David Beriet, director of 40 Days for Life is teaming up with Lou Engle of the call, along with several other key pro-life leaders to organize day of massive prayer, fasting, and action for an end to abortion. They are encouraging people from across the country to gather at our nation’s capital for this pivotal event.
To learn more visit helpshapehistory.com
Lou St. Hilaire wrote this fantastic letter to the editor during the 40 Days for Life:
Have you noticed that there are fewer and fewer children with Down’s Syndrome? We have not found a cure or a means of preventing the genetic anomaly that causes Down’s. The horrifying truth is that, with early detection, we–average Americans–are eliminating these children in the womb at a rate of 90% (according to a 1999 study in “Prenatal Diagnosis”, available at http://www3.interscience.wiley
.com/cgi-bin/abstract/65500197 /ABSTRACT). One can certainly sympathize with the fears of parents who discover that their son or daughter has Down’s. However, the experience I have had with adults and children with Down’s and with their parents tells me that theirs is not a life unworthy of living. The eugenicists of the 1930s were wrong. Why, then, are we unwittingly fulfilling their dreams?
The progressive element of this society accomplished great things in the civil rights struggles of the last century by leading us to recognize the full humanity of all members of our species. Its embrace of the rhetoric of “choice” is an unfortunate reversal of this. There is nothing liberal about a society that only welcomes and protects the wanted and the chosen.
From the bottom of my heart, I want to express my deepest gratitude to you all! Thank you for all your hard work, support and prayers that you poured into the 40 Days for Life. Each and every one of you contributed to this campaign in your own way, which is what made our 40 days so great and powerful. God has blessed me with the privilege of getting to know so many of you! Know that you will all remain in my prayers as I hope to continue working with you all in seeing the Culture of Life prevail in our society!
“And now the Lord says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant…” Isaiah 49:5
Bellingham 40 Days for Life
1110 14th St
Bellingham, WA 98225
For those who missed the “Where do we go from here?” message at the celebration rally, and as a reminder for those who didn’t: In the Holy Bible we see that God used 40 days as a period of transformation for Noah and the Ark, Moses on Mount Sinai, Jesus in the desert, and the Apostles after Christ’s Resurrection. My prayer is that each and every one of us has experienced some form of transformation over the last 40 days, in such a way that we will forever be changed and ready to fight the evil of abortion in a new and invigorated way. As much as 40 Days for Life is for bringing about change in our community it is for bringing about change in ourselves so that we may more effectively and diligently work to end abortion in America. 40 Days for Life gives us an opportunity to see the fruits of concentrating on ending abortion on a day-to-day level, and not just in our pastime.
Francis Schaeffer once said, “If people who claim the name of Christ are not going to be willing to stand up against something as evil as killing a baby, then the world has the right to ask whether Christ is real.”
Gregg Cunningham of the Center for Bioethical Reform says, “That’s a devastating question. The world is asking whether Christ is real. They’re not real influenced, they’re not real persuaded by what we say, but persuaded by what we do. And we have absolutely no moral authority with a culture if we say abortion is an indefensible act of violence which kills a baby and then we do nothing to stop that atrocity. Or what little we do approximates our approach to gardening or golf — it’s sort of a hobby we work into the periphery of our lives.”
He suggests that in many ways we are losing this battle, because for the people who do this on the other side, abortion is a profession, and they have proved to be much more determined to kill these babies than we are to save them.
During the 40 Days for Life, you all demonstrated your willingness to make sacrifices and step outside of your comfort zone because you knew it was the right thing to do. We now have to pray and discern the ways in which God is calling us to give of ourselves for these pre-born babies beyond 40 Days for Life. He may be calling you to full time pro-life work, to devote time in prayer at the abortion facility, to give money to or volunteer at pregnancy clinics or other pro-life organizations, to adopt children, to educate and speak out against abortion, etc. These are just some of the many ways in which we can dedicate ourselves to fostering a Culture of Life.
