Powerful Reflection: Jesus not only loves unborn children — He was one himself!
I join you in faithful prayer.
Lord hear our prayers.
Thanks for your prayers.
Today’s email is about what is happening in England!
I’m in the San Diego area today, and looking forward
to meeting a lot of people at a couple of events here.
But I’m also thinking about what’s going on with
40 Days for Life eight time zones away.
40 Days for Life has spread rapidly through England
over the past two years. Despite persecution and
attacks from the media and a highly secular culture,
the peaceful prayer vigils are having a HUGE effect.
Here are just a few examples.
40 Days for Life volunteers held a prayer service in
front of the abortion facility, with group and
individual prayer, testimony and hymns. After a time,
a woman came out of the building to complain.
She said the local organizer had agreed that it would
be a “silent protest” during operating hours, and that
the volunteers “were causing great distress to her
vulnerable clients and disrupting her work.” She said
if it continued, they would take further action.
“There is, of course, no agreement between myself and
the clinic for a silence-only prayer vigil and never
will be,” said Andy, the local coordinator. “The
police visited us during our halfway service outside
the clinic and told me he had no problem with us
singing and praying ... he wished us a good night’s
singing and left.”
Andy said he is amazed that the vigil has had such an
effect on the abortion center. “I didn’t expect us to
be where we are now so soon into the first campaign!”
To see a photo of the Milton Keynes vigil, go to:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=3618
Tony, who was praying at the 40 Days for Life vigil
on London’s Brixton Street, watched as a couple left
the Marie Stopes abortion facility and said they were
keeping their baby. “The man was in tears of joy,”
he said, “and the woman had a huge smile.”
The couple described their experience inside as
“horrible” and “in fact they were dying to get away.”
They said the staff discussed problems that could
develop with a high-risk pregnancy, and did so in
rather insensitive terms. The man responded with some
choice words and they both exited the building.
“It seems no one talked to them before they went in,”
Tony said, “so it seems the prayer works even without
the chit-chat first, which is great!”
“I am happy to announce that three more mothers have
changed their minds,” said Aline in Birmingham.
The first mother changed her mind after seeing the
ultrasound of her baby. She saw her child and decided
she could not have the abortion. This had an immediate
effect on another mother, who decided to keep her baby
as well.
“The third expectant mother was approached by a
volunteer who made her aware of the consequences of
abortion,” Aline said. Still, this woman and her
boyfriend went in anyway. “But after a while, they
walked out happy and stopped to thank the volunteer
who had spoken to her.”
The campaigns in the UK have most assuredly gotten
the attention of those who support legal abortion.
There’s even an online petition inviting vigil
participants to leave the pavement and go home.
A column in the British edition of the Huffington
Post bears the title “40 Days of Lies.” The content
is as you might expect: “Certainly the tactic of
intimidating clinic staff, patients and landlords
until a clinic is forced to shut down won’t wash
in the UK.”
Robert in England sent a photo of some of the prayer
volunteers at Oxford’s first-time 40 Days for Life
campaign, including three children ... two of whom
are in strollers. A picture is indeed worth a
thousand words.
To see the photo, go to:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=3618