40 Days for Life -- March 1 -- April 9, 2017

40 Days for Life.com ^ | 02-28-17 | 40 Days for Life staff

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40 Days for Life is the largest internationally coordinated pro-life mobilization in history, helping people in local communities end the injustice of abortion through:

Prayer & Fasting

Knowing that “with God, all things are possible,” people of faith and conscience unite in 40 days of prayer and fasting

Community Outreach

The pro-life message is taken proactively to every corner of your community during a local 40 Days for Life campaign

Peaceful Vigil

A focused, 40-day, round-the-clock prayer vigil is held outside an abortion facility or public place in your city

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San Francisco, California

March 11, 2017

You won’t see it reported in the media — but the Planned Parenthood in downtown San Francisco closed a few years back after many 40 Days for Life campaigns.

“It was a miracle,” said Ron, the leader.

And Ron didn’t stop. He moved to another Planned Parenthood abortion facility in one of America’s most pro-abortion cities.

It’s not an easy location.

For 30 minutes, we were harassed by a lady who insulted us and filmed us as she accused us of being “gender supremacists.”

This doesn’t shake Ron. He’s from San Francisco … and he knows the vigil makes a difference. “Not only are lives saved, but just yesterday a women walked up and thanked us for being here. She then began to cry and tell us about the four abortions she had years ago. We spoke, hugged and gave her information on post-abortion healing.”

During our visit it wasn’t all persecution, as construction workers and passers by gave words of support and even asked to sign the bus!

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Redding, California

March 11, 2017

The 40 Days for Life vigil participants in Redding have had to deal with the elements so far during this campaign – there was even a hailstorm on one of the abortion days!

Of course, the focus is on the mothers and their babies. But that can sometimes be challenging. The abortion staff put up a sheet as a barrier between their clients and the prayer volunteers.

“We must stay outside the fence,” said one of the Redding team members, “but are able to try to speak peacefully with anyone who is able to be encouraged.”

There was one young couple in particular that was undecided what they should do. As is often the case, there was family pressure that led the woman to consider abortion – she was convinced that her parents would disown her if she kept the baby.

The volunteers were grateful that it was already late in the day – the abortionist had already left the building.

“We shared a Care Net flyer with them,” the leader said. “Please pray that they choose life – with the support of our community and all the volunteers and workers at Care Net!”

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DAY 12: More than Lord of the Rings

March 12, 2017

When many people think of New Zealand, they know it as the place where the epic Lord of the Rings movies were filmed.

The real story of New Zealand is the hope that Christians have in the midst of the radical secularization of their country. To counter this mindset, pro-life Christians in New Zealand brought 40 Days for Life to their country in 2014.

Three cities in New Zealand are taking part in the current 40 Days for Life campaign … and our board chair, Matt Britton, is just back from a trip to all three locations.

“New Zealand only has about 5 million people,” Matt learned, “and recently recorded its 500,000th abortion – meaning 10 percent of the current population is gone.”

Although abortion is technically illegal, the existence of many exceptions makes abortion available virtually on demand – about 13,500 per year nationwide. While there are fees and waiting periods for other medical procedures at public hospitals, abortion is FREE – and immediate.

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Auckland, New Zealand

March 12, 2017

40 Days for Life board chair Matt Britton’s first stop on his New Zealand tour was Auckland, where he spoke to several hundred at a kickoff event … and met with Bishop Patrick Dunn.

Michael Loretz, the local coordinator, said a pregnant teen contacted one of his team members as a direct result of this kickoff.

“Please pray for this girl,” he said. “She will need support to choose life for her baby.”

The Auckland vigil, run from the offices of the John Paul II Centres for Life, is across from one of the only private abortion facilities in New Zealand. Socialized medicine provides free abortions at hospitals, but this location does 1,000 abortions annually.

“There were protesters most days,” Matt said — such as the ones in the photo below.

