"Black" Friday

So, I was not planning to go shopping today. I don't do a lot for Christmas--I think it's sick how much money people spend and all the selfishness over a holiday that, by most Christians, is considered "Christ-centered." But, Dad told my Mom that we could get some things for me to set aside until I get married, so then Mom and I were prompted to go! What Mom and I set out to get was a very reasonably priced, discounted stainless steel set of flatwear, from Macy's (it was Oneida brand, which my Mom says is good). By the time we got there, they were out of it, so we were just poking around...well, we found a set of china that was incredibly marked down (about 50% off and we had a coupon) in a quality brand, and a pretty, simple pattern. Mom called Dad and he said they could get it! So I officially have 8 place settings on the way, in addition to a few serving dishes of Mikasa Antique White china (it all came in a set)! I'm so excited. I am hoping this year to make plenty of things to set aside for our house when we get married, but my parents getting us a nice set of dishes is such a huge blessing, and I'm really excited about it. I am so thrilled that God has brought such a wonderful, godly man into my life, and it will be so wonderful when we are able to start our home. I'm thankful that my parents are supportive, and happy to help in any way they can. I thank the Lord for His provision!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name,
make his deeds known among the people."
~1 Chronicles 16:8

God is so good...I really do have so much to be thankful for. The past year of my life, in so many ways, has been so marvelous. About this time a year ago, Ben, Sam, and Hannah had just left my house after a three week visit, while Ben and Sam did some work around our house (painting, yard work, etc). Ben and I were not yet officially courting, although...love was certainly beginning to blossom. A month later was when our courtship officially began, and our love has blossomed and grown into a beautiful, deep, love that will last a lifetime.

Also, we have been covenant members of our wonderful fellowship, Cornerstone (Baptist) Church for a year now! We are so thankful for our "family." All three of us have grown so much since we've been there, and the fellowship has been so sweet. I'm so thankful for a Pastor who preaches God's Word faithfully week by week, even when it means he's not "popular." I'm thankful that he evangelizes faithfully about 5 days each week. He lives what he preaches, and calls all his "sheep" to live holy lives. I thank the Lord for him! Our congregation is also so precious. They genuinely love the Lord and serve Him! They are such an encouragement for all of us, and their fellowship is so wonderful!

In addition to those "new additions" to my life in the past year...I'm so thankful, beyond anything else, for my salvation. The Lord called me 3 and a half years ago out of my life of sin to live for Him; it was then that I repented of my sins and put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ Who paid the high penalty for my sins and purchased me with His blood. Since then, my life has changed so radically in just about every way. I praise Him for being so gracious to me, and to so many others. I am so undeserving, yet He pours out His mercy on me endlessly. Repentance is such a precious gift from the Lord, and I am thankful that I'm blessed with the opportunity to serve Him with my life, and spend eternity glorifying Him along with the angels in Heaven. I fail so often to bring Him the glory He deserves, but He continues to forgive and refine me, a work that will continue as long as I live.

I started writing this post yesterday, and didn't get to finish it because we had some friends over for our Thanksgiving feast. What a precious time of fellowship we had with Tom and Sharon Mutugi and their three beautiful children, as well as Laura, Sharon's sister, and Mandy! They are all members of our church, and we were truly blessed by their company!

-Mary Jo

A girl can brag, can't she? :)

Here is Ben's latest birdhouse. It's up for auction on eBay. Thus far, it is going quite well! Praise God!

I already posted this birdhouse once, but I'm really excited because it's doing so well...so I thought I'd let everyone know. :)

Laboring in the field of Souls...

"Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold,
I send you forth as lambs among wolves."
~Luke 10:2-3(KJV)

Saturday morning, Mom and I joined the group of Christians outside of All Women's Health Center abortuary again, at 10 AM. Upon our arrival, a police officer was lecturing Larry. If you know Larry at all, you know he's not "lecture-worthy." He's a precious older man who faithfully labors outside of the abortion mill each week. We later found out he was being lectured for using the plastic megaphone to call out to the women. The clinic worker I mentioned in my first post about ministering at All Women's, "Tanya", was the one who was flipping out. She was very disturbed by everything we did on Saturday. This time was her first, of two times, calling the police. Once the officer left, the plastic megaphone was put away. Shortly after, Dave began calling out to the women who were inside. His preaching was very touching, and much to "Tanya's" dismay, many of the women inside were crying (praise God!). She came out and told the hired security guard about it, while she was waiting for the police to come and stop Dave from speaking.

In the mean time, Patte and I began talking to a 38-year-old man we'll call "Gary." He had brought his wife to the death mill to have their tiny child, the fruit of their marriage, ripped out of her womb, for the sake of convenience. The couple has a 16 year old, a 12 year old, and a 6 year old. He thought they were "too old" to have another. He was tired of hearing his wife complain about morning sickness. They couldn't afford another baby. Excuse after excuse--bottom line...they