Recap of the first week

After a beautiful kick off rally on Tuesday night (go here for an excellent report), with close to 100 in attendance, about a third of us headed over to initiate our prayer vigil, even though we didn't officially start until midnight. We held a candlelight vigil with guitar music and sang hymns of praise, dedicating our work to God. Some of us were there until about 11, but others came back at midnight. There was constant presence from midnight until 5 AM. And we know they must have been praying fervently for those of us who would be there during the open hours of the clinic.

Here are just some of the caring faces who greeted Planned Parenthood employees and clients on the first five days.

In just the first few hours, we saw a woman who was apparently scheduled for an abortion, accompanied by another woman, pull in the parking lot. They saw us praying and holding our signs. They walked together toward the door. She touched the door, and then let go and walked back to the car, followed by her companion. They sat in the car for about 15 minutes in discussion, and then finally drove away. We continue to pray for her, that she gets the help and love she needs.

In the same day, we counseled a woman who walked out of the clinic, sadly from just having an abortion. She was hurting. She told us she was sorry. She came to us and we hugged her and loved her, and shared some information with her about Project Rachel, a healing retreat for women who've had an abortion.

And on the second day, we saw another woman walk out of her apparent scheduled abortion, appearing very disturbed. She got in the car with her boyfriend who had been waiting in the car, and they drove off. While she was in the clinic, another woman came out to yell at me and tell me to take my sign (seen above) somewhere else, because people were trying to make hard decisions in there. I told her that I was praying for the people making those hard decisions. She yelled about it some more, and I told her it was my constitutional right to be there, on the public right of way. She continued to yell, and I just bowed my head and prayed. She went back in.

So far, in spite of Planned Parenthood's campaign to "fight back" with their "Pledge a Picketer" campaign, only one man held an "I heart Planned Parenthood" sign and wore a bright orange t-shirt with the same. He came out of the building on Thursday when I was there alone for a little while and parked his sign on the sidewalk, and stood with it, about 5 feet away from me.

We were friendly and respectful to each other, making small talk, but as soon as I challenged him a little bit in conversation, he told me he thought it would be best if we didn't engage in "dialogue". This was in response to my showing him a fetal development model and asking if he'd ever seen one. He told me he had been the director of PP for years and that he was "very familiar with fetal development." In spite of his stated wish to avoid dialogue, he started one 2 or 3 other times. I was happy to engage. I'm praying for his heart to change.

There are plenty of other stories to tell. The above are just a few. It is evident that God is in this, and is providing all that we need. Momentum is building and more time slots are getting filled. People are coming forward and offering to do outreach to their own churches and groups.

All praise, glory and honor to the Lord!