DAY 1: It starts with prayer … and with YOU

September 24, 2014 fall2014world-a

This is it — 10 years ago, the first-ever 40 Days for Life campaign kicked off in College Station, Texas. Since then, God has clearly shown what He can do when we pray, fast, and show up. Lives are saved, hearts are changed, and abortion facilities close.

Will you join His efforts over the next 40 days in any of the 297 cities in 13 countries?

40 Days for Life started in Texas but abortion is a global crisis and many courageous and faithful volunteers will be meeting this global challenge with prayer and peaceful vigil starting today in the following countries:

United States
Canada
Australia
Brazil
Croatia
England
Ghana
Latvia
Mexico
Nigeria
South Africa
Spain
Wales

Go see the full list – and to sign up for the vigil location nearest you!

With that many locations, there’s going to be a lot of travel involved for the 40 Days for Life headquarters team. Without question, the man who will be logging the most miles over the next 40 days is Robert Colquhoun, our international outreach director who first brought 40 Days for Life to his home country of England back in 2010 and has since spread it far and wide:

Ghana

Robert visited with the 40 Days for Life leaders in Ghana this week. Please keep the people of this African nation in your prayers.

“We spoke to the youth group at a Presbyterian church on Sunday morning,” Robert said, “and we also did a rally in one of the poorest parts of Accra. Edward, the local leader, spoke passionately about abortion for both talks.”

Robert said abortion is, for the most part, illegal in Ghana,. But they’re done anyway – slightly undercover. “A large number of illegal abortions are done with chemicals under the scenes and in secrecy,” he said, “with considerable dangers attached.”

Croatia

Efforts in Croatia continue to grow. After a very successful initial campaign in Zagreb, the Croatian capital is joined by four other cities in that country for this campaign. The response has been most favorable. They had some great stories to share from that first campaign, and no doubt will continue to make a difference.

But you don’t have to go to Ghana or Croatia to pray!

There may be a campaign in your hometown. You can pray wherever you are, of course, but if there’s a vigil near you, prayer on the sidewalk in front of the abortion center sends a powerful message – to the women seeking abortion, to the people on the facility’s staff . . . and to your community.

Here again is the link to find your local 40 Days for Life vigil.

Devotional for Day 2, September 25, 2014

Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life

Intention: Pray for those who work in the abor- tion industry, and for those who have repented of committing abortions and have resolved to defend life.

Scripture: Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” —Luke 23:46-47

Reflection: “Those of us who have participated in the killing of unborn children are the Centurions of today. We have dropped our swords against the unborn child. Now we must recognize the depth of our guilt and deal with the ramifications... To revitalize our humanity we need to forgive and be forgiven, to reconcile and be healed.”

These words come from a brochure of the Society of Centurions, an organization for former abortion providers. These words convey in a beautiful and moving way what is happening across the nation as hundreds of abortionists and their staff members experience repentance, conversion, and healing.

How does this conversion begin? Dr. Philip Ney writes, “The factors that changed their opinion on performing abortions, in the following order of frequency, were: evidence of the infant’s humanity, a spiritual experience, personal distress, evidence of the mother’s distress, scientific articles, being accepted as a person, a personal relationship with a pro-lifer, pro-life pickets.” (The Centurion’s Pathway, p. 77).

The journey is not easy. But the Jesus who heals us calls us to face the truth of what we’ve done, make restitution where possible, and engage in the hard work of mending relationships. Let’s pray for the Centurions; may their numbers increase!

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for those who have repented of committing abortions and have resolved to defend life. We too repent and resolve. We repent of every instance in which fear has made us silent when we should have spoken. We repent of the ongoing bloodshed in our land, and for thinking that we can deprive the unborn of protection but keep it for ourselves. We resolve that we will advance the cause of righteous candidates for public office, and that we will be more afraid of offending you by our silence than of offending others by our speech. We resolve that we will proclaim your name to the nations, through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen