Sidewalk Counseling class was great!
Basically to sum it up:
You need a tremendous amount of love, humility, compassion, wisdom.
And, know what resources are available to the abortion minded woman.
They
did some role playing of different people/situations you may come
across, which is helpful. You need a lot of grace! And, the ability to
maintain composure during these situations. :) You have to know they are
upset and you can't respond to their anger/hostility.
One
thing I would like to say, I am thankful for the Catholic involvement
in the fight for Life. Because, really, if they weren't doing it...
there wouldn't be too many people left fighting the battle.
There were 32 in the class, and those in attendance from Foundation (6) were the only Protestants.
Again, I am THANKFUL for the Catholic community fighting for life, and I
am happy to work alongside them. I do it every week I'm there at
Founders.
Greater Columbus Right to Life is an established pro-life
community in Columbus, mostly comprised of Catholics. So much so, that
in the email reminding everyone of the class, they mentioned Mass at St.
Mary's is at 4:00 for those who wanted to stick around for that.
Where are the Protestants in this fight?
The week before at the Mill, there was a girl
walking up to go inside and she said sarcastically, "Yeah, I'm going in here, and I'm Catholic!"
Sooo.... I shouted back, "Then you should know better!"
Probably not the best response.
Like Ruth said in the class, "take a breath!" then respond. :)
We had a woman choose LIFE!!!
Please pray
for Sky, she has a supportive family but not a supportive boyfriend.
She went down to Kinder and has another follow up appointment next week.
Please pray for Jeff and his wife. They came in today for a
consultation. They have a couple children already and feel they cannot
afford another child. Jeff was crying while we were talking to him. He
feels this is their only choice. They are a part of a Methodist church.
Please pray God turns their hearts and their church will help them with the help they need.
Please pray for Dekeela (?sp). She had a lot of good/hard/honest
questions. She's scheduled for an abortion on Tuesday. Pray she
remembers the help that was offered to her an changes her mind.
I will include some thoughts from my sister on her time there:
This was the first time I've ever witnessed a
lengthy conversation with an abortion-minded person (This is only my 3rd
time coming out, there were several other lengthy conversations going
on today, I just wasn't with those people). One good thing about smokers
is that they have to come outside to smoke at the mill, so that's a great opportunity to talk to people.
Jeff was a father of several kids, his wife is just a few weeks
pregnant and they 'can't afford another one'. During the conversation he
cried a couple times. He knows it's a baby, and he knows it's going to
kill the baby, they just can't see past the current circumstances. He
did say something about how they attend a church - gah!!! This is why
the church needs to be involved in peoples lives and step in and say,
"Wwwwwait a minute! You can't do that!" Give these desperate people
help, encouragement!
A couple questions I want to start asking people is...
1. If abortion was ILLEGAL, what would you do if you couldn't afford
"this one"? You'd either HAVE to 'figure it out' or give it up for
adoption. I feel like the 'choice' to abort really makes people feel
like they have NO choice, BUT to abort!!
2. If you lose your job and can't afford your current kids, what would you do? Kill them too? (in the most gentle way possible)
I could totally sense that Jeff and his wife had talked about this,
that this was a sensitive issue, they didn't have this, "Yeah, whatever"
attitude. I just mourn for these people who feel like they can't afford
it, especially when they belong to a church. That's the church's job is
to provide for first of all, the needs of it's congregation! If a
member of your congregation was considering killing their child because
they couldn't afford it, what would you do? We tried to encourage these
people to seek counseling from their Pastor, but the sad thing is, some
Pastors support abortion!! GAH!!!
Another thing I thought of...
Jesus was the only perfect man that walked on this earth. He was the
perfect preacher, who said the perfect words - and people rejected His
sermons, and rejected Him. When we speak to people, we have to realize
that no matter what words we say, we can't change someone's heart. BUT -
we need to be there for those people who do have a change of heart, or
really just need some support to do the right thing. Jesus' sermons
weren't directed at everyone listening, He preached to the thirsty, the
hungry - that's why He spoke in parables, to draw the hungry in, to draw
His sheep to Him. His sheep know His voice.
So that's why I
want to be a sidewalk counselor. I want to be there to help women &
men that feel trapped, that feel like they don't have a choice, to those
that can't see past the box of their current situation, to those that
are hungering and thirsting for righteousness, to expose this evil act,
to pray for changed hearts for the abortion workers, and that God would
execute judgement on this building and shut it down.
Please
pray for Jeff, that the seeds that were planted would compel him to save
the life of his child, and if he is indeed a member of a church, that
the church would step in and do what's right. Pray for Dakita, she has
an abortion scheduled on Tuesday, but Christina and another woman were
there to sow some good caring, compassionate, but truthful seeds. Pray
for Sky, she turned away from the abortion mill and allowed a sidewalk
counselor to take her down to Kinder Women's Care (Pregnancy Resource Center), where she has a counseling appointment on Wednesday. Her
boyfriend wants the abortion, but her parents are supportive of her
having the child.
We need more moms that have given babies up
for adoption to be here on the sidewalks, and families that HAVE adopted
to be out here - showing their beautiful adopted children. So many
people seeking abortion seem opposed to adoption, as if that would be
harder to do.
The Lion is on the move. God is working, but He's called us to do the work!! You will serve the kingdom you see.
Some good news:
Did you know? There are 653 surgical abortion
mills left -- reportedly down from over 1500 when Roe v. Wade came
about.
Did you know? That four Wisconsin mills are closing due to new
legislation passed eliminating funding.
Did you know? That Mississippi
is THIS CLOSE to being the first state with no legal surgical abortions
as their last mill is going down right now.
Did you know? That Abby Johnson
has a multi-millon dollar lawsuit against Planned Parenthood here in
Houston.
Did you know? That the Texas legislature has won a case
(though it is being challenged) prohibiting abortion providers and their
affiliates from receiving taxpayer dollars through the Women’s Health
Program.
Did you know? That mills have shut down over and over and
over again due to God's people repenting of their apathy and going to
their gates
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