Report from Shawn Carney of 40 Days for Life:

40 Days for Life just reached a huge milestone, but
first I have to share an AMAZING story …

… Last week I showed you pictures of the 40 Days
for Life vigil in Reno, Nevada — where the
abortionist uses a sprinkler system to soak the
people praying outside his fence.

Despite this aggressive hostility, we just received an
incredible report from that location.

A woman driving out of the abortion center’s parking
lot stopped to ask one of the local volunteer for her
phone number. Shortly after, the volunteer received
a text message.

This text sums up what 40 Days for Life is about —
and the impact a local vigil can have.

Here is the exact text message:

I just wanted to send you guys a text to let you
know that what you do out there does make a
difference.

When I went to that abortion clinic last week to
drop off my money to terminate my pregnancy, I saw
people standing out there with signs. I didn’t
expect to see that and part of me felt ashamed.

I drove through the gates anyway and went inside,
gave them my money and made an appointment for
2:30pm today.

As I was driving away I couldn’t help but think
that maybe there was another way. All this week I
thought and prayed about it and I realized in my
heart what the right thing to do was.

I can’t help but think, that had you guys not been
there that day to remind me that I had another
choice, that maybe one more baby would have died
today.

Don’t stop what you’re doing. It matters. It did
to me. From the blonde lady in the white SUV who
picked up her money instead of aborting her baby
today.

WOW.

And that’s just ONE of the …

… 3,000 lives God has saved — that we know of …

… thanks to YOUR prayers and efforts since the very
first coordinated 40 Days for Life campaign started
in the fall of 2007!

THREE THOUSAND — to God be the glory for reaching
this major milestone!

That’s a LOT of children and mothers spared from
abortion. And that’s a lot of GREAT stories …

… like the one I just received from Carol in
Houston: “This e-mail is to CONFIRM that God saved
TWO BABIES this morning at the mega-abortion Planned
Parenthood facility!”

A group prayed while one volunteer, holding a sign
reading “Pray to end abortion,” waved at cars driving
by. After a while, a van turned into the Planned
Parenthood parking lot. They drove around — slowly
— then headed towards the exit.

As they reached the street, the van stopped and a
woman rolled down the window. “Because you were
here,” she said, “my daughter has chosen NOT to have
an abortion.” The daughter was weeping in the back
seat. “Thanks for being here and saving her baby.”

A short time later, a couple in an SUV went in and
out of Planned Parenthood a couple of times. They
finally drove out and they, too, told the volunteers
that they could not go through with the abortion.

Praise God for these — and all — the 3,000 lives
saved from abortion due to local 40 Days for Life
campaigns. And THANK YOU … for your prayers, your
fasting, your steadfast response to God’s call.

Here’s today’s devotional from Rev. John Brown, the
Director of United Friends for Life (United Church of
Christ)…

—————————————————–
DAY 20 INTENTION
—————————————————–

May God’s justice sober our society, and may mercy
triumph over judgment.

—————————————————–
SCRIPTURE
—————————————————–

Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning;
from the hand of every beast I will require it, and
from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s
brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds
man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in
the image of God He made man.

– Genesis 9:5-6

—————————————————–
REFLECTION by Rev. John Brown
—————————————————–

The value of every human being can hardly be seen
more clearly than with this verse. God, the King of
the universe, has created all human beings in his
image, and declares forthrightly that shedding the
blood of any individual will require the blood of the
one who shed it.

God’s concern for human beings is not limited to any
particular group. Indeed, his concern is universal,
and includes male and female, young and old, born and
unborn, disabled and able-bodied, the citizens of
every nation on earth.

Abortion, the deliberate killing of the unborn, is
the shedding of innocent blood. Surely the blood of
millions upon millions of innocent children cries out
to God. It is true that we live in an age of grace,
and yet this passage (among many other texts which
express similar sentiments) should give every
thinking Christian pause.

Christians of all people, entrusted with the Word of
God as we are, must take a stand. We must speak out.
We must do all that we can to protect the innocent,
to pursue justice, and to encourage the repentance of
all those who bear responsibility for this great
evil. Only in this manner can we hope to forestall
the judgment that must otherwise surely come.

This passage should also be seen as an encouragement
to educate and disciple our children and
grandchildren about what it means to be human, and
the responsibility that will become theirs in this
ongoing struggle.

—————————————————–
PRAYER
—————————————————–

O Father, forgive us for our lack of courage and our
want of compassion for the unborn and for those lost
and hurt by abortion. Fill us anew with your Spirit.

Renew our minds, strengthen us in righteousness, help
us be people of salt and light within our nation. May
every human being, from conception to natural death,
be treated with the respect due those made in your
image. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.