August 29, 2007

We constantly deal with irreversible life-and-death issues, as we watch so many women enter abortion chambers with healthy children growing in their wombs, and then see them stumble out a few hours later with empty, aching wombs as their children are whisked away in buckets. Sometimes the constant pain is so overwhelming, we become too numb to cry.

But when we see God use us to save a child from abortion, our pain is turned to joy, just as a mother rejoices looking into the eyes of her newborn child even though her body may still be in pain. You may recall the following story I shared with you in our June letter:

...a car pulled up next to me, and a young woman inside asked for literature. Three years ago, she explained, she had planned to abort her baby, but she had changed her mind after talking to us. "Does the baby’s father help you at all?" I asked. "No," she answered, "but I don't need his help." Her eyes overflowed with tears as she showed me her little girl in the back seat.

We had plans to keep in touch with this young mother, hoping to establish a closer relationship with her as we have done with many other women whose children have been saved from abortion. Her little girl turned three this month, so we sent a birthday card with $3 and called to encourage the girl’s mother. We were hoping to spread some joy, but when we asked to speak with the girl’s mother, the person who answered the phone began sobbing.

"She's not here. She committed suicide last month."

On July 1, just over a week after our happy meeting in the street, she jumped off of the high bridge at the 99/58 interchange. Her mother said that she was tormented by the memories of a previous abortion, especially when she thought about the fact that she almost aborted her precious little girl.

As we often say on the sidewalks outside the abortion chamber, the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. In this case, by setting the trap of sexual sin and the temptation of abortion, our adversary failed to kill the child but succeeded in killing the mother (and causing great pain to the child and her family).

When we met her that day on the street, we had no idea that she was going through such turmoil. I wish we could turn the clock back and find some way to help her. Dealing with the (often hidden) circumstances which lead women to take the path of death can be so overwhelming. We recently received a frantic phone call from a mother of one of our pregnant teenage clients, crying "my daughter is going to have an abortion again because her high school principal told her that she will not be able to graduate!" Thankfully, in this case a call to the principal resolved the situation and the girl decided again to let her baby live. But if we hadn't known about the problem, the baby could have been killed without cause.

Most Christians tend to not want to even mention abortion for fear that they may upset those who have had their babies killed. But what we don't realize is that the wound gets deeper the more we try to cover it up; now the body of Christ is not only responsible for babies dying, but women too! For the sake of the children and their mothers whose lives hang in the balance, it's time for the church to take seriously God's command to expose the evil deeds of darkness and not try to sugarcoat it!

The biblical solution is clear: forgiveness and peace follows confession and repentance. The brazen attitude of "God will forgive me, so I will go ahead and sin" we see so often is the same "sin that grace may abound” position which the Apostle Paul so fiercely condemned in scripture. Will our churches repent of their deadly false teachings before it is too late?

We have been asked to write a chapter of a new book on pro-life strategy this month. There are many different approaches we can take, so please pray that we will allow the Holy Spirit to guide what we write.

Our family also appears to be facing some significant medical issues, but we cannot afford medical insurance. Please pray that we will find a good health care solution for our family.

God uses your faithful support and prayers to sustain and encourage us in so many ways! Thank you!