We have so much to be thankful for as we look back on 2022. Love Life began in 2016, and each year, our outreach expands. More cities are becoming equipped to deal with the abortion holocaust, more churches are arising as Houses of Refuge, more Christians are praying and becoming volunteers as sidewalk outreach teams, mentors, foster parents, donors, and prayer supporters. More pastors are speaking from the pulpit about the truth of the sin of abortion.
The numbers are a great encouragement!
In 2022:
37,796 Prayer Walkers
249 Salvations
946 Babies Saved
120 Houses of Refuge
13 Abortion Workers Quit
Since 2016 (year Love Life began):
140176 prayer walkers
4554 babies saved
161 Houses of Refuge
46 Abortion Workers Quit
377 Salvations!
Love Life currently ministers on the sidewalks of 48 abortion centers across the nation. We plan to expand to five more cities in 2023. Our training has expanded to include not only volunteers in cities where Love Life is established, but in December 2022 began training in areas outside our current outreach. A recent intensive sidewalk training with Daniel Parks and Vicky Kaseorg involved 48 new interested sidewalk volunteers! This intensive took place in Washington, where prolife work is not typically well received!
Despite some of the depressing dark news out of states like California which have legalized abortion as a constitutional right, that same state is where there has been an explosion of babies saved, teams deployed, and salvations. Recently, nine souls turned to Jesus as Lord on a single day in Pomona.
Of course, the numbers reflect real stories that are the reason why we do what we do. I have so many favorite stories from this year. One involved a mom and her sister who had traveled ten hours to get an abortion in Charlotte. They met our sidewalk teams, chose life, and had no money or food to drive home. Our supporters bought them a tank of gas and lunch. When the Gospel was shared, BOTH made a profession of faith to the Lord!
A few hours later, they called our team. They were about forty miles from running out of gas and still 2 hours from home. To our delight, the church we had already connected them with in their hometown was a friend of one of our missionaries who lived forty miles from where they were calling. She met them as the gas tank hit empty in her town, filled their tank, and bought them dinner. They made it safely home where the pastor and church awaited them to provide ongoing help! What a powerful example of the miraculous provision of God at just the right time.
Another story was of a young couple who had taken the abortion pill by mail and immediately regretted it. They found our team, began the abortion pill reversal process, and saved their baby! They were also offered a Love Life mentor with resources and support.
Another miraculous example of the powerful Love Life network across the nation came out of Rapid City, SD. A mom who had chosen life years ago in Charlotte was now calling with a desperate need. She was newly pregnant, and the father of her baby had been airlifted to Denver with a very serious, possibly fatal leukemia. She was desperate to get to him but had no money or working car to do so. She would have no place to stay even if she could get to him.
We contacted our Love Life team in Denver and raised funds from wonderful donors to get her car fixed, and get her to Denver. The Denver team took over finding her free housing for the month she would be there, food, supplies, and emotional and spiritual support.
In NYC, a mom went to abort at the place where the Love Life 40 week Prayer Walk was taking place. The mom was intercepted by the sidewalk team, and chose life. She was asked to join the prayer walk and return to a church to celebrate. She did, and was overwhelmed by the love and support she found. She was given a mentor and ongoing physical and spiritual needs are being addressed.
Another Mom came from Tennessee to abort in Charlotte. She took a bus as she had no car. She brought only the clothes on her back and one change of clothes. The boyfriend told her he would not let her live with him unless she aborted. She would be homeless. She knew she should not abort, and when she met our team, she chose life. Upon hearing the Gospel she committed her life to Jesus. Housing in both Charlotte and her home town was found, and Love Life supporters were willing to mentor and walk alongside her in BOTH cities. And then a Love Life donor said she had a car that she wanted to offer to a mom who had chosen life. This mom was the overwhelmed and grateful recipient of that vehicle. She said her life had been transformed in three days after meeting Love Life teams.
Another mom came on a Charlotte mobile ultrasound unit after being told her baby was dead in the abortion center. She insisted she knew she should not abort, and was not convinced the baby was dead. The sonographer could not find a beating heart, but we connected her with a high risk doctor and sent her to the ER. To everyone’s incredulous delight, the ER found the baby’s heart beat. The woman was appointed a Love Life mentor and is receiving the help she needs.
A pregnant abortion worker who was walking on the street to her lunch break was met by a Love Life sidewalk outreach team member. The team member shared the Gospel and offered help to this single mom. The mom submitted her life to Jesus, quit the abortion job, and asked for a Love Life mentor. She is due in early 2023.
These are a few of countless stories of hope and help through Love Life and the local church. In the midst of a world of calamity and darkness, these stories demonstrate the power of the Gospel to light the darkness, give strength to the weary, hope to the hopeless, and life to those who were on a path of death. Praise God for His mercy and grace as we look forward to what the New Year will bring.
