by Annemarie DeVille
Annemarie, our 40 Days for Life Coordinator, shares insight into the campaign and why it's important to get involved.
It's Saturday morning and a large church group has reserved the day beginning at 8am. They need signs, and unfortunately, we cannot have them readily available on site. It's a chilly morning, overcast...I climb in my car with some signs, worried about the possible rain, so I bring umbrellas. I'm smiling, because I am looking forward to meeting these prayer warriors, so organized that they will have at least two people on the hour out in front of the Planned Parenthood in Fort Wayne until 8pm that night.
Later that day, I return to pick up the signs. It had been a long day. One of the volunteers had been there for the last three hours. It is night, and a light mist covers the streetlights creating halos. The last volunteer leaves, slowly rolling his cooler behind him to his car, a short walk away. I smile...he is one of our most dedicated prayer warriors out of many. I want to take a picture of him walking away, for our Facebook page, but it's too late by the time I think about it. It's another successful year.
" We don't stand out there with bullhorns or large graphic signs. We are not out there yelling at women or telling couples that they are going to go to hell as they are walking into the clinic. We are standing close to the street, waking at cars driving by, whether they give us a thumbs up or a thumbs down. We are holding signs yes, but they are positive, encouraging signs. We are not confrontational, we are just out there silently praying, sometimes talking to each other while holding our signs about the latest abortion decisions in the news, getting to know each other, all different faiths in the Christian community, all praying and uniting our prayers to the same cause, the cause of the defenseless unborn."
What makes a successful year for our local 40 Days for Life campaign here in Fort Wayne? Lots of participation, grassroots recruiting of prayer warriors. As Christ said, "And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting." Mark 9:29
The thing is, do people really know how urgent it is to have 40 Days for Life campaigns here in Fort Wayne? And the answer is, I don't think so. True, the Planned Parenthood here in Fort Wayne isn't the booming, high traffic abortion mills of Texas or Illinois. But things have changed here.
Things are urgent, and we need to step up even more. One thing I like to tell people is that our prayers and fasting have prevented abortions in Fort Wayne since 2016. prayers have worked! But we are in a fight 24/7 with Satan, and we need to step up to the plate even more now.
There is no doubt in my mind that our young people will change the culture from death to life. I will never forget the Fall campaign of 2019, when the principal of St. Jude's Catholic school led the student body from their school, where they walked down Lake Avenue to the Planned Parenthood where they stood and quietly prayed the rosary in front of the building. It was a cold morning. The parade was led by students who carried banners and a cross. They were silent, reverent, standing in front of this building where inside, women were being referred elsewhere to have an abortion, or who were being counseled to take that step, because "it would be better for them". Women were contemplating a life changing decision for them, but most importantly, their unborn child. They weren't receiving all of the options, just one. That is enough for us to stand outside as prayer warriors, for 40 Days for Life.
We don't stand out there with bullhorns or large graphic signs. We are not out there yelling at women or telling couples that they are going to go to hell as they are walking into the clinic. We are standing close to the street, waking at cars driving by, whether they give us a thumbs up or a thumbs down. We are holding signs yes, but they are positive, encouraging signs. We are not confrontational, we are just out there silently praying, sometimes talking to each other while holding our signs about the latest abortion decisions in the news, getting to know each other, all different faiths in the Christian community, all praying and uniting our prayers to the same cause, the cause of the defenseless unborn. It was this constancy of prayer and Love, the Love that comes from God Himself, that led Abby Johnson to join us. Please join us this Fall 40 Days for Life We encourage churches of all denominations to come out, and if you can reserve a full day, with two people an hour from 8am to 8pm, great! We also love half days, 8am to 2pm, and 3pm to 8pm.
Learn More about 40 Days Here!