The abortion director here once referred a client to Michael because she couldn’t afford an abortion – and his team helped save the baby. “This year at the kickoff, the director came out, thanked Michael, and then went back in. Try and make that up!”

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Wellington, New Zealand

March 12, 2017

At his second stop New Zealand stop in Wellington, the capital, 40 Days for Life board chair Matt Britton met with Clare, who is a fourth-year 40 Days for Life leader, as is Michael in Auckland.

Abortions take place at a public hospital – it’s called “Spring of Life” in the native Maori language. Matt said abortions take place “in the red brick part that you can see behind the team. It is located above the chapel.”

A protest of young girls between 14 and 18 years old came out from a school for a second year in a row – it appears there were teachers from the school with them.

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Christchurch, New Zealand

March 12, 2017

The final New Zealand stop for 40 Days for Life board chair Matt Britton was in Christchurch, where the 40 Days for Life vigil takes place outside another public hospital.

“Connor, a first-time leader, is well supported through the Order of St. John and many other churches,” Matt said.

The Christchurch portion of the trip included a presentation to the pro-life club at the University of Canterbury. One of the club’s officers thanked Matt “for coming to visit and for your strong and encouraging words.”

“Matt was a great presence here in New Zealand and the vigil has got off to a brilliant start,” said Michael, the Auckland leader. “Hopefully, this campaign will be a wonderful blessing for many. Thank you to all the team at 40 Days for Life – what you do is excellent!”

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DAY 13: Couldn’t find a vein

March 13, 2017

On Mondays, we report on good news from the 40 Days for Life campaign – and this is good news!

Since the vigils began on March 1, our local leaders have become aware of 98 babies whose mothers chose life at the last possible moment!

It’s always amazing to watch the hand of God in action … and it often comes in unexpected ways.

Pensacola, Florida

Two volunteers at the 40 Days for Life vigil in Pensacola spoke to a deeply troubled young woman who had conceived a child as the result of a sexual assault.

“She was hurting and felt that abortion was her only solution to the recent trauma she had experienced,” said Ernie, the local coordinator.

Counselors offered encouragement, assistance, prayers and tears. But still, she believed abortion was her only option … and she went inside the abortion center. The volunteers kept praying – and trusting in God.

About an hour later, she came back out. When the staff was trying to start an IV, they could not find a vein. And because of that, she decided not to have the abortion.

“She took this as a sign from God that He does not want her to do this,” Ernie explained.

Later that same day, a second mother chose life for her child.

“What if no one had been there to speak with and pray for these two mothers?” Ernie asked. “The results may have been completely the opposite.”

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Bogota, Colombia

March 13, 2017

When Gilberto handed flyers with information about life-affirming options to a young woman outside the abortion center in Bogota’s Teusaquillo section, he had no idea what God was about to do.

He just did his part … and relied on the Lord to do the rest.

The young woman entered the building, sat down – and started to read the flyers that Gilberto had given her. It didn’t take her long to realize that this was not where she was supposed to be, so she picked up her belongings and walked out.

On the sidewalk outside, the 40 Days for Life prayer volunteers directed her to a nearby pregnancy help center, where she could get good advice and support for herself and her baby. The vigil participants were fairly confident that she would choose life.

Later that day, the pregnancy help center’s director visited the vigil site with the good news that the young woman would be keeping her babies.

That’s right – babies. She was pregnant with twins!

“Thus ended the day with a double celebration,” said one of the Teusaquilla volunteers, “and thanksgiving for the precious lives that were preserved from abortion through the prayerful and peaceful presence in those places where the message of God’s love is most needed.”

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Charleston, South Carolina

March 13, 2017

“I was blessed to witness a child saved from abortion,” said one of the 40 Days for Life volunteers in Charleston.

A woman walked out of the abortion center and gave the vigil participant a thumbs-up.

“I waved her over and she told me that her daughter was in the clinic and had planned to have an abortion because she and her boyfriend were breaking up,” the volunteer said. “The mother said that she had been trying to talk her daughter out of the abortion and had even offered to raise the child for her.”