The bottom line: for abortion to end, we must be willing to make serious sacrifices in our lives; perhaps offering our time, money, talent, careers or popularity. Likewise, we must always keep prayer at the forefront, keeping in mind that we cannot expect serious change, without serious petition to Our Lord, through Whom all things are made possible!
“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;” Psalm 95:6
We had such a great turnout for Sunday’s final events! Thank you to all those who were able to participate, and those who couldn’t come but continued to support us in prayer. We had about 70 attendants for the 2-3pm Prayer Vigil, which is easily one of the best turnouts we’ve ever had on that corner! The Bellingham Herald was there to interview and document the event. They even stayed for the whole hour while people prayed and during our time kneeling for the petition to end abortion in our city. If you have not already seen the article that was printed in Monday’s paper, you can see it here:
40-day anti-abortion protest ends
The article is very good! Within one day, this article has received 90 comments! Click “comments” and begin participating in the discussion!
We had about 50 attendants at our Celebration Rally. We got to hear great stories from several people about some of the powerful experiences they had during the 40DFL. We also had Amanda Hostetler, former radio talk-show host on KGMI, share her joys and experiences with the ministry of adopting children. She encouraged us all to pray and discern how adoption can be a part of our lives, whether by supporting agencies and funds or parents who adopt, or by adopting a beautiful child in need ourselves. God has called Amanda, her husband and her family of 7 children (two adopted) to do ministry work in China. We must keep them in our prayers and follow their example of serving those in need.
Lastly, Lani Swanson shared with us a great opportunity to support the Whatcom County Pregnancy Clinic through donations for the BOUND4LIFE bracelets, which she had at the celebration.
Check out the updated photo album for recent pictures of these events!
After today we’ll be winding down to our last three days, with only 72 hours left and roughly 40 hours that need to be filled! What a tremendous joy this journey has been, which naturally comes with serving Our Lord, that it almost seems unfathomable to be leaving our “home” on the corner. This is not the end of our efforts, but the beginning of the end of abortion in America.
If you haven’t yet participated in the vigil at Planned Parenthood, it’s not too late! We are in constant need of soldiers for Christ who are willing to be a witness to our community, which is so wrapped-up in the Culture of Death. Help us to reclaim our nation for Christ, that He may reign in Glory! Help us to speak up for those who have no voice! Help us to defend life inside and outside the womb! Please offer your time, treasure and talent to Our Father so we can most effectively allow Him to conquer sin and death in our lives. We need people to pray and fast in their homes, at work, and in front of Planned Parenthood for the remaining of the 40 Days for Life, and from every day after! Again, it’s never too late to join, but please, make today the day that you do.
We now have Shawn Carney’s entire talk, given during his visit to Bellingham on March 5th, available for viewing! Check out this amazing video:
More from Debra:
* dreadlocks * shine * colored clothes * colored skin * hippie van *
infinity * high on drugs * sober on life * 20ish * 40ish * 60ish * white
collar * blue collar * highly educated * low IQ *
* ragged shoes * too many shoes * emaciated * obese * Christian * pagan *
I’m glad my mom chose life * I don’t care if my mom had aborted me *The life or death issue before us defies demographics. Neither supporters of
life nor supporters of murder can be distinguished by appearance, lifestyle,
age or income. Rather, people can be segmented by the openness vs. hardening
of their heart. God reaches people of all circumstances.We have four days left to envelope this community in prayer, and two days
this week to be in front of the PP entrance praying for all who come and go.
Reports consistently tell us that the presence of prayer warriors near the
entrance and around abortion mills deters parents from aborting. It also has
opened many a heart to God’s Word, and even shut down some mills. To that
end, we have three types of new brochures in the plastic tub that will be
meaningful to hand out to the abortion-minded as well as those who “think”
they support PP. Don’t be afraid to get the brochures into the hands of the
confused and manipulated!
