Our sidewalk outreach was speaking on the microphone about the terrible truth of abortion, the precious life of the unborn child, and the clear commands of God regarding the taking of innocent human life. A young man came off the porch and immediately walked over to us. He told us he did not want the abortion. He had tried all he knew to do to get her not to abort. 

We shared some ideas of what he could say to her. We prayed with him and sent him back in the abortion center to see if he could convince her to come to us. He was inside a long time. He came out, got in his car, and left crying. Later, he returned and stood on the porch, his head down. Defeated.

The young man was so distraught. Our team was still there as the hours dragged on. He watched us, listened to us calling out to the women as they arrived. Then, he came to me a second time.

He told me he had tried but she refused to back down from the abortion. She said she wanted to travel and to enjoy life. I asked if she claimed to believe in God. He said she did. I asked if he was married. He was not.

There were sad situations that led to the abortion which I HAVE heard before. She had recently had a miscarriage which devastated them both. Women I have counseled have told me they go to abort because they do not want to experience the grief of miscarrying again. This sounds CRAZY and twisted, but grief can do awful things to our mind. 

Gently, I began sharing the Gospel. He was so HUNGRY for help, knowing the awful effect of sin first hand now in the pain he was feeling over his baby being killed. There is no other help I know other than the Gospel. 

He told me he had never submitted his life to Jesus. He loved God, but really knew very little about the truths in the Bible. He had no certainty of salvation, nor how one could be saved.

We spent a long time on the subject of sin and the awful consequences of sin. He had not really known much about what God says about sexual immorality, nor even whether it was sin. He understood that if Jesus was truly Lord of his life, he should obey Him. We talked about what true repentance looks like. Then I shared Romans 10:9:

“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;”

He said he wanted to submit his life to Jesus…all areas of his life. He did, right then, saying he had never known so much pain, and he knew he needed to change his life. He asked Jesus for forgiveness and asked that HE would truly be Lord of his life.

He said he would return to Mexico to see his family whom he had not seen in a long time. It sounded like he had been avoiding the sadness of failing health and hard circumstances with his family there. 

Then he would discuss all he now knew about God and salvation with his girlfriend. He said he would return to church. He would discuss with her the need for marriage before any further intimacy. He would stop smoking cigarettes and harming his body. He wanted to live as God wanted him to live.

I shared the story of David and his sin with Bathsheba. I told him the baby conceived in that sin died, but David was forgiven. David says in that passage that he knows the baby will not return to him, but he would return to the baby.  I tried to comfort him that he would see his baby again one day now that he himself was saved. 

At that point, he asked to hug me. I held out my arms, and he laid his head on my shoulder and cried. It was very sad but also very wonderful that he saw and responded to his need for the Lord.

Sidewalk outreach is not always about the lives of the babies. Sometimes it is about the lives of the parents. It is always about God and our hope in Him alone.