See Rich Owens’ excellent summary of our first Sarasota spring 40 Days 4 Life effort spearheaded by Rich and Tonya McDonald. They did a lot of work and thanks to them, all the disciples who came to the abortion mill and spent time in prayer, to the Holy Spirit, Who blessed all their efforts, expectant mothers were counseled and babies were saved.
Defenders of Life
The Holy Spirit is on fire in Sarasota/Manatee! The response for this first spring vigil has been inspiring. In addition to those faithful churches and people who have participated in fall 40 Days for Life campaigns for years, there are eight new churches and more than 60 new volunteers, that I know about, likely many, many more, praying for Life. Our goal was to pray 12 hours a day for 40 days outside of Planned Parenthood. Together, we the body of Christ, prayed for 92% of these hours, which 40 Days for Life national said was “outstanding”. The Candlelight Vigil on April 13 was truly a sight to see and a great blessing as about 200 people were in attendance in pray. Thank you and may God bless you for volunteering!
Let’s keep up the momentum that we have from the spring campaign, the movie Unplanned and the Candlelight vigil!! What is next?
Some things you may wish to consider follow:
If you have not seen Unplanned, please consider going very soon. We do not know how long the movie will be in theaters. If you have seen the movie, consider going again and asking people to go with you.
If PP Sarasota closes, we celebrate! If PP Sarasota stays open, we will have a fall vigil, starting Wednesday September 25 through Sunday November 3. Please join us again and pray that we are experiencing the beginning of the end of abortion.
If you have not registered online with 40 Days for Life, please consider doing so. https://40daysforlife.com/login/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2F40daysforlife.com%2F
You will receive their Updates, can signup for Day 41 magazine, a free magazine, and be invited to the April 30 Webcast that will summarize the spring campaign and talk about what is next. There are weekly podcasts on different campaign and prolife topics that I have listened to and are of great help. They run about 30-35 minutes each. For example, this week’s podcast is “Abortion…and the week that changed the world–PODCAST Season 4, Episode 16”. https://40daysforlife.com/2019/04/16/abortion-and-the-week-that-changed-the-world-podcast-season-4-episode-16/
On Tuesday’s, which is surgical abortion day, every Tuesday all year long, there are pro-life groups other than 40 Days for Life in attendance outside of Sarasota Planned Parenthood.
One group holds signs to direct women to the pro-life Community Pregnancy Clinic (https://community4life.com/), the little grey building around the corner from PP. I am a new volunteer with this group and we can use additional people to help. If helping by holding their signs interests you, please contact Jim Coon, jamespatrickcoon@yahoo.com. Currently we have two shifts, 9:00 to 10:30 and 10:30 to noon. If enough new people join us, we could add a third shift or possibly consider holding signs on another day when many women enter Planned Parenthood.
If you would like to make a donation to the Community Pregnancy Clinic to help save babies, please contact Domenick Micillo, 239-262-6381, dmicillo@community4life.com, Director of Development.
Another group is the sidewalk counselors. They are trained and reach out to women on their way into the parking lot or front door to help women understand there are choices other than abortion. They are trained as there are legal issues involved and there are periodic training sessions. If you are interested in this ministry, please contact Linda McGlade, tmcglade@juno.com.
The Tuesday prayer group, headed by James Kurt, jameshkurt@gmail.com, starts about 10:15, usually with a rosary and the Stations of the Cross. Other people come to pray on their own or in small groups.
On Saturday morning, there is a man, Terry, and his companion, they pray every week for about an hour, maybe a bit more, starting about 8:30 by the 8th Street driveway, then they move to across the street from the front of the building.
Gene Tischer is the head of Sarasota-Manatee Right to Life, http://smrighttolife.org/about/. There you can see additional pro-life ministries that may be of interest.
40 Days for Life has official status as a non-profit organization under section 501c3 of the United States tax code. As such, it is not permitted to participate in political campaigns. However, as individuals we can, and should, participate in the political process as long as we do not reference 40 Days for Life. Sarasota-Manatee Right to Life has a legislative alerts page. In addition, Christian Family Coalition Florida, https://cfcflorida.net/about-us/, “To empower Families at the grassroots level to give them a voice in their government again!”, is a good source of information. Alicia Vernon can help you with any questions, aliciaevernon@gmail.com
Another way to learn more is to read Shawn Carney’s book, “The Beginning of the End of Abortion”. You can either see me for a copy or go to 40daysforlife.com to purchase a copy.
If you would like your church to be more involved in 40 Days for Life, consider having a conversation with your pastor. If he is willing, I’d be happy to join you to explain more about what we do and how 40 Days for Life’s peaceful, lawful vigil is different.
Consider talking to your friends and relatives about 40 Days for Life. See if any of them would join us once in the fall to witness to the love of Christ on the sidewalk outside of Planned Parenthood. People who come once generally will come again.
For Life
Rich
