Wednesday, March 7, 2012

THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESENCE

A little write-up from our 3rd campaign that packs a BIG punch -- thank you Shelley A!  You may wonder, does it really matter if I'm out at a clinic praying?  Here's one answer:

From Shelley A (and Richard K was also with her):    This is an account of our time at the clinic on Thursday, Oct 22, 2009:

Two young girls pulled up in a car to talk with us while we were praying on the sidewalk near the Woman Care abortion clinic in Sterling Heights. The driver rolled down her window and asked, "Do you think that abortion will ever end?" Richard and I went up to the window to say, "We hope so, that's why we are praying!" Then she boldly stated, "I had an abortion, right here at this place." I asked her if she was sorry about it, and she said she wasn't. I told her that is was common not to feel bad about having an abortion at first, but as time goes on, most women do grow to regret their decision.  I was holding my "I regret my abortion" sign, and she asked me why I aborted my baby. I gave her a list of my reasons, and then she gave me hers.  As we spoke about our situations, I could feel her defenses starting to melt down.  She was quite willing to share her experience. She told us that she had the abortion at 22 weeks of pregnancy. She explained how someone from Hodari's office kept calling her to hurry up and get the abortion done, because the cost continued to rise the longer she waited.  Although she had contemplated adopting out her baby to an Aunt, her parents gave her the extra money to have the abortion.

We talked about her visit to Hodari's office.  I asked her if she saw an ultrasound.  She said she did. I asked her if she saw the baby's heart beat.  She said she did. So, she was not in denial that this was a baby.  She then spoke of her office visit was when laminaria was put up inside her womb to prepare the for the abortion.  She said it was extremely painful, and while she was screaming, someone held their hands over her mouth telling her to be quiet. I then asked her, "Would a real doctor treat a patient that way?" I told her that Hodari and all other abortionist care about one thing-- the money.  At that point, the girl sitting on the passenger side started to pipe in.  She agreed it was about the money and admitted she had also had an abortion. They both seemed to agree that Hodari's office was not one of care for the woman.

We talked for several more minutes. They seemed to be genuinely interested in the answers we gave to defend life. The "What about rape?" question came up.  We told them that only a very small percentage of abortions occur from rape (1%), and how we shouldn't use an act of violence (abortion) to counter act another act of violence (rape). Since most abortions do not occur because of rape, it was a poor excuse to keep it legal. Besides, there are so many people willing to adopt!  There are no unwanted babies!  The girls seemed to be won over by that argument....Maybe we were starting to break through!

Richard asked them if they had any religious affiliation, and they said no. So, we spoke to them about Jesus and His Great Mercy.  I told both girls that at some point in their lives they may regret their decision, and I had some information to give them. I asked them if they would wait for me while I went to my car to get something.  They agreed to wait. Richard continued to talk with the girls as I went to my car.  I grabbed a rosary hanging from my rear view mirror, a small new testament bible, and two pamphlets with resources for help.  When I got back to their car, I gave the driver the pamphlets and bible.  I told her, "This is to your baby from mine" as I handed her the rosary.  The passenger asked me if I had a bible and rosary for her too.  I did not.  (I need to keep a stash in my car!), but I was amazed how receptive and hungry they both were to have some token of religion. I then decided to give them my cell phone number incase they ever needed to talk.  The driver wrote it down on a piece of paper, and the passenger plugged my number right into her cell phone.  We parted ways shortly after, but before they left, the driver admitted that there isn't a day that goes by where she doesn't think about the abortion.  She told me her baby would have been born last May. I could see a faint glimmer of "almost" tears in her eyes.

If nothing else, we've enlightened a couple of ladies about "those crazy people that pray outside clinics." They understood we weren't there to condemn;  we were there to help and be a witness for the unborn. Unfortunately, there was no save for babies that day, but maybe a start to save the souls of two women that fell victim to the lies of abortion.

Please pray for them.


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