LIFE!
From Maribeth: I arrived at the clinic around 3:30 p.m. and my heart smiled as there were about seven prayer warriors pounding Heaven's gate with their prayers.  A group from Sts. Cyril & Methodius were there along with Deacon Jerry and Virginia -- praying the Rosary and the Chaplet.  I was blessed to be able to join in with them.  Over the next hour several more prayer warriors arrived to join in the stand for life.  This was such a peaceful time -- and God graced us with the perfect weather.  (Thank you Mary B and Deacon Gerry and Virginia for coming out throughout the day to host prayer hours.)

From Jenny P:  Prayer warriors Norma, Irma, Maria, Mary, Mary Ann and Dan from various churches (St. Ronald, St. Clement, St Cyril & Methodius &  St. Lawrence)  joined me, just wonderful!  I'll tell ya, there have been very few evenings this time around that I have been the lone prayer warrior... thank You, Jesus!!!  We start out with the Prayer for the Helpless Unborn; say one of Norma's prayers especially for the women who go to this abortion mill, say the rosary for life, meditating on various mysteries of the rosary then finish with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song.  I have my "Pray to End Abortion" sign in the ground and underneath it my beautiful crystal cross surrounded by little flickering lights.  It is a totally, peaceful, prayerful evening for anyone who joins me.  Please believe me that 99% of those who pass by or drive by are just wonderful, positive, smiling folks who are waving, giving thumbs us, and totally happy that we are there (and the 1% who are not --- we right away stop & say a prayer for them asking Our Lord to enlighten their hearts to the evil of abortion and bless them by giving them His LIFE in their souls.) 

Monday, October 19-- DAY 27
Thank you Pastor Tony Boos from Faith Lutheran Church for leading us in a prayer vigil for LIFE!
From Maribeth:  More than 15 of us gathered this evening as Pastor Boos lead us in prayer.  God graced us with a most beautiful night -- a warm gentle breeze and a clear sky above.  It truly was a perfect night to bring our praises and prayers to our most merciful Savior.  We began with with asking God to help us trust in Him because we certainly don't understand how people can destroy human life--His gift to us.  We shared together the Word of God; holding onto the hope that each scripture verse gave us.  Our voices joined together to sing "Jesus Loves Me" -- and it was joyous.  Again, we went to scripture and paused periodically to pray for those in crisis pregnancies; those with post-abortion suffering; and, for children (while we were praying for children, Pastor Boos two little children were playing inside of our circle of prayer--each trying to step on a beam of the flashlight--the sweet giggles and precious smiles that were on their faces was a genuine gift to each of us.  That gift confirmed our presence at the clinic:  this is why we were here; this is why we pray for an end to abortion.  Thank you God for this blessings).  Our prayer time continued with the Litany in Response to Abortion, ending with the Prayer to End Abortion.  Our vigil ended with our voices AND hearts joining together in singing Amazing Grace -- YES!  How sweet it truly is!!  Thank you again Pastor Boos (and Eileen & Gil, and all the people from Faith Lutheran) -- it was a blessed evening!!  

Saturday, October 17-- DAY 25
Thank you to District 69 Knights of Columbus for coming out to be a public witness for LIFE!
From Maribeth:  The clinic was already booming when I arrived at 8:00 a.m. and the doctor was in.  Several prayer warriors where leaving from their earlier shift, so it was nice to know that this place was covered in prayer before the doors were opened.  It was a blessing to see the Knights come in shifts to take the stand for life.  We were definitely being an example to the public -- about 15 prayer warriors praying in several little groups.  We were also blessed with a unique rainbow...one that went straight up in the sky...thank You God for Your visible Presence of beauty and peace. 

Friday, October 16-- DAY 24
From Jenny P: I was joined by Erik from St. Martin de Poures Church, John, a Knights of Columbus member, as well as 10 other people from St. Lawrence Church.  Erik wasn't exactly sure of how to pray the rosary.  I just happened to have one of Aunt Stella's little booklets of how to say the rosary so I gave it to Erik.  I'm sure Aunt Stella was smiling down on all of us that evening as we prayed the beautiful prayer she loved so very much---the Holy Rosary of our Blessed Virgin Mary.  The larger St. Lawrence group went home, they had been there since 6pm to 7pm, but Erik stayed and prayed with me until the end of my prayer vigil at 8 pm.  A women stopped by to thank Erik and I for praying there and told us she had been to this exact abortion mill five years earlier to check out abortion because her boyfriend wanted her to.  She shared with us her experience that was really pretty horrible for her... she actually saw a change in the skin of the face of one of the women who worked there as she walked down the hallway toward her... it looked like the skin of a snake and her eyes looked evil.  She got out of there as soon as she could and just knew it was a sign from God.  Actually, she had never planned on getting an abortion but just went there because her boyfriend was pressuring her into it.  Anyway, the three of us prayed for her, her son, and her husband who is over in Iraq.  We also prayed in thanksgiving that they have been blessed by God with their marriage and their beautiful son.

For prior daily happenings -- check out the folders under the