Day 9…Thanks to Mary, Mother of God parish, Most Precious Blood of Jesus Respect Life Group & Faithful volunteers and team members!

Praise & Worship

Psalm 150:6: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!“

Psalm 68:1: “God shall arise, His enemies shall be scattered; and those who hate Him shall flee before Him.”

“Praise” increases our joy and ushers in the presence of God. When we praise God the enemy flees, so let’s lift up our praises on the sidewalk!  Many times on the sidewalk I find myself singing worship songs…when we “Raise a Hallelujah” in the presence of our enemies, we are sure to “See A Victory”.  Let our prayers be sweet incense to our “Good, Good Father” as we stand “In Christ Alone”.  We’ve seen the “Goodness of God” in lives saved, conversations had, people God has placed on our path and the opportunities to pray and intercede, so let us “Speak Jesus” over our city of Pittsburgh with the “Resurrection Power” only He can give! We know the “Battle Belongs” to the Lord and He is the “God of Revival” and our “Living Hope”. He turns “Graves into Gardens”. He is “Holy Forever” and “Way Maker”.  “How Great Is Our God” and there is joy in the “House of the Lord” when His praise will “Ever Be” on our lips.  “This Is Amazing Grace” to be part of His body, His Ecclesia. As we continue to be obedient to God in the battle for our unborn neighbors and pleading for equal justice for them, we believe that we will “Take It All Back”. With Your breath in our lungs we will continue to sing Your praises as we lift our voices together singing; “To God Be The Glory”, “Great Are You Lord” and “Come Jesus Come”.

Father we give You all honor, praise and glory due Your name.  You are worthy of it all. There is none like you.  No one compares to you.  You are working all things for our good and Your glory. We won’t be quiet or silent as You strengthen us and give us courage and holy boldness to go forward, to continue and persevere in this battle for LIFE.  Lord the enemy has many deceived by lies and blinded to Your truth.  We pray and believe for the blinders and veils to be removed. We pray that those who do not know You will have their “Saul to Paul moment, their Damascus Road experience;” will repent and come to know You as Lord and Savior.  Change their hearts as only You can. We are praying and believing this for all who work in the abortion industry.  Lord many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are not standing on Your Word. Help them to see Lord and repent.  Awaken your church we pray. We command a return to truth and a rejection of deception. Your plans and purposes will come to pass and will not be stopped. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God, cause Your light to shine so brightly in us that people will glorify You. We ask all this in Jesus’ name. Amen

~Donna

Now that we have prayed that beautiful prayer of Donna’s…and are all fired up to praise the Lord on the sidewalk…keep reading to see how we honored God with our presence today!

Nikki & Cheryl 7:30-9:00

It was a quiet morning on the sidewalk with just Cheryl and I, each praying on a separate side of the circle. Thanks for her husband, Rick, for staying to help us set up the materials! That was such a help! The couples began entering earlier than usual today. Before 8am there were already 3 couples. They were all sitting in the waiting area just inside the glass doors where I could see them. All three had refused my offers of help, and seemed very cold and hard hearted. My heart went out to those little ones, as they helplessly awaited their executions in that waiting area. I felt prompted to get on my knees where they could see me, and I prayed the sorrowful mysteries. As I thought about Jesus kneeling in the garden of Gethsemane…abandoned in His agony by His sleeping disciples…I imagined that I was kneeling with Him, in solidarity with those little ones who were also being abandoned. As I meditated on the scourging, I again put myself with Jesus…and with those little ones…as their tiny bodies were about to be scourged. During the crowing with thorns, I thought about the disregard for the dignity of these tiny creatures made in the image of God. How their naked little bodies would soon be laying exposed in a dish, while gloved hands callously moved around their parts to make sure they were all accounted for. I remembered a former abortion worker confessing the gruesome and macabre jokes that happen inside the “POC” room, with the baby parts being used for a laugh. So much similarity to Jesus being humiliated, naked, a filthy purple robe and a crown of thorns…mocked. Although I have no reason to think that anyone changed their minds today, I believe that our witness to passersby…to those lined up waiting to catch a bus or to get into the driver’s center…plants seeds that will produce fruit. I believe that we make a difference with our presence and our prayers.

