She could not have been more than 16 years old.
Her head was buried in her arm as she leaned against the side of a car outside one of the Southeast’s busiest abortion centers. An older woman stood nearby. They had just come out of the clinic.
And the young girl was not just crying.
She was wailing.
It was the kind of loud, desperate, gut-wrenching cry that stops you in your tracks. The kind of cry that tells you something had happened that could not simply be explained away.
Lisa, one of our sidewalk volunteers, walked near her and gently asked if she was okay. She offered to pray with her. The girl cursed at her.
But even then, someone was there.
Someone was close enough to see her pain. Someone was there to pray. Someone was there to be the light of Christ in one of the darkest moments of that young girl’s life.
This is what the world rarely shows us.
A child’s life had just ended, and a young mother was walking away in visible anguish.
Abortion is often presented as freedom, empowerment, and a way forward. But what Lisa witnessed outside that abortion center did not look like freedom. It looked like bondage. It looked like sorrow. It looked like the painful aftermath of sin and brokenness.
And it reminded us again why the Church must be there.
Not to condemn women in crisis or stand at a distance from the broken, but to offer the freedom, forgiveness, healing, and hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ.
Mothers in crisis need someone willing to lovingly interrupt the lies before a decision is made that can never be undone. Every child deserves someone willing to be their voice.
Many women, like this young lady, walk away from abortion carrying sorrow, regret, and shame. But regret and shame do not have to get the final word. Through Restored Life, Love Life’s abortion recovery ministry, women and men are invited into a safe, gospel-centered process to experience forgiveness, healing, and freedom in Christ. This year alone, more than 800 people have inquired about Restored Life. To learn more or take a next step toward healing, visit lovelife.org/restored.
That moment outside the abortion center reminded us that freedom is not just an idea to celebrate. It is a gift to steward.
Just days ago, our nation celebrated 250 years since the Declaration of Independence. It was certainly a reason to rejoice.
We recognize that America has an imperfect past and that God used imperfect people in its founding. But that should not surprise us. Imperfect vessels are the only kind God has ever had to work with.
And yet, through imperfect people, God has allowed this nation to become a place where freedoms have been protected, truth has been proclaimed, churches have been planted, and the gospel has gone forward.
For that, we give thanks.
But as we thank God for the freedom we have been given, we must also ask what we are doing with it.
As the Church, one of the clearest ways we steward freedom is by using our voice for those who cannot speak for themselves and bringing the freedom of Christ to those bound by sin, fear, shame, and death.
This is why we show up to the darkest places in our cities.
This Saturday, July 11, churches across the nation will gather for our July Prayer Walk. We are not gathering out of anger. We are gathering in faith, in love, and in obedience to God.
We walk because the child in the womb cannot speak, because mothers and fathers need to know there is another way, and because the Church has been given freedom not for silence, but for love.
“Open your mouth for the speechless, In the cause of all who are appointed to die.” Proverbs 31:8
Join us this Saturday at the July Prayer Walk. Visit lovelife.org/locations to find a walk near you and come pray, love, and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.