Well, fellow 40 Daysers, we are halfway through this year’s spring vigil.  That’s a good feeling, and it always takes me by surprise. 

As I was sitting in my car this morning after setting up (that’s always a good way to pray if you’re alone at the site or the weather is nasty), I put down my Bible for a moment and glanced in my sideview mirror to see a small cloudbreak over the Olympic mountains behind me.  Over the course of the morning, because of the strong winds we were enduring, the break grew and grew until nearly a third of the sky was blue.  It was like the clouds were being rolled back, and it brought to my mind that line from the old hymn: “And Lord haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll.”  I wondered if that is what the sky will look like when our Lord Jesus returns, and I thought about the very real possibility of seeing him coming in the clouds while we’re praying outside the clinic. 

A theology professor at my alma mater once took a survey of his  colleagues to see what they would do if they thought the Lord would come back tomorrow.  One said that he would change his lecture schedule to cover eschatology (study of the end times) so his students would be prepared.  Another said that he would dismiss all his classes so that his students could spend their time trying to win just one more soul for Christ.  But a third professor (I think he was in the business department) said that he would go right on with what he had been doing according to the schedule he had laid out at the beginning of the year.  To do anything else, he said, would imply that what we are doing has no merit in the Kingdom of Heaven, and we know better.  We know that everything we do in Jesus’ name helps to build a better world and restore the coming Kingdom. 

Imagine if Jesus came back tomorrow and found you praying outside the abortion clinic.  What do you think he would say to you? Possibly “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Can you think of a better place to be to forward the Kingdom of God?  What we do out there has implications far beyond the present.  We are not just saving a few lives.  We are impacting the structure of society.  We are fighting injustice because we look forward to a world where every person receives what is due him or her, beginning with life, and that when our Lord Jesus comes back, every injustice that plagues this earth will be brought to an end. 

Hallelujah!  He is coming, and that is victory for us.  Praise the Lord!

~J.A.

Hey, hey, prayer warriors, 

We’re one week in, and so far, so good.  Some of our days are covered almost completely.  Others are rather bare  (consider Saturday).  The weather has been less than pleasant.  I feel sorry for the volunteers who were outside during yesterday’s hail and thunder storm.  But today the sun is shining, proof that God knows exactly how much we can handle.  Quick, grab the sunshine while you can!

I read two encouraging things this morning that I’d like to pass along to you. The first is from an article by Tim Collins in this month’s edition of The Banner (www.thebanner.org).  Collins says, “Jesus cares very much how you are recieved when you step out in faith and make yourself vulnerable for the sake of his kingdom.  He will not forget how you are treated, especially when you are one of ‘the least of these.’” 

The second comes from Kathleen Dillard of PrayerCentral.com.  Kathleen and her late husband Wayne were prayer missionaries in India and sponsor prayer interventions around the world.  Kathleen received this word from the Lord while praying about the tragedy in Japan:

“There is a change in the winds around the earth, a shift, that will usher in brief windows of opportunity, long awaited shaking, removing of fog, deception, it will be beautiful and terrible. My people can pray into this season and ask me to release the glory of the knowledge of My Son, the winds will take the seed of the prayer and blow them to their destination. The winds will create a stirring, an awakening from disillusionment unto hunger, a momentum for heaven, as well as winds of destruction. My people can pray into these winds of destruction and command rebellious spirits to give feigned obedience to Me, bind death, release life (Jn.10:10). I am upsetting many ‘apple carts’ in this season, to break the fascination of the status quo. Candles will be lit in dark places, the eyes of the heart enlightened in long awaited regions, be ready. My people must go.”

I especially like that last part “to break the fascination of the status quo.  Candles will be lit in dark places, the eyes of the heart enlightened in long awaited regions.”  Isn’t that exactly what we’re praying for?  So be encouraged.  Do not grow weary in doing good.  There are opportunities in front of us and our Lord Jesus Christ is with us.  Let’s keep going.

We had 40-50 people at the kickoff event on Sunday afternoon, representing several congregations. There were several presentations, including a very encouraging message from Fr Derek Lappe of Our Lady Star of the Sea parish, and a rundown/reminder of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of standing at the vigil by Glenn Stockton. The Starlight Girls’ Choir, also from OLSOS, provided uplifting entertainment at the beginning and end of the formal program (they are a talented group!). Several members of the audience also contributed comments that augmented the speakers’ words. Before and after the formal program the place was abuzz with people socializing, sharing stories, enjoying the spread of refreshments, and purchasing 40 Days for Life Tshirts, hoodies, and hats.  Everyone seems to have had a great time!

For those of you who will be standing vigil at Planned Parenthood during this campaign, be sure to email me about any notable events at the site, so I can pass on the story to the entire cohort of Kitsap 40 Days for Life participants. Examples of  ‘notable events’ would be conversations with passersby, visits by pastors, and certainly any evidence that our presence has changed anyone’s mind about aborting their child! One thing to be on the lookout for is a visit by Tom Curran. He has a daily radio show on KBLE AM 1050, every morning from 8 to 9, and this morning said he and his family (wife and several children) will try to visit several of the Puget Sound vigils.

