Suffering
Participating in 40 Days for Life takes a sacrifice of time and a dose of courage. And a commitment to witness to the Truth- that we are all made in God’s image, and that Life begins at conception. The reality is that, sometimes, we have to endure the slings and arrows of passersby- angry profanities and raised fingers of scorn. It is not easy to “take it”, but that is what we must do. I’ve learned over the years that it does no good to comment back or try to engage the person in a conversation/discussion.
What does the Bible teach us about suffering? After Jesus’ death and resurrection, his disciples suffered much- ridicule, persecution, arrest, imprisonment, and for many, martyrdom. Compared to His, and their, suffering, what is the level of suffering we are asked, sometimes, to endure? Bad words, ridicule, a raised finger? Doesn’t seem much by comparison, does it? Take courage from these Scripture passages:
- “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 5:10
- “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.” Matthew 5:11
- “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:44
- But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory. Peter 4:13
- They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worth of suffering disgrace for the Name”. Acts 5:40-41
- “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:44
–Chris
Read on for today’s sidewalk stories…
7:30-9:00: Greg, Ethan & Joe W
slow day , first hour. Joe engaged with a young couple right at 8:00, she was 20 and had already determined she was going to have an abortion. Cold hearted about the thing, Joe said. The young man was her brother. 2 more couples at 8:45. Guard arrived after 8:30. Not busy overall. I’m Hoping this is a sign the traffic is down. 🙏 GREG
Coming soon!
9:00-11:00: Kathy L & Barbara
Not much client activity today. Barbara and myself, in addition to Hutch, were the only ones on the sidewalk today.
Two women in their late twenties got out of a car that pulled in front of pp. Neither wanted resources. While they were inside, I approached the driver and offered the green brochure to him which he accepted. He had tears in his eyes and said that his sister was the one having the abortion. I urged him to intervene and tell her about the resources available. He said that she was a drug user and sometimes abortion is needed. I told him about high risk doctors that we could contact and with that the one female yelled from the pp doorway “get away from the car” and the man drove away. These women exited pp twice after that but entered again ignoring any offers for help.
Many passersby accepted literature and a few homeless friends embraced Barbara who prayed for them.
11:00-1:00: Elsie
As always, this was a sad shift outside the Saddest Place in Pittsburgh. A good many victims went through the Death Doors during my watch. I took a little hope from two separate women who accepted literature packets from me after exiting; maybe they had changed their minds! Other than that, encouragement came from interactions with passers-by, including a man who had seen us/talked with us before and this time made a point of stopping. He showed me pictures on his cell phone of his two handsome little sons, told me they’ve just found out that his wife is pregnant, and could he have a leaflet on where to get help? After congratulating him, I gave him a Birthright brochure as well as Sheila’s Green Leaflet. God arranged things just right, so that we had Dunkin gift cards on hand — enough for Dad to take Mom & the big brothers out for doughnuts & drinks to celebrate the newest member of their family! I wish I had asked for his first name, so we could all pray for him and his wife and kids, but let’s pray for them anyway! Never be tempted by the Enemy to think that our time out on that dark sidewalk is in vain. God uses us (in all our frailty!) to provide a beautiful witness that His gift of human life is ALWAYS good!! Who knows whether God may have used us (& our signs, leaflets, & models) to PREPARE that father’s mind & heart for the news that he and his wife had conceived another child? Thanks so much to our security guard for keeping me safe today. I suspect he finds me the most difficult of all of us 40Days participants! Thanks also to the wonderful pro-lifers who showed up by 1PM to relieve me: Bernadette & Beth, the Two Donnas, and a beautiful cadre of prayer-warriors from Holy Sepulcher in Butler County.
1:00-3:00: Donna & Bernie
Jim, Gretchen, Rick & Bob
Alice, Beth & Bernadette
Don & Ed
We had a sidewalk full of faithful people today. Donna & I were there also. Some prayed the rosary and some handed out resource brochures. We had a sweet conversation with a passerby who is due in November. We shared a brochure and told her about all the help from the Pregnancy Resource Centers. We noticed two workers go in and out of PP with a wagon a couple of times. One person on the sidewalk thought it to be strange as one time the wagon had a cooler in it that didn’t look like a food cooler. Kind of makes you wonder. We also had a man come by dressed as a woman and say some perverse things to one of the men. God please change hearts and minds as only You can.
3:oo-5:00: Pat, Val & Mike
Mike, Val, and Pat