We definitely sensed our need for prayer support in court (and out of court) yesterday (Monday), so we greatly appreciate the people like you who cared enough to pray for us.

After a brief hearing in the morning, the judge told us to return at 1:30 pm.  This gave Terri time to go back on the sidewalks outside the abortion chamber, where she encountered a young woman whose baby had just been saved from abortion.  The woman had just been inside the abortion chamber, where an abortion nurse had been inserting laminaria (used to dilate the cervix before an abortion).  During this process, the woman kicked the nurse, exclaiming "that hurt!"  The nurse responded sarcastically "it doesn't hurt as much as having a baby!"  This experience caused the pregnant woman to decide not to go through with the abortion.  Please pray for this woman.  She is homeless right now and needs a place to stay for herself and her two young children (in addition to the child in her womb).

When we returned to court in the afternoon, we were offered a plea bargain which our attorney told us we should accept: the charges would be reduced to an infraction (like a traffic ticket) and we would each be required to pay a fine of $250. But Terri stood firmly against the concept of pleading out, insisting "we didn't do anything wrong!"  Our attorney said that even though he agrees that we didn't do anything wrong, the system is corrupt, and if we are convicted we could be forced to stay away from the abortion chamber for three years, so it would be a good compromise to pay the fine.

Our attorney then told us that if we did not accept the plea bargain, he would no longer represent us!  This attorney has represented us at his own expense throughout this case and has been very generous to us, so even though we were frustrated by his statement that he would no longer represent us, we didn't want to create any more trouble for him.  When we returned to the courtroom, he told the judge that we would not plead out and that he wanted to be removed from our case.

Our attorney requested a continuance so that we could find new counsel, but the judge refused to grant a continuance, saying that there have been too many delays in this case already (a valid point).

So I asked the judge if Terri and I could represent ourselves "in pro per."  The judge asked us to approach the bench, where we discussed the problems associated with self-representation.  The judge told us to get together with our attorney to come to an agreement on whether or not to represent ourselves and then to come back to court on Thursday at 8:30 am.

After we left court, we called another attorney who has helped us in the past.  He told us that if we represent ourselves we are "toast," emphasizing his view that an untrained person can not prevail in a case against a trained attorney.  This attorney offered to represent us, but only if the case could be continued until August.

Because of this second attorney's opinion, we decided not to sign the papers which would have removed the first attorney from the case.  Our attorney was upset by our refusal to sign the papers, and he later told us that he will request an ex parte hearing with the judge to explain why he cannot represent us.

After all of the confusion of the day, we decided to attend the Kern Region Prayer Watch's weekly Monday night prayer gathering, even though we had already missed the first two hours.  These intercessors have provided a key source of spiritual support, encouragement, insight and counsel through many situations in recent years.  Although we do seek the counsel of attorneys, we value the counsel of these dedicated intercessors much more highly, and their prayers and insights helped to end the day on an encouraging note.  God is at work in this situation, no matter how frustrating and discouraging it may appear to us, and He is bringing us through this situation to further the cause of Life!

As we left the prayer room after the meeting, a young woman approached us. She had been sitting next to us during the prayer meeting but we didn't recognize her.  She went on to tell us that three years ago she had planned to abort her baby, but after talking to Terri she decided to give birth to her baby and to let another family adopt the child.  She said that she will be upholding us in prayer during this trial, confident that God will bring something good out of it, just as God brought something good out of her difficult pregnancy.  She hugged us and thanked us for helping to save the life of her child, and she said "if my parents were here, they would thank you too!"

We don't know where we go from here legally.   Apparently our next court appearance will be Thursday at 8:30 am, although our attorney may seek a special hearing before this time.  Will we represent ourselves or will we have counsel?  We don't know. But we do know that God will use this situation, whatever the outcome, for His glory.   Please continue to uphold us in prayer.

In Christ's service for those who cannot speak for themselves,

Tim Palmquist