Did you know that Washington State has the 5^th largest number of 40DFL sites in this campaign? The only states with more sites are New York, California, Texas, and Florida – all very large and/or populous states!

– Kerry

Have you ever noticed that when God sets his mind to get something done, it gets done?  Have you ever seen the guidance of God so clearly that it just takes your breath away? 

This evening, just as I was getting ready to cook dinner, I got a phone call.  After about fifteen minutes of conversation, I hung up my phone, came out of the kitchen, threw my hands into the air, and (my husband can testify to this) squealed like a twelve-year-old who has just won Justin Bieber tickets. 

The phone call was from a pastor who is interested in 40 Days for Life.  He’d been getting 40 Days emails for about a year, and he’d been looking for a way to do more.  Last week Thursday, while our planning committee was in the midst of our meeting, this man came into the diner to meet with some of his parishioners.  He had never been to the diner before.  The parishioners had suggested it.   None of us knew who he was.  We knew he was a preacher because he wore a clerical collar.  I don’t usually approach strangers, not even strange preachers, but I summoned the courage to interrupt their conversation and offer him one of our posters with a letter of explanation.  It was a completely chance meeting from our perspective, but as my new friend said, we don’t believe in coincidences.  That moment was prepared, and now he’s interested. 

Be encouraged.  When we began planning this year’s campaign, we were questioning whether or not we could do another 40 Days for Life.  Last year was grueling and really left a mark on our souls.  But this year, God seems determined to erase that mark. Everywhere we go, there is evidence that God is going in front of us.  And be active.  Who knows where the hand of God has been writing?  So often he arranges great things ahead of us, and we don’t see his preparations until the “chance” encounter reveals itself.  

 Praise the Lord! ~J.A.

On Ash Wednesday, March 9th, the Kitsap County Pro-life Community joins with 247 other communities to begin 40 Days of Prayer & Fasting, Constant Vigil, and Community Outreach on behalf of “the least of these,” our pre-born brothers and sisters.  As they cannot act in their own defense, they rely on us to be their voices.  Since Roe v. Wade became law, more than 52 million have been slaughtered.  Imagine how quickly the holocaust would end if 52 million born Americans were willing to be the voices of the pre-born.  If the imperiled pre-born could, they would cry out to you to save their lives.  Please, I beg you, answer their silent cry…

YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THE KICK-OFF RALLY!
What?
The Kick-off Rally for the 2011 Lenten/Spring 40 Days for Life
When?
Sunday, March 6th, 2:00PM
Where?
Fire Station at 7600 Old Military Road NE, East Bremerton
Featured Speaker:
Fr. Derek Lappe, Pastor of Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church

Music By:
OLSOS Starlight Girls’ Choir
Campaign Components: Prayer, Fasting, Continuous Vigil, Community Outreach
Details of the Vigil: Theme Days, Nuts & Bolts of Vigil Participation, and more.
- – - – - – - – - – -
PLUS!  This is your opportunity to get your awesome 40 Days for Life T-Shirt – just $7.00 and Wrist Band – $1.00
(also limited availability of 40DFL Hoodies, Caps, and Knit Hats)

This past Sunday, I gave a recruiting speech for 40 Days for Life at my church, and I was nervous because I really, really wanted to see results.  I’ve made announcements before and asked for prayers and people to join us, but I never noticed any response.  So this year I decided to give real speech: this is our motivation, these are our results, this is what we need, please come join us.   I wanted the whole congregation to see the righteousness of my cause, stand up as one, and flock to my sign-up sheet. 

Of course, that didn’t happen.  I stood in the back of the church with my little clipboard, watching people walk past.  Several thanked me for the speech, but nobody stopped and asked me about standing vigil.  Nobody asked how the email devotionals worked.  And I started praying, “Lord, please, just one.”  Nothing doing.  So I put my clipboard away, got my daughter from the nursery attendant, and went to get her a cookie in the fellowship hall. 

Soon, one of the deacons came up to me.  “Do they really do abortions over there?”  He asked for directions and then he said, “You know, I think I could come out there and pray.”  Then a friend came up to me and said, “I can’t come out now, but as soon as I finish my nurse’s training, I can come out for an hour or so in the afternoon.”  And our children’s church leader, that we call our patron saint tongue-in-cheek because she’s been walking with the Lord so long, said, “You know I can’t make it up to East Bremerton during the week, but I’ll pray.” 

I guess the Lord showed me that recruiting in his kingdom isn’t a matter of raising armies.  It’s more a matter of appealing to friends.  How often do we as pro-life activists begin to separate what we do from the rest of the church and begin to feel a sense of us vs. them even with our own brothers and sisters?  We may not all address the same cause, but we are all building God’s kingdom, and God’s kingdom will go forward. 

