Dear Deacon,
Ending abortion starts where YOU live!
We already know of NINE abortion centers where
40 Days for Life vigils have been conducted that are
now CLOSED ...
... and MORE facilities may be added to that list.
Just last week, Golden Gate Community Health, a
collection of abortion facilities in the San Francisco
Bay area, announced it was shutting down -- at least
temporarily, and possibly forever.
That chain includes abortion centers in San Francisco
and San Mateo where 40 Days for Life campaigns have
been held -- as well as three other locations!
In Columbia, Missouri, there's a Planned Parenthood
location where several 40 Days for Life campaigns
have been held -- and another is about to begin.
This Planned Parenthood center was unable to offer
abortions for several months last year after the
abortionist quit. Now, we hear the replacement
abortionist has also left -- and no babies have been
aborted there since January 26!
Abortions are only available right now at one place
in the entire state of Missouri -- Planned Parenthood
in St. Louis, where another peaceful 40 Days for Life
vigil begins tomorrow -- praise God!
The reasons for these closures and cutbacks are
simple. God loves the babies, the women and the
abortion workers. And when we witness the love of God
to them through peaceful prayer, the despair that
abortion survives on is crushed by restored hope in
God's love.
If this is the first time you've participated in
40 Days for Life, you may be a little fearful and
overwhelmed. That makes you normal.
But as Jesus told the disciples, "Be not afraid!"
Last fall, I gave a talk about overcoming our fear
of praying in front of an abortion facility at the
national leaders conference of Students for Life
of America.
To see the video online, please go to:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=1511
We start tomorrow! Will you be there? Will you be the
sign of God's love that women will see just before
they enter that building?
To find the closest 40 Days for Life campaign, and
to find out how you can get involved, please to go:
http://40daysforlife.com/location.cfm
I'm reminded of the words of Augustine: "Pray as
though everything depended on God. Work as though
everything depended on you."
So what are we waiting for? Let's get to work!
Today's devotional is from Carmen Pate, a member of
the 40 Days for Life board of directors.
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PRE-KICKOFF INTENTION
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For God’s blessing upon the coming 40 Days for Life
campaign.
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SCRIPTURE
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"If My people who are called by My name will humble
themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from
their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and
forgive their sin and heal their land."
-- 2 Chronicles 7:14
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REFLECTION by Carmen Pate, 40 Days for Life
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Not unlike God's chosen people of Israel, we must
humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from
our wicked ways, if we expect God to hear from heaven,
forgive our sin, and heal our land. The need for
repentance has not been greater since the Supreme
Court decision of Roe vs. Wade in 1973.
The number one cause of death in America is the
needless sacrifice of our children at the altar of
convenience called abortion. Conservative estimates
put the number of deaths at nearly 52 million.
And lest we think this is an issue outside the church
walls, 43 percent of women obtaining abortions
identify themselves as Protestant, and 27 percent
identify themselves as Catholic. One in four women has
at least one abortion by the age of 45 -- both
non-Christian and Christian alike. Where was the voice
of Truth -- the church?
Mary Comm of In Our Midst Ministries, Inc. sums up the
issue best as she writes, "We (the church) have been
an unintentional accomplice to the millions of lives
lost and to the multiplied millions of lives
devastated by abortion. We didn't want them to abort.
We didn't mean for them to abort. But, because of our
lack of knowledge, because of our fear, we have
continued to stand by and do nothing."
"We, God's hands and feet in this dark and hurting
world, have been unintentional, unknowledgeable
accomplice, but an accomplice nonetheless."
May today mark the beginning of change within the
church, as God's people, in unity, seek His
forgiveness.
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PRAYER
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Heavenly Father, we have turned our backs on you and
your principles in your Word. We have allowed man to
usurp Your role as God over life and the number of our
days. But we come to you in brokenness and repentance
over our sin.
We cry out for Your mercy and ask you to remove the
scourge of abortion from our land.
Use us as your vessels, Lord, to bring the light of
Your Truth to our nation once again. Because of Christ
we pray, Amen.
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PRINTABLE DEVOTIONAL
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To download today's devotional as a formatted,
printable PDF to share with friends:
http://40daysforlife.com/docs/spring2011day00print.pdf
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Let's pray, fast, and shape history together starting
tomorrow!
For Life,
Shawn Carney
Campaign Director
40 Days for Life
40 Days for Life
10908 Courthouse Road
Suite 102229
Fredericksburg, VA
22408
US
