Friday, November 26, 2010

40 Days for Life Experience




This fall I had the opportunity to run the first fall 40 Days for Life campaign at Family Planning Associates (FPA) in San Diego off of Miramar Road, September 22 -- October 31. When a dear friend of mind first asked me to help out I said of course, and though it wouldn’t be too difficult. When the time came to sign our city up for the fall prayer vigil it was myself and one other gentleman. We signed up in mid July and from that day on my life has been blessed by running a 40 Days for Life campaign.

We had about two months until the campaign would kick off, so I started listening to the online trainings on how to run a 40 Days for Life campaign. About 40 hours later, once I had listened to all the trainings and mapped out my strategy, I began to panic. I didn’t know how on earth I was going to accomplish all that needed to be done. One of the biggest things emphasized in the online trainings was that all you have to do is say yes to God and let him work through you. With hundred of phone calls made, many emails written, and hours of prayer, things started to pickup off the ground. Before the campaign even started, it was incredible to see the feedback that was received from communities of San Diego county. We had our cast the vision meeting with local pro-life leaders to connect regarding activating churches and their local communities; I only expected about 10 people, and oh my was I surprise and excited when over 30 people showed up. Right away the meeting attendees shared ideas and contacts, and the very next day they were out at their churches and in their communities promoting our prayer vigil.

This was a very new concept to grasp for many people, 40 Days of praying and fasting outside the abortion clinic! It took some time for them to understand the need and importance of praying at the actual abortion center, but not once did a prayer warrior regret the time spent outside of the abortion clinic. This campaign activated hundreds of new members to the pro-life movement, and many others walked out of their homes for the first time and into the streets to proclaim the right to life in a public forum. At the kick of rally there were over 100 people present to celebrate the beginning of a 40 day long prayer and fast. No one knew what the outcome of the campaign would be, but all knew that they had the common belief that praying for an end to abortion was vital.

Over the 40 days many beautiful stories were shared and many people were touched by the campaign. Ten confirmed lives were saved, and ten families spared from the devastation that an abortion brings. More than 1,000 people participated in our campaign, between praying and fasting from home or in front of the abortion clinic. While we know that ten lives were spared there are many more we will never know about because they drove by the clinic instead of walking in, or they decided not to leave their home at all that morning for their scheduled abortion. Dot Harms, Executive Director of Culture of Life Family Services in San Diego shared with us that at least one crisis pregnancy came to their office every day during the 40 Days for Life campaign, and that was a significantly higer than normal number of women seeking pregnancy counseling.

At our closing celebration for the two San Diego county campaigns we were joined by Shawn Carney, Co-Founder of 40 Days for Life along with many other pro-life leaders from the San Diego area. Never before have I seen such joyous people. We came together to celebrate a campaign that not only saved 12 lives and impacted the abortion clinics in our area, but to celebrate the changes that took place in our own lives and the transformation our churches and communities went through. San Diego came together in solidarity to pray and fast for an end to abortion; it made a difference and saved lives. If you have the opportunity to participate in the next 40 Days for Life campaign I strongly encourage you to do so. The innocent need your prayers and sacrifices.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Life Saving Work of Pregnancy Counseling Centers is Under Attack

Whether you are pro-life or pro-choice we must all stand for the constitutional rights of pregnancy counseling center. Pro-choice organizations are attempting to close pregnancy counseling centers across the country. While we may not agree on the issue of abortion, the help which pregnancy counseling centers bring to women during their pregnancy significantly reduces the number of women who struggle with whether or not to have an abortion.

Please take action today and sign this petition. Pray for all those involved in defending the rights of pregnancy counseling centers.

https://www.aclj.org/Petition/Default.aspx?sc=3674&ac=1

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Christian Persecution in Iraq, 134 Lives Lost



Sunday October 31, Catholics were celebrating mass at Our Lady of Salvation church in Iraq when al-Qaida gunmen stormed into the church and held the congregation hostage for four hours. 58 men, women, and children were murdered and 75 were severely wounded. Abdullah Hadad shared that she and her family were in mass when the shooting began, "We stood beside the wall and they started shooting at the young people. I asked them to kill me and let my grandson live, but they shot him dead and they shot me in the back.



Some al-Qaida gunmen claimed they were defending themselves against the the plan by United States pastor, Terry Jones who had planned to burn the Qur'an on the anniversary of 9/11, but did not follow through with his plans due to opposition.

Sunday evening, Raghada al-Wafi walked to mass bringing joyful news of her pregnancy to her priest who had just married her a month before. Raghada and her priest were killed just minutes after her unborn child in the womb was blessed by her priest. On Tuesday hundreds of Iraqi Christians attended a funeral service to morn the 58 lives that were lost during Sunday’s siege; while many families were morning their dead mortar and fire bombs hit some of the neighborhoods in Baghdad near by, with 13 confirmed attacks. These second set of attacks caused the death of 76 people, and over 200 were wounded.



"We were just standing on the street when we heard a loud noise, and then saw smoke and pieces of cars, falling from the sky," said Hussein al-Saiedi. While the source of these attacks are not confirmed, information does lead to al-Quaida involvement.



Please pray for the men, women, and children who were persecuted for their faith. Pray for protection of the Iraqi people. We are called to morn our Christians brothers and sisters who have died from these attacks.

Cross on the ground of the church

Encourage our United States government to help protect the Christians who are being persecuted for their Christian faith in Iraq, contact your United States Representative today.

Send a Letter to Congress and President Obama!

View more photos

Monday, November 1, 2010

Feminist Principles that Affirm the Right to Life

Planned Parenthood has a petition called “ONE MILLION VOICES FOR NO-COST BIRTH CONTROL “ which is seeking one million signatures to give birth control to all women at no cost. National Organization for Women (NOW) is heavily pushing for feminist pro-choice candidates in next weeks election. NOW has activated thousands of volunteers across the country to stand for feminist candidates with principles that deny the unborn child in the womb equality or even opportunity. As we grow closer to this coming election it becomes ever more important that we stand for principles that respect and protect every human life. Pro-choice feminists are scared because they know that this election will be a huge turning point, and are using every possible emotional tug they can think of to activate their supporters who will vote, make phone calls, and be a public voice for their “feminist principals”. Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America wrote in a recent email, “Birth control matters. It matters to the young woman finishing college or starting a career. It matters to the family struggling to make ends meet. It matters to the woman suffering from endometriosis. It matters to mothers and fathers who treasure the children they have.” Four reasons for why birth control “matters” are listed by Cecile, but can you tell me how “birth control matters”, to the woman who can no longer have children DUE to her use of birth control and abortifacients? The reality is that most forms of birth control have long term detrimental affects on women’s reproductive health care. And while many women may view themselves as “safe” because of their use of birth control, women are exposing themselves to a whole host of communicable diseases that at best can be controlled using antibiotics, and at worst cause infertility and even death. As Christians we are called to live a life that affirms a culture of Life, but today we have been sucked into a society that affirms a culture of death, where all that matters is what makes us feel good. It is time for a change in the tide, where all women are treated equally, but I have yet to see pre-born women in the womb treated with the exact equality that the pro-choice feminist demands. This equality is denied to the pre-born because society chooses themselves over others, and until we deny ourselves and serve others we will continue to see pro-choice candidates in office who will take this country to a point that is increasingly difficult to correct. If you are a feminist or another person who is figuring out how to vote, please continue to stand for a culture of life that mimics the life of Christ. Don’t cause future generations to have to fight the battle of abortion and contraception, let’s work and vote to end the Culture of Death now! Be a public voice that affirms Life Principles.