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Yesterday I was at the Flagstaff, Arizona 40 Days for
Life campaign — where they have gotten some excellent
coverage from local media.

In fact, 40 Days for Life continues to get great media
coverage from local newspapers and TV stations.

These reports are getting the word out to people who
otherwise might not know about the campaign — and who
might not even know that abortion is such a serious
problem in their own home towns.

Here’s a rundown of several of those stories.

LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS

Mary Pate, the 40 Days for Life coordinator for Little
Rock, was part of a lengthy live report aired by KHTV,
the local CBS affiliate.

She called 40 Days for Life a peaceful attempt to
change people’s hearts and minds.

“There are many victims to abortion; it’s not just the
child,” she said. “Women are hurt by abortion as well
and we feel like that once women learn that there are
alternatives to abortion when they are in a crisis
situation, they will make a better decision.”

Mary also countered the pro-abortion argument that
abortion is healthcare. “It’s not a simple procedure
and the pain doesn’t end the day they leave the abortion
clinic,” she said. “There could be a lifetime of pain
and regret and guilt.”

For a link to the KHTV video, please go to:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2393

LUFKIN, TEXAS

Local coordinator Michelle Reynolds was quoted in a
Lufkin News story about 40 Days for Life.

“I’m a normal person just like everyone else, but I’ve
seen the effects of abortion — my friends, my past
experiences with Planned Parenthood and myself — they
bring them to a clinic to get help and they’re not
getting the help that is needed. I’ve seen the hurt
they can cause,” she said.

Rev. Mark O’Neill, pastor of Lufkin’s Covenant
Presbyterian Church, told the reporter, “Planned
Parenthood is the largest provider in the country.
We want to pray here and pray that the Lord would have
mercy on our country and cause people to see that
abortion is the taking of another human life.”

For a link to the Lufkin News article, please see:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2393

FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA

The Flagstaff Daily Sun spoke to Sam Copeland, who
heads up the local 40 Days for Life campaign, at their
vigil location outside Planned Parenthood.

“It’s a spiritual issue. It’s not a political battle,”
Sam said. “It’s peaceful.”

He said for the most part, participants are members of
local evangelical Christian churches. They would like
to see Planned Parenthood stop performing abortions —
and in the case of locations that do not actually
perform abortions, to stop referring women to other
locations that do.

For a link to the Flagstaff Daily Sun coverage, go to:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2393

Day 19 - October 16

Intention:

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

Scripture:

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

Reflection:

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.

Prayer:

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.

Rev. Rob Schenck
President, Faith and Action, and National Clergy Council