Everything she had tried had failed, so she asked the vigil participants to pray for her daughter. The mother went back inside.

It wasn’t long afterward that she came back out … along with her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend. They quickly got in their car and drove away.

“Many thanks to all who were praying that morning and to all who will be praying during this campaign,” said the Charleston team member. “And many thanks to the Holy Spirit who hears our prayers and answers them!”

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DAY 14: Abortions stop in Minnesota city

March 14, 2017

Great news from the 40 Days for Life team in Rochester, Minnesota — Planned Parenthood has quit doing RU-486 abortions there!

For more than six years, the Rochester facility offered “webcam” abortions – we’ve mentioned these abortions before. The client is interviewed over the internet by a physician in a distant location and then given the RU-486 pill regimen by remote control.

More than 320 of these abortions were done in Rochester.

“We are encouraged that the Lord has heard our many prayers and we are thankful that no more babies will die in this facility via RU-486,” said Paula Ellefson, the 40 Days for Life coordinator in Rochester. “It is directly across the street from one of our city’s high schools and it is typically very busy with students throughout the day.”

Twelve 40 Days for Life campaigns have been conducted there, along with numerous other pro-life events. Paula and her team will continue to pray that this Planned Parenthood will close down completely.

According to Pro-Life Action Ministries, which leads the 40 Days for Life vigils in St. Paul, webcam abortions began in Iowa and were also done in Maine and Minnesota. With the end of the program in Rochester, there are no more webcam abortions taking place in Minnesota.

Sue Thayer is the only former Planned Parenthood worker to lead a 40 Days for Life campaign outside of her former workplace. Her discomfort with webcam abortions in Iowa led to her departure … which she discusses in a 40 Days for Life podcast episode.

After Sue’s campaign, that Planned Parenthood location shut down!

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San Luis Obispo, California

March 14, 2017

I was joined by pastors and Students for Life’s campus director for a candle light vigil in front of the “100 years strong” sign at Planned Parenthood in San Luis Obispo.

Planned Parenthood recently marked the 100th anniversary of their founding, but their brand is at an all-time low – and still sinking. As for “100 years strong,” Planned Parenthood has lost staff in San Luis Obispo and is beginning to reduce their business hours.

An evangelical pastor told the crowd, “Those who support abortion support something irrational. The only hope is to pray, speak the truth in love, and give witness to the gospel.”

Kirt and Katie Collins lead the campaign here. Kirt said, “We never imagined the impact that prayer would have here — but couples are turning around. Your presence makes a difference, even if you never see that difference.”

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Nottingham, England

March 14, 2017

From England comes more evidence that a peaceful, prayerful vigil has a distinct impact on the consciences of those who favor and promote abortion.

BBC News is reporting on a pro-abortion group’s effort to ban a 40 Days for Life vigil from the public pavement outside Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.

Nottingham Pro Choice alleges the peaceful prayer presence is “intimidating” to women and approaches abortion from a “patronizing standpoint.”

The local volunteers know that these assertions are fiction, and noted that if there was any misbehavior outside the hospital, it was brought by those who want to shut down the vigil.

John, the local 40 Days for Life coordinator, said the volunteers have had “some great interactions from people who wanted to know more about us.”

“We believe this is a good place to raise awareness about the issue of abortion,” one 40 Days for Life participant told the BBC.

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Podcast

https://40daysforlife.com/2017/03/14/podcast-63-true-miracle/

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DAY 15: No “choice” … not “safe”

March 15, 2017

Nobody wants to be at an abortion facility.

Not the women going in, not the men driving them, and often not even those who work in the abortion industry.

Abortion centers are not places where “choice” is celebrated. “Choice” is simply the rhetoric used to hide the reality of abortion.

The women often feel like they have no choice.

Here’s what I mean.

El Paso, Texas

The 40 Days for Life team in El Paso reports an ambulance arrived at the abortion facility … and took a woman to the hospital. It was believed that something had gone terribly wrong with her supposedly “safe” abortion.

