People often tell us as we minister to women on the sidewalks of abortion centers that we need to tone down the message of God. They feel that too much religion turns people off. I might have even agreed with them in my early years as a Christian. Too much spirituality made me uncomfortable.
I have changed.
In the ten-plus years of sidewalk outreach, time and time again, I have seen the power of scripture to transform a hard, rebellious heart. Yesterday, our Love Life team saw this play out on the HELP Monroe Mobile Ultrasound unit (MUU). The MUU is parked outside of the abortion center.
A woman came aboard for the free ultrasound, but she was very abortion determined. I am not even sure why she decided to come to us. She spoke only Spanish, so perhaps she was confused. However, her friend spoke English, and he was our translator. I made it very clear from the get-go that we were pro-life and eager to provide help to make her choice for life easier.
It was a hard-fought battle for the next two hours. We texted our prayer warriors, including the Love Life Prayer Walk group just around the corner. Pray, Church!!!
She almost didn’t agree to have the ultrasound, insisting that killing the baby was her intention. However, we quickly grabbed a Bible and began sharing verses. The woman claimed to love God. As we recited verses about what the Bible says about the unborn, her resolve to abort began to wane. Her friend read verses to which we directed him from an English Bible and translated for her. She finally agreed to at least look at her baby.
She thought she was six weeks pregnant, but as soon as the ultrasound image came on the screen, it was clear she was MUCH further along. Twelve weeks! She asked us to take videos of the baby. We did this while describing the incredible developmental milestones of a 12-week baby.
She had visibly softened, even smiled while watching her baby suck his thumb, scratch his head, and flip in her womb. I could hardly believe it when she told us she was STILL considering abortion. Her words were a little less determined, but it was clear the ultrasound alone had not completely convinced her.
So, the incredible nurse, Courtney, found a Spanish Bible. I handed it to the mom and helped her find the many verses talking about what it means if Jesus is Lord of her life. She read verse after verse, looking increasingly uncomfortable as she read each one.
Then I told her to read this verse:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
Matthew 7:21-23
I asked her what she thought that meant. She said it meant she was to do what God told her to do, or He was not truly Lord of her Life. I agreed and told her it also warned us that if we continued in sin, we would sever our relationship with God. If we denied Him in our lawlessness, He would deny us. I directed her then to Deuteronomy 30:19.
“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore, choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;”
Deuteronomy 30:19
I asked her what that verse told her she needed to do.
“Keep my baby,” she whispered.
What will you do?” I asked.
“I think I will keep my baby,” she said. “ you have helped me to see things in a different way.“ We, of course, know it was not us, it was the power of God‘s word.
We asked her permission to share her information with our Love Life teams in her area, many hours away. She agreed. That team immediately contacted a church who is willing to help her. They would call her right away.
Never neglect the Word of God. It is the power to save and the best weapon we have to fight this spiritual battle. Satan desires nothing more than to destroy the family. What better way to do so than to sever the mother/child bond. Fortunately, God’s word is sharp enough to separate marrow from bone. The lies of the enemy are powerful deceptions. We need to use every tool God has given us: the Church, prayer, ultrasounds, and especially, the Word of God.