Changed By Love

This is an email that I received from Shawn Carney of 40 Days for Life.

The Fall Campaign has started.

This is Day 2.

Pray for 40 Days for Life and get involved if you can.
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I have to say that the ENTHUSIASM I’m seeing and
hearing is really uplifting — and also humbling.

The dedication and prayers of so many — like you —
have made this the largest 40 Days for Life campaign
ever … and prayer always sustain us through
adversity. Here are a few examples.

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FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS
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The people who arrived for the 40 Days for Life kickoff
event outside the abortion center in Fayetteville got
a bit of a surprise — a brand-new sprinkler system,
with the sprinkler heads pointed directly at the prayer
volunteers.

“The owner of the business complex turned the sprinklers
on as soon as we set up all our equipment,” said Tiffany
in Fayetteville. “And they kept the sprinklers on for
two hours.”

One co-owner spent the entire two hours “pacing and
walking up and down the parking lot, yelling at us and
telling the police to arrest us,” she said. “Needless
to say, the police officers were polite and explained
they could not arrest us.”

The prayer volunteers were then greeted with loud,
obscene music from inside the building. “We sang and
played worship music and lifted our voices to God,”
Tiffany explained. “Our God songs drowned out the
vulgar music.”

Through it all, the prayer volunteers refused to be
discouraged. “The bottom line — God triumphed,” she
said. “Praise the Lord!”

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TOCCOA, GEORGIA
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Bright and early on Day 1, a young woman stopped by
the 40 Days for Life vigil site in Toccoa and gave
Mary a great big hug.

“Please know that people are noticing what you are
doing,” the woman said. With tears in her eyes, she
showed Mary a picture of her son.

This young mom said she had been on her way to have
an abortion when her car broke down. She had to use
the money she had saved up for an abortion to get
her car fixed. Soon after, she decided to keep her
baby — and now was so very happy with her choice.

“She also agreed to stop back and sign up to join our
campaign,” said Mary. “We are looking forward to
seeing her again, and hope to be able to send more
stories like this.”

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
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About 75 people came out for the 40 Days for Life
kickoff in Las Vegas. “The sun was hot,” said Linda,
one of the local leaders, “but many were willing to
brave the heat … in support of the dignity of human
life.”

The event began with music — and the sound of the
shofar, the traditional ram’s horn. “Pastor Wally
Smith of House of Israel Fellowship proclaimed a
Bible passage and called us to bravely fight the
evil of abortion that occurs here in our city nearly
every day,” said Linda.

“Let’s stand ready to storm heaven with prayer,” she
said, “and then humbly await God’s will.”

To see a photo of the kickoff event in Las Vegas,
please go to:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2255

Here’s today’s devotional from Fr. Frank Pavone,
national director of Priests for Life…

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DAY 2 INTENTION
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Pray for those who work in the abortion industry, and
for those who have repented of committing abortions
and have resolved to defend life.

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SCRIPTURE
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Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into
your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said
this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing
what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this
was a righteous man.”

— Luke 23:46-47

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REFLECTION by Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life
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“Those of us who have participated in the killing of
unborn children are the Centurions of today. We have
dropped our swords against the unborn child. Now we
must recognize the depth of our guilt and deal with
the ramifications… To revitalize our humanity we
need to forgive and be forgiven, to reconcile and be
healed.”

These words come from a brochure of the Society of
Centurions, an organization for former abortion
providers. These words convey in a beautiful and
moving way what is happening across the nation as
hundreds of abortionists and their staff members
experience repentance, conversion, and healing.

How does this conversion begin? Dr. Philip Ney
writes, “The factors that changed their opinion on
performing abortions, in the following order of
frequency, were: evidence of the infant’s humanity, a
spiritual experience, personal distress, evidence of
the mother’s distress, scientific articles, being
accepted as a person, a personal relationship with a
pro-lifer, pro-life pickets.” (The Centurion’s
Pathway, p. 77).

The journey is not easy. But the Jesus who heals us
calls us to face the truth of what we’ve done, make
restitution where possible, and engage in the hard
work of mending relationships. Let’s pray for the
Centurions; may their numbers increase!

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PRAYER
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Lord, we thank you for those who have repented of
committing abortions and have resolved to defend
life. We too repent and resolve.

We repent of every instance in which fear has made us
silent when we should have spoken. We repent of the
ongoing bloodshed in our land, and for thinking that
we can deprive the unborn of protection but keep it
for ourselves.

We resolve that we will advance the cause of
righteous candidates for public office, and that we
will be more afraid of offending you by our silence
than of offending others by our speech. We resolve
that we will proclaim your name to the nations,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.