The truth about the “right to choose” was also exposed at this same business … on a day when 14 abortions took place.

Miguel, one of the El Paso team leaders, said, “We saw a mother force her daughter to enter that place … to abort. And another mother also took her daughter inside by force.”

That woman looked at the people praying outside and said something that’s genuinely troubling, genuinely sad: “If I did it, she can too.”

You’d hope and pray that a woman who’d had an abortion would fight with everything that’s in her to keep her daughter from making the same mistake. But – that just wasn’t to be.

“Abortions are not safe,” Miguel said. “They always end up with a dead baby and a broken mother. Pray for the end of abortion!”

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Walnut Creek, California

March 15, 2017

The 40 Days for Life bus was enthusiastically welcomed at the 40 Days for Life vigil in Walnut Creek, just outside of San Francisco. This is the second campaign in Walnut Creek.

Linda, the local leader, said her team had so much support at the 40 Days for Life vigil in San Ramon that they dedicated to expand to Walnut Creek. This growth is one of the reasons there are a record 41 campaigns in California this spring!

One volunteer brought his kids and said, “Thank you for coming here. I’m one of those who really have a tough time coming out to pray … but when I do it is so encouraging to be part of this.”

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Charlotte, North Carolina

March 15, 2017

The 40 Days for Life team thought it would be a good idea to invite as many people as possible to pray with them on a Saturday morning outside the abortion center.

Nearly 200 showed up!

John, the local coordinator, said they “gathered to witness, love, accept, offer help and hope.”

As has been the case at other abortion businesses, the center’s escorts put up a makeshift curtain so their clients would not have to look at the prayer volunteers.

Of course, there’s no such thing as a prayer-proof curtain! The vigil participants’ “holy efforts” continued with trust in the Lord.

John said he prays for the day that all churches will recognize the evil of abortion and take a stand. “We, however, are not sitting around waiting.”

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DAY 16: Praying, fasting … and freezing

March 16, 2017

Snow, sacrifice … and more snow and more sacrifice!

After enjoying some decidedly spring-like weather … many parts of North America and Europe were reintroduced to winter this week.

They are used to snow, for instance, at the 40 Days for Life vigil location in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (below).

It was so snowy in places such as Augusta, Maine that it was not safe to travel to the vigil site. That’s okay – safety always comes first.

Even in places like Fayetteville, Arkansas it got downright chilly!

But regardless of the weather, people kept praying for an end to abortion – indoors and out. A little snow and ice won’t stop THAT!

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College Park, Maryland

March 16, 2017

There was enough wintry precipitation to keep the abortion business closed.

The staff didn’t show up … but some 40 Days for Life vigil volunteers did – as did two women who had appointments at the abortion center.

“We gave them better resources,” said one of the vigil participants. “Let’s pray the abortion clinic remains closed … and that abortion will end here.”

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Iasi, Romania

March 16, 2017

“It’s pretty cold and my feet are frozen fast,” a 40 Days for Life vigil participant said on a frigid evening.

The few passers-by moved along quickly. Would anyone else stop to pray?

“To my surprise, every 10 minutes, someone else joined,” the volunteer said. The group soon included two priests from Moldova who traveled to Iasi specifically for the vigil.

“I saw in them living proof that this fight for the unborn recognizes no boundaries, no borders. We are here for those who cannot defend themselves. I want to be God’s tool to do good!”

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Sioux Falls, South Dakota

March 16, 2017

“Here in South Dakota,” said Doug in Sioux Falls, “there are people standing and praying out in the snowfall. The ground is frozen solid, so it’s hard to find places to plant our signs.”

Planned Parenthood was closed, making for a “cold and lonely” vigil. But Doug was ready.

“I’ve got all my arctic clothing lined up, waiting for my hour on the sidewalk.” His heavy gauntlet mittens added to the challenge, “but the ‘yes’ in our hearts is still loud and clear.”