Dear Friends of 40 Days, Our 40 Days for Life fall campaign is now officially over. Many emotions surface--
What an incredible 40 days it has been. I have the names of 180 people who committed to participate sometime during the 40 Days for Life (many, many more stopped by whenever they were able or as they were driving by). 3 women definitively have chosen to give birth to their babies instead of aborting them, strong indications are that 5 others seemed to have changed their minds. That is 8 women who will never have to experience the pain and regret, 8 babies who will be a blessing to them, their families, and the world. And this does not even include the unknown numbers of women who may have changed their minds without our knowledge and the many, many minds and hearts driving on Route 37 that have been challenged to examine their perspective on abortion by our presence. God's graces were so tangible. During the last couple days of the 40 Days for Life, we were privileged and honored by the presence of 2 remarkable pro-life champions at the abortion clinic--Chris Bell, his wife Joan Andrews Bell (who came Saturday night and Sunday afternoon), and their 7 children who stopped by to pray and hold signs. The Bell family were in Toms River as guest speakers at the Knights for Columbus Respect Life prayer breakfast held yesterday. For those of you who are not familar with Chris Bell and Joan Andrews Bell--- Chris is the co-founder along with Fr.Benedict Groeschel of the Good Counsel Homes in New Jersey and New York City area which gives housing, education, and a variety of other support to pregnant women and their children who were in danger of abortion. Joan is primarily known for being sentenced to serve time for almost 5 years of her life because she was attempting to stop women from killing their children by blocking their access to abortion clinics in the 80's. She has been one of my pro-life heroes since my 20's. At the prayer breakfast, Chris shared how meeting a 17 yr. old mother of a small infant was the catalyst in creating his maternity homes. This very young mother had approached him while he was in Time Square and told him that she was completely abandoned by the father of her baby and her family for choosing life for her baby and had absolutely no other support. She then asked him how he could help. Chris had learned, after meeting more and more women in similar circumstances, that there was nominal assistance for young mothers and lamented to Fr. Groeschel the lack of the community resources for those who wanted to choose life. Chris said Fr. Groeschel's reply was: Stop complaining and do something about it. I thought Fr. Groeschel's wisdom was relevant to us all. :-) Joan then was given an opportunity to speak. The only thing she wanted to say was to plead with everyone at the prayer breakfast to spend one holy hour per week at an abortion clinic. She reminded us that the babies who are to die at the abortion clinic may receive the only love on this earth from those of us who are willing to stand outside the abortion clinic and pray with them. Their short lives were/are surrounded with nothing but negative feelings of rejection and possible anxiety, depression, hopelessness. She said that we must come to Calvary as St.John, the Blessed Mother, and the small group of followers did, as they stood at the foot of the cross in union with a dying Jesus . "What you do to the least of my brothers you do to me." It was an incredibly moving statement she made. I extend that same plea to all of you to continue your efforts and join us at the abortion mill during all hours of their operation. There will be others continuing their witness on Wednesday 4pm-6pm, Friday & Saturday 1pm-6pm (or as late as they close) every week until this place of death and suffering is closed down for good. Speaking of abortion mills being closed down, 3 different groups of vigil attendees shared how their efforts of praying and witnessing in front of abortion mills resulted in the closing of 4 different abortion mills in Florida, Pittsburgh, and Lakewood. It can and will be done! Although I was unable to attend the Victory Rally held at the abortion clinic I was told there was a very nice turn-out (approx. 50 people) and a lovely candle-light ceremony. The closing was punctuated by Karyn's son, Christian, who led the group in singing "God Bless America" for the upcoming election tomorrow (please vote tomorrow!). I also wanted to share with you other victories that prove how our faith-in-action can lead to swift and powerful results. The Choice Hotel executives (that oversees all the Choice Hotels like Clarion, Super8, Comfort Inn, etc) stopped the practice of offering discounts at the Clarion Hotel in Cherry Hill to women having abortions because of the influx of phone calls, emails, and letters decrying the business practice. Also, McDonalds withdrew their presence on the Board of Directors for a gay and lesbian organization because of a boycott by the American Family Association to demand they stay neutral on this issue. This happened in a very short amount of time because of the response by concerned individuals. I share this with you as an example of what Christians coming together in prayer and action can do to combat injustice and evil. Which leads me to my final words....... Because of the overwhelming response and interest in the 40 Days for Life, I am asking if you would like to remain on this email list with updates of future Respect Life events being held either at the clinic or in the Ocean County area or other items of strictly local interest (I will assume national and less regional info can be obtained elsewhere and wish to refrain from redundancy). I promise I will not use this list to forward myriads of miscellaneous emails but will concentrate on pro-life issues at the local level, especially on events being planned at the Toms River abortion clinic itself. I also am contemplating creating a new website that will be similar in nature and concentrated on local community pro-life efforts. Please spread this email address to any who wish to be added to this list (please have them email me) If you do not wish to receive these updates, please respond and I will take you off the list. I can't thank you enough for all you have done for the preborn, their families, and the community during these 40 days. May God bless each and everyone of you for your prayers, sacrifices, and efforts in promoting the Culture of Life. I hope to keep in touch! For His little ones,Sandy
Dear friends of 40 Days, We are quickly winding down our amazing campaign. It's hard to believe there are only 10 more days to go. Although I can tell it's quickly heading into November by looking at the bundled-up vigil attendees standing outside the abortion clinic in their parkas, scarves, and mittens. Your shivers will not go unnoticed by God nor those driving by. It is sacrifices such as these that will draw hearts to the truth. Let us go into the homestretch praying twice as hard and offering our continued sacrifices, especially being that the upcoming elections are only 2 days after our campaign ends, to the protection of all the dear little preborn human beings. I'd like to share with you the final details for the 40 Days for Life Closing Rally. Please mark your calendar.