But God had one more blessing for me.  As we pulled out of the church parking lot at the end of that morning, we ran over the curb and popped a tire.  There we sat in the island, not thirty feet from our church, kicking ourselves and waiting for AAA to come when along came an elder from the Lutheran church down the road. He gave my daughter and me a ride to the mall while my husband stayed with the car, and while we were driving, his wife noticed the 40 Days for Life pamphlet in my bag.  “Oh, what’s 40 Days for Life?” she asked, and I explained.  I asked if their church would be interested in hearing about us.  “Well, that’s a rather hard topic in our church right now,” he said.  “But I tell you what.  I’m interested.  I’ll look you up online.”

Blessings, J.A.

Kitsap County’s sixth 40 Days for Life Vigil Campaign begins on Ash Wednesday, March 9th.  We will join our prayers, fasting, vigil participation, and community outreach with those in hundreds of cities around our country and world, working for the day the slaughter of our unborn sisters and brothers will end.

For many, the Lenten/Spring season is a time of self-imposed sacrifice.  Please consider directing the intentions of your prayer and fasting to the ending of abortion.

The vigil portion of the campaign is now open for your registration.  Click the “Vigil Signup” button and choose the hours you will stand in prayer for “the least of these” – providing the prayerful love and compassion needed to end this scourge.  Now is the time to get involved and to make your commitment!

IMPORTANT NOTE! While it is very clear that graphic images of what abortion does to our pre-born brothers and sisters can be extremely effective in changing many hearts and minds on the issue, NO graphic images will be displayed by participants in the 2011 Kitsap 40 Days for Life campaign.

“The answer to a crisis pregnancy is to eliminate the crisis, not the child.”
- Jeanie W. French

We reject abortion. We DO NOT reject those who have had abortions.

Saturday, March 13th, we will be treated to a performance at the vigil site by the Our Lady Star of the Sea Starlight Girls’ Choir! From 11 to 12 noon these girls and young women will proudly and beautifully proclaim in song their faith and their support of the right for every human life to be protected from conception to natural death. Come hear them and add your prayers and witness to theirs!

Due to the presence of youth, no graphic signs will be displayed during this hour of vigil and celebration.

The 2010 Lenten 40DFL began yesterday, Wednesday, February 17 (Ash Wednesday).  The turnout was good — our prayer and testimony intense.  Even so, we must stay the course, doing what we individually are able to do, standing with love, empathy, determination, grit, and fortitude against the holocaust.

The online calendar shows a majority of hours remain vacant for the remainder of this week.  Although more hours are filled than are shown on the online calendar, it is most helpful to the success of the campaign if you can PLEASE sign-up online.  This is the only way that we know for sure if an hour is actually covered.  Please invite your friends, neighbors, and all in your circle of influence to log-on and consider signing-up for one or more regular vigil hours during the campaign – Vigil Calendar link.

Because there are many days of uncertain coverage, the banner, prayer chest, memorial, and other items may not be on-site when you arrive.  If this is the case, you can pick up a sign or two from the usual location (call Glenn if you don’t know where this is):

• GETTING IN:  If you don’t know how to get in to obtain the materials – call Glenn.
• SIGNING IN:  When you arrive, please read the Statement of Peace and sign-in… there will be a clipboard.
• SIGNS, ETC:  You can obtain a sign to hold and other materials such as the prayer aids prepared by Jennifer A. (our prayer coordinator).
  • Feel free to take one of the Women Do Regret Abortion/Men Regret Lost Fatherhood signs home with you but do return it at the end of the K40DFL.
  • If no one comes to replace you when you depart, please return all other signs, banners, and other material.
• DONATIONS:  A donation can will also be available.  Donations go to Samuel’s Hand Coalition (SHC) to fund current projects (such as the K40DFL).  Note that currently, while SHC is a legal not-for-profit entity licensed in Washington State, your donations are not tax deductible.

May God bless us all — the unborn babies, mothers, fathers, families, PP workers, community, society, and world we pray for as we do this work.

For life!
Glenn S.
360.329.4985

Lori and I just returned from picking up the venerable green van from its 40 Days for Life station in the parking lot at Holy Trinity.  We stopped for one last time of prayer to close the vigil.  As we prayed the rosary a man in a passing car rolled down his window and braved a cold wind to give us a shouted message as he passed us in the dark.  I could not discern the first part, but he ended with “No one cares a !?&#.” I thought, “How fitting and true his message is!”  THIS is why we stand vigil, because NO ONE CARES for these children – the least of these, our unborn brothers and sisters.  We must pray, fast, stand vigil, sacrifice, work, inform, and educate — UNTIL EVERYONE DOES CARE.

BTW – If you have a sec and want to checkout some really imaginative fiction about the Bremerton vigil, go to the Emily X website and read the October 30th post.  We can only hope when they say, “…some women who need our services don’t come here because they’re intimidated by the protesters.” that women have indeed been deterred by our prayerful presence.