Day 38…Thanks to St. Matthew Parish, St. Anne Parish and our wonderful team!

Planting Seeds…

Sometimes, discouragement can overtake us during the 40-day campaigns.  We don’t witness, or hear of, many “saves” and we’re at the receiving end of profanities and upraised middle fingers.  It is easy to think, “Why am I here?  What good am I doing?  Maybe it doesn’t matter that I’m here…” 

I tell you, your presence DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE, IT DOES MAKE AN UNSEEN IMPACT ON OTHERS’ LIVES!

When we pray in front of PP, especially if we pray out loud, passersby just might hear a word or a phrase from a prayer.  That word or phrase might affect them in some way or bring back an old memory- “Our Father…”, Hail Mary…”, “Forgive us our sins…”,  “Jesus…”, or “Mary…”.   That memory has the chance to change their hearts and cause them to think about why we are there praying and, some of us, reaching out to pregnant women.

The prayers, the hymns, the signs, the pregnancy care center resource cards and brochures, the fetal models- all are seeds that we plant without, most times, seeing their effect. 

We never know whether these seeds will fall on fertile ground, or in whose hands (relatives, friends) those cards and brochures end up.  But we do know that they can help save a little life in a womb. 

So, take heart, and know that our efforts are not in vain, that there are babies and children alive today because of our efforts over the past dozen years- “saves” we don’t know about.  Keep the faith, be steadfast. And keep coming downtown to pray!  And please pray about and consider praying downtown with us year-round with 40 Days for Life/365.

God will triumph over evil.  We are His hands and feet, here to do His work on earth.

“A farmer went out to sow his seed.  And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, where it was trampled, and the birds of the air devoured it.  Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the seedlings withered because they had no moisture.  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the seedlings.  Still other seed fell on good soil, where it sprang up and produced a crop- a hundredfold.  As Jesus said this, He called out, “He who has ears ought to hear, let him hear.”  Luke 8:5-8

–Chris

Keep reading to find out who was there to plant seeds today!

7:30-9:00 – Greg, Ethan & Joe W

It was good news – bad news on All Saints Day.  The morning temperatures were very moderate for the first day of November. That’s the good news.  The bad was, by the end of our shift at 9:00 AM, approximately 12 women had gone inside the evil doors of Planned Parenthood for an appointment.  In fact, 4 women were inside waiting before 8:00 AM!

During a brief break in the action, I thought a selfie of Joe, Evan and me would be nice.  On the spur of the moment, as Glynn, the guard walked by, I yelled, “Hey Glynn, want to take a selfie with us?”  He replied with a huff, “Ha!” 🤣. Ethan chuckled and I burst out laughing.  Our one light moment for the morning.

We had a new experience this morning in terms of negative expression.  A couple of women who had entered the doors earlier, came out later and F-bombed me and threatened to punch my face in.   No big deal, we’ve all heard that before.  But about 5 minutes later, a car came around the corner and parked near our display.  I was casually standing with Hutch, passing the time, when a woman got out of the car, who I recognized as the same woman who had offered her opinion of me earlier.  She walked around the car, headed over to our signs, and then proceeded to dump her French fries on top of our sign complete with ketchup!  She then offered her some more of her opinion of me and drove off leaving the fries on the ground and a smear of ketchup running down our sign.  Geez!  I hadn’t had breakfast and was hungry.  The least she could have done was offer them to me before she dumped them!   All I could say, was, God bless you. 

We need to continue to pray for all the angry women we encounter.  I fear almost all of them have had an abortion, and need our prayers more than ever.

9:00-11:00 – Kathy L & Kim

Just Kim and me today with Security Guard Hutch. We observed several women wearing sweat pants entering pp today, one teen female with blanket wrapped around her was accompanied by an older woman (her mother?)  One or two clients accepted resources. We were very overwhelmed by the influx of clients so we started to pray.  Kim led the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I prayed some other prayers too.

A woman named Roseann stopped by to encourage us. She has participated in 40 days with her church. Another passerby thanked us for being there. Around 10:30, Elsie and Jane arrived and immediately engaged with those entering pp.  Holding signs and voicing pregnancy support, Jane, Elsie, and I stood from the curb facing the clients inside the building. 

Members from St. Ann Church in Rostraver showed up as well as Carol, who drives a power wheelchair. Carol had her prolife sign and enthusiastically displayed it.  I gave her some “Love All Life” flyers to pass out, which she did.

11:00-1:00 – Elsie

 My neighbor Jane & I arrived to find Kathy & Kim already on the sidewalk & very sorrowful for how many victims had already been sucked through those dreadful Death Doors. This continued throughout our shift. Jane & I offered literature to victims entering or exiting the death mill and to passers-by. We were joined in this by a lovely lady named Carol who sweetly & quietly witnesses from time to time on the sidewalk throughout the year. Carol arrives & leaves all by herself, although she uses a wheelchair. She brings a pro-life sign with her. I surely hope to see her again soon!! Also with us were an awesome group from St. Anne’s (in the Greensburg Diocese) of three ladies and a gentleman. All prayed valiantly despite being VERY cold, as they hadn’t expected to need winter clothes! Towards the end of the shift, a dear lady named Christina arrived and went right to silent prayer, which was especially needed because of an awkward situation that arose. The self-identified Danish journalists (mentioned in yesterday’s blog) returned and seemed polite, harmless observers until…A victim approached the PP door, and I offered help & what I hoped was a plea for her child’s life. The lady was pleasant & accepted literature but went on in. Soon she & Glynn the PP Guard emerged & accosted the Danish reporters. It turned out that one of the journalists had snapped a photograph of me as I was speaking to the lady, & the lady herself appeared in it. She told the journalists she wanted it deleted. When Jane & I realized what was going on, we also asked the men to delete it. The journalists politely but stubbornly refused, contending that no one could recognize/identify the lady from the photo (as it didn’t show her face maybe??). We felt bad, because this unfortunate turn of events seemed to cut off any further positive communication between the lady & us pro-lifers, although we told her we regretted & disagreed with what the reporters had done.

1:00-3:00 – Donna

 Thanks to the faithful prayer warriors that joined today. We showed up to a police car and Denmark Reporters which made for an interesting start to our shift. Everyone did their best to share resources. We’ve been seeing volunteers with pink vests walking around and Christine spoke with one. Wouldn’t you know it when you check out their QR code it goes right to a place to donate to PP! Thank you Lord for using us to shine your light in one of the darkest places. Please have mercy on our nation Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

3:00-5:00 – Pat, Val & Mike