Barbara & Richard 9:00-11:00

Linda & Beth Ann 11:00-1:00

No couples going in and out of PP today. There were mostly single women. Maybe it was not an abortion day. 

No time for photos today. It was an interesting shift…

During the shift a man approached Beth Ann and Nancy and engaged them in conversation. He was with his two sons and daughter. The man admitted that the oldest boy and the daughter were almost aborted, but that God convicted him at the last minute. Praise God! The children loved looking at and playing with the fetal models.

Later a man and woman approached and asked if I spoke Spanish. I told them no, and since no one with us spoke Spanish, I tried Google translate. Not successful. But then I remembered that I had some Birthright Spanish speakers in my contact list, so I gave Carlos a call. The couple asked Carlos not about abortion, but about how to find jobs. I’m not sure what advice Carlos gave them, but it appeared that they exchanged phone numbers. The couple seemed very appreciative.

Towards the end of the shift, a car parked at the curb and as the man got out, he announced to Beth Ann and Nancy that he was forcing the woman to get an abortion. They went into the gyro shop. The woman came out to get something from the car, and I spoke with her, advising her that no one could force her to have an abortion and that we could provide housing and help if she needed it. She told me he was watching her from the restaurant. Sam and I waited for them to exit after their meal, and the man announced again that she was going to get an abortion. But then they got in their car and drove away, leaving us wondering what had just happened. Were they serious, or were we pranked?

Beth Ann, Nancy, Patty, Sam, Ed and Bob joined us for all or parts of our shift. I saw the Google Street View car go by. Hope they got a great shot of PP with all our signs and people on the sidewalk!

Carolyn & Cil 1:00-3:00

Walt with his Irish beads rosary.  Just beautiful!  It’s great to see and pray with him!

Carolyn came with Mary, her friend from church.  She was so good at handing out while also praying.  One young woman came immediately back after receiving a flyer and asked if we had pregnancy tests.  So I took her to Little Lamb.  She said her younger sister might be pregnant.  After seeing the cute little clothes she said she would like to be an aunt.  But she said she’d support her sister whatever she decides.  I did tell her that if she had an abortion it won’t end her problems and she would suffer thinking about it and what might have been.  She was very sweet and appreciative.

Diane, Joyce and I came with Fr Jim from St Francis Parish in Butler.  They covered us in prayer.  We had some spiritual conversations.

Joyce took Laura for coffee and handed out granola bars. She’s so generous.

Ed stayed from the last shift and was great at covering the other side along with Brasilia who came for a short while before going to Little Lamb to open up.  She’s lovely and we’re so glad to have had the shop open!

Bill and Pete showed up in plenty of time.  And they had another gentleman show so we felt good leaving them with the shift well covered.

Pete & Bill D 3:00-5:00

Just wanted to let you know of a couple of incidents that occurred after 4 (the first hour of our shift was quiet).  A somewhat inebriated man approached Joe (from Mary Mother of God Parish) and I. The conversation started out cordially enough but then the gentleman worked himself into a little bit of a frenzy inquiring why we (i.e. men) were there and that we had no business being there.  Joe tried to calmly talk to him but he became somewhat hostile trying to bait us into verbally sparring with him.  Then the man started to get closer to us while raising his voice.  He then got within a foot of me and that’s when our security guard stepped in (he was close the whole time but didn’t step in until the man crossed the line) to quickly and quietly de-escalate the situation.  Joe and I prayed the St Michael prayer at this point and started a Rosary.  The man left shortly thereafter.  If it weren’t for our security guard’s, and Our Lady’s, intervention who knows what may have happened.  There was also another very inebriated man who, shortly after this incident, started to yell and curse at Bill.  He kept walking down the sidewalk away from us while continuing to swear.  Then he and the other gentleman mentioned above, who came back (but not to engage with us), started to spar verbally, but I think the presence of our guard helped to de-escalate that as well.  

Thank you and God Bless,

Pete