I got word yesterday that our 40 Days friend, Al K., is still in the hospital. He's had an irregular heartbeat that the doctors were trying to fix with medication but because that didn't work, they tried electrical cardioversion yesterday and wish to monitor him for a couple more days. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. I also want to share with you some disturbing news that I feel must be brought to light in order to solicit more prayers. I was informed by one of the employees that works in the building of the abortion clinic (not at the abortion clinic however) that the owner of the building, Dr.Ynaya, recently allowed Dr. Brigham, the CEO of American Women's Services to rent additional space inside the building that wasn't being used in order to expand the abortion clinic services. Dr. Ynaya is denying the allegations but I was told the expansion happened a couple months ago which corresponds precisely with the longer hours and the use of the back entrance of the building by the clinic staff (they were previously using the main entrance along with their clients). Let's pray it won't mean even more additional days of killing babies than W,F,Sat. We must also pray for Dr.Ynaya who now seems to be a willing participant in this awful, awful business. May God grant him, along with Dr.Brigham, the abortionist, and the entire staff a true conversion of heart and mind and make them staunch defenders of life in the very near future. I have been receiving many forwarded emails asking for action on various pro-life items. Although I like to concentrate the emails I send to you mostly on events and information pertaining primarily to the local 40 Days for Life campaign, I thought you may appreciate some of them and wish to act on them ....plus I won't have many 40 Days for Life updates to give :-)
For God's little ones,
Sandy
Dear friends of 40 Days, Today, a group of 40-50 from the BLD prayer group consisting of members from various parishes in northern Ocean County came together in prayer in front of the abortion clinic. Many families with children attended. There were songs of praise (accompanied by 2 guitars), prayers of petition, rites of exorcism, and recitation of the rosary. They prayed for over 2 hours. During their prayer time, a young couple exitted the abortion clinic shortly after the abortion doctor arrived. They were both smiling. The woman was literally skipping as she walked down the sidewalk. She then looked directly over at us and gave a wide smile as they continued to their car. I was intrigued by their behavior so tried to catch up with them to talk to them but they had already gotten to their car. I continued to watch them as they drove out of the driveway and waved to them. They both smiled broadly and the man went out of his way to roll down his window to be able to stick his arm out of the window to return the wave. It was obvious that they were filled with joy. I strongly believe that this couple had a complete transformation of heart through the graces obtained from the group's prayers. No one comes out of the abortion clinic that incredibly happy...the Holy Spirit had to have touched them for them to react so strongly. Praise God! Before the above incident, a car pulled along Harley Street and dropped off a young hispanic woman, then drove off. The woman approached us before walking into the clinic and it was quickly apparent that she spoke hardly any english. When asked if she was going in for an abortion she said "yes" (although I am not certain she understood the question completely). She was given a blessing with oil by Karyn, spanish literature, and a rosary before walking into the clinic. It was heartbreaking that we could not communicate because she was so willing to listen. What is even more heartbreaking is that she remained in the abortion clinic well after the abortion doctor left (possibly in recovery) and seemed to have remained alone through her abortion. (the car that dropped her off hadn't pulled in at the time I left) Almost every single hispanic couple/women are willing to talk with us and accept literature but a barrier currently exists for offering even more help. We could be of more assistance if we were able to communicate to them and possibly save some lives and suffering. If anyone who speaks spanish and feels called to help, please contact me. In addition to your prayers to end abortion, I request your prayers for one of our vigil attendees and a huge component to the success our local 40 Days campaign. I was told today that Al K. is in the hospital and will be there for testing and observation in the next 4 days. Al had worked tirelessly spreading the word about the 40 Days for Life and was instrumental, along with his wife, in getting a large number of people to sign up to commit for the vigil. May the Lord grant wisdom to your doctors and heal you, Al! I also ask your heartfelt prayers for the owner of the building where the abortion clinic resides. Dr.Ynaya is in need of conversion in allowing the abortions to continue under his roof and we need to pray for him along with all that are involved in this business of killing children. As we have seen God work in the hearts of the women going into the clinic, God can work even greater miracles in the hearts of the staff, Dr. Ynaya, the abortionists, and even Dr. Brigham of American Women's Services (the CEO of 15 abortion clinics). Thank you all for being the instruments of His grace. Have a blessed Sunday! Sandy
