Christianity,  Personal

Speak for the Unborn

Our church recently began a new pro-life outreach that I’ve been taking part in over the last two weekends. The outreach is called “Speak for the Unborn,” and the idea behind it is very simple. A group of us shows up to Louisville’s abortion clinic on Saturday mornings from 7:00-8:30am. As women arrive for their abortion appointments, we try to engage them in conversation as they walk from their car to the clinic.

Our goal in talking to them is twofold. One, we are trying to convince them to choose life by directing them to “A Woman’s Choice Resource Center” a crisis pregnancy center located just across the street from the abortion clinic. From there, we can offer them abundant resources to carry their babies to term and to care for them after they are born. Two, we aim to share the gospel with them as there is opportunity. Our desire is to save these unborn babies and to spare their mothers from making a decision that they will likely long regret. Our ultimate goal is to direct these women to Jesus.

The vision for this ministry began with Dave and Stacey Hare of Immanuel Baptist Church, but it spread to some members of my church after a sermon I preached last January on Proverbs 24:10-12, a text which reads:

10 If you are slack in the day of distress,
Your strength is limited.
11 Deliver those who are being taken away to death,
And those who are staggering to slaughter,
O hold them back.
12 If you say, “See, we did not know this,”
Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts?
And does He not know it who keeps your soul?
And will He not render to man according to his work?

Why am I writing about this outreach on my blog? There are several reasons.

First, after doing this the last two Saturdays, it has become clear to me that my experiences at the abortion clinic will become a part of what I write about on this blog. This post will be my background link whenever I do.

Second, I want to raise awareness about this ministry among evangelical Christians in Louisville. There is a need for other gospel-believing congregations to get involved with this kind of outreach. Dave and Stacey Hare have produced a set of resources to help train sidewalk counselors who want to speak for the unborn. The Hare’s are also available to come to your church and to train your people directly if need be. For more information about the outreach and how to contact the Hare’s, click here.

Third, I want people to know about Louisville’s crisis pregnancy center A Woman’s Choice Resource Center and to consider making a regular monthly donation to this work. A Woman’s Choice Resource Center assists pregnant women with free pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, maternity/infant clothing, counseling, and information about adoption. The Center is a frontline effort at convincing women to keep their babies and at supporting them after they do. Moreover, this is an evangelical work that is committed to sharing the Gospel with each and every client. Here’s a link to their donation page.

Fourth, we need prayer. As you will find out, this is not an easy work. The abortion clinic has recruited their own volunteers to escort women from their cars to the clinic. So we are often in direct confrontation with the clinic’s escorts. As far as it is up to us, we want to be at peace with all men (Romans 12:18), but these folks don’t feel that way toward us. So we need your prayers, the clinic’s escorts need your prayers, and so do these pregnant women and their unborn babies.

Keep an eye out on this blog for stories from the “Speak for the Unborn” outreach. They will be coming forth in very short order.

8 Comments

  • Charlie

    So great to hear that you and your church are involved in this ministry! The Lord has answered our prayers by getting more and more churches involved in doing this.

    And saying that the abortion clinic workers do not strive for peace with you is a major understatement! If things have not changed you might find yourself thrown on top of a car. I know that Ryan Fullerton did.

  • MatthewS

    I believe we are compelled as believers to speak up for the unborn – those innocents who are threatened with death through abortion.

    I would just urge you to remember that this may well be one of the worst times of the mother’s life and that she is certainly going through a lot. If she was hoping for privacy and is suddenly confronted with people who she feels condemn her, this may have some serious and unfortunate unintended consequences for her future relationship to God and the church.

    I’m not speaking against trying to converse with a mom in such a case but I’m urging you to remember that you are not just speaking up FOR the baby but TO a person who needs Jesus and is very possibly a traumatized soul herself.

    This sounds silly but I recently had to take a small container to a medical lab. It was really embarrassing to me. I was doing nothing morally objectionable but if someone had approached me to converse, I can assure you I would have been rude. I wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. My little experience is very, very different from a mother going in to get an abortion but it reminds me in my own personal way that she’s a valuable person with many complex emotions. It would not help the cause for someone to get so caught up in defending the baby that they mistreat the mother.

  • Charlie

    Matthew, I can assure you that the advocates do not speak to the mother is a wrong way. They plead with truth and love.

    On the other hand, though this may be a hard time for the mother, it does not excuse her action of moving to kill her child. Having the grace of people pleading with her right before she makes the decision to kill her child is not as difficult as what she will have her child go through.

  • Brandy

    I am so excited to see you post on this, Denny! Thank you for your leadership in this ministry and for being used of the Lord to inspire so many of us to action!

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