Our focus is always the life of the baby when we are serving as sidewalk counselors in front of abortion centers. We use a gospel centered approach to reach the moms, knowing that the Word is power in transforming hearts bent on destruction. We choose our words carefully. Each second matters. We are always cognizant of the fact that a baby is about to die.

It can be high stress work, and there is an urgency as we speak to the mothers. Sometimes, the urgency is in trying to convince the father of the baby to go in and save his child. In this particular instance, the father texted me, since my number is on the back of the literature we hand out. However, the text was a long treatise…all in Spanish! I could make out some of what he said, but not nearly enough to carry on a discussion. Praise God, our Hispanic counselor, Veronica, was on our team that day! I quickly gave her his number and she called him. As he spoke to her, he admitted that he knew abortion was wrong and that he had tried to talk his girlfriend out of it. However, he said she refused to listen.

Veronica kindly but truthfully told him that he was an accomplice to what was happening since he had driven her there. Additionally, she asked if he was paying for it. He said he had intended to. 

As the conversation progressed, Veronica discovered that the reason the woman was there for an abortion was she had been having an affair with him. The pregnancy complicated matters. She did not want his baby. He was married to another woman. Veronica told him how his sin was leading to greater sin, as it so often does. That is the nature of rebellion from God. He claimed to love God. Veronica made it clear that he was not showing love for God by his actions.

While he sat in his car in the parking lot speaking over the phone with Veronica, she encouraged him to truly seek God. She urged him to repent of his sins, to leave this adulterous relationship, to do everything in his power to fight for the baby’s life, and to truly submit his life to the lordship of Jesus. 

To her delight, the man tearfully said that is exactly what he wanted to do. Not only did he now pray out loud, recounting and repenting of his sins, but he vowed to return to his wife and to reconcile with her if at all possible. And then he told Jesus that he wanted to start all over with Jesus truly as his Lord and savior.

In the parking lot of an abortion center, a despairing and beaten man admitted his brokenness before God. He thanked Veronica. The woman returned to his car to collect the money she would need for the abortion, but this new believer refused. He would offer no help to her to kill their child. He tried again to convince her to save the baby. She refused, and returned to the abortion center.  Sadly, another family member who had accompanied the woman did pay for the destruction of that precious child. 

The tragic truth of sin is that even when we repent and are forgiven, there are often bitter and grievous consequences. However, along with heaven, our team rejoiced in the salvation of this young man in this most unlikely place. 

We know that when we show up on the sidewalks in a place where so many desperate people are gathering, God is certain to be there as well. We are His hands and feet, offering the only hope and help possible. We would love to have you join us!