Jesus, Our Only Hope
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8
…But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31
As we see our society drift ever further from God, the light of Jesus in our lives has to shine brightly. Just like Jesus went away by Himself to pray, we need those times apart from the noise to separate ourselves and feed on God’s Word. We need the refreshment that only God can give. Spending time in His presence helps us to stand and persevere. We live in a time when people call good evil and evil good. As believers we have to draw a line in the sand and stand against that which is evil. What can be more evil than the sacrifice of children: 60+ million children killed, the leading cause of death, the American Holocaust. God have mercy on us and on our nation. As God overturned Roe v. Wade it broke the altar of child sacrifice in our land. The church, as the body of Christ, has a window of opportunity to be the laborers for the great harvest that is coming. Unfortunately there are many weak leaders in the church and sadly the culture has infiltrated many churches instead of the church infiltrating the culture. The silent minority, the remnant, is ready to stand with holy boldness, equipped with the Armor of God, Holy Spirit fire and the light of Jesus shining brightly through us. 40 Days For Life gives us the opportunity to shine the light of Jesus on the streets of Pittsburgh. God has blessed us to stand firm in our faith knowing Jesus is our only hope. Come and shine your light with us.
Father God, we thank you, we love you, and we give you honor, praise and glory. You never change. You are the same yesterday, today and forever. We thank You that You renew our strength and help us to run and not be weary and to walk and not faint. Use us as You will to shine Your light and love on the sidewalk. Let us be Your vessels to help sow into the great harvest of souls that will be coming. We bind the enemy of confusion, perversion and death. We speak Jesus over our land and loose the Holy Spirit for revival and spiritual awakening. We declare blinders, veils and scales will be removed and hearts softened to receive Jesus. You are sovereign over all and our trust is only in You, Jesus. We ask all this in the most precious name of Jesus. Amen.
-Donna
Stories from the Sidewalk
The weather was beautiful to pray in front of Planned Parenthood this morning! Calm and warm, thankful for this beautiful weather this week! Also, thankful that not a single client entered those doors during my early morning shift. It was a blessing to be with Barbara and Richard and Bill this morning.
It is always wonderful to see Pastor Joe, his wife, Judy; and Chuck from Lincoln Place Church of the Nazarene as they arrive right on time for their 9 AM shift. Please pray, especially for Pastor Joe as he is having surgery on Monday which is going to be a difficult and painful recovery. Thank you!
Another prayer request, please pray for Laura, the homeless woman who is often sleeping in her wheelchair near us. I think she spends the night in the doorway. She was under the blanket during my entire shift. She is in bad shape and really needs prayer!
Thanks to all who will be coming to pray today!
Nikki
Today at Planned Parenthood it seemed like we had a lot of reminders to help take care of the homeless as well as young mothers entering the clinic. We offered one man a bottle of water but that did not stop him from rummaging through the garbage for additional beverages to drink. I have to admit that I had a big pit in my stomach watching this. Many stopped for food and we had nothing to give but the help cards directing them to the Red Door. So many of these people are searching for physical things to satisfy their hunger and needs, only to go away empty in so many cases.
Likewise, so many women enter the abortion clinic with the anticipation that their “physical needs” will be satisfied with the termination of a life, only to find out later that this sends them away empty and hungry as well. Yearning for the acceptance that it was okay to do this, but with that same empty feeling that someone living within them is gone forever. We only pray that they see that we want to help them and not judge them. This later became our conversation with one woman who stopped by to take pictures of the signs and display models. She told us that she did not completely agree or disagree with us. She thought that there should be an age limit for killing a baby in the womb. After all, what if a 12 year old had a six week old baby in the womb. Should she not have some right to end that life? We told her that killing the baby will not right the wrong done to her at such a young age. In fact, the child will have to recover from two tragedies instead of just one. As she opened up more to us, she explained that she and her husband could not have a child of their own and she would gladly take a child from someone who does not want an unplanned pregnancy. After talking a bit more she took several pictures of our hands holding our rosaries. I truly feel that she felt comfort in our conversation with her and we thanked her for talking with us. She left saying that she appreciated what we discussed but still felt that we did not agree on everything concerning the issues of abortion. We never know how these moments and chance meetings open the door for future thoughts and conversions. With prayer all things are possible!
Beth Ann
Thankful for my friends, Joyce and Patti, joining Fr. Jim and I for the Vigil today. They worked in a Luminous and Joyful Rosary and Divine Mercy. The prayers were most needed. What a rollercoaster ride! The blessing was that very few entered PP and only a few coming out beside workers.
One young man parked by us rolled his window to speak with me. She already had her procedure and he was waiting for her. They were apparently both sad to lose the baby. He said the baby was killing her. Mentioned about an ectopic pregnancy. We talked for while. Though he was not religious, he said we could pray for them but that she is anti-organized religion. It was a good conversation. He got material from the earlier shift. I told him about Pope Paul VI Institute for those struggling with pregnancies.
Another young man was going to pass us by but stopped when I offered him material. He showed me his bracelet that said Daddy of an Angel and his pendant around his neck that had the baby’s name on it. She was stillborn at 5 months. He seemed to be doing ok. I also shared with him about Pope Paul VI Institute. I need to bring brochures…
We had a spiritual battle going when a man stopped, trying to figure out what we were doing. Mary Jane asked if he wanted to pray with us. He said he wasn’t worthy. I told him none of us are but God uses us and has plans for us. He was staring at Our Lady that Carolyn was holding so I asked if he knew about her. He didn’t so Carolyn shared the story and we all chimed in a bit. Our guard was also there for the conversation. But Satan had enough and sent a man to start yelling at the man who had stopped. He was accusing him but our visitor didn’t seem to know what he was talking about. We started praying the rosary again and I tried to divert but the man said he wasn’t talking to me. Then another guy came along and started to escalate the conversation. Our guard finally spoke up to tell them to move along but they talked back to him and the one said they didn’t need to listen to him. At this point I got my phone out to take a picture and film. That aggravated the man and he said I wasn’t allowed and threatened to throw my phone on the road. Now his anger was partially directed to me so I walked through to the other side. Glynn came outside to observe, my dear friend Joyce threw her arm around me, and God sent “Jesus” to us in a perfect stranger from across the street. Darnella said the Lord sent her over to help and to bring His presence back. She was a blessing!! She plans to visit us next week. The men soon moved on as I started conversing with her. I have much to learn about spiritual warfare and reliance on God. I praise God for his protection today. Our guard did call the police but he sent them on their way before we could speak with them.
Saint Michael defend us… JMJ pray for us…
Lord help the troubled individuals and all who need help.
Cil
Fairly quiet day, we saw probably two women come out of Planned Parenthood. We prayed a group rosary and a group Chaplet and also prayed the stations. We had one homeless man who was picking up everything he could get his hands on. He probably took six or seven of the little rubber babies, and a handful of Rosary beads, and was picking up all the water bottles he could handle. He came back three or four times. He was acting pretty erratic. Maggie from the prior shift was with us for the first half hour. We also had a young couple come by with three children, one of them almost a newborn. They spoke with us for a little bit, and they were happy we were there. We had another guy come by who said he was just released from prison yesterday and needed some assistance getting started. We asked him if he wanted to pray with us, and he said he had somewhere to go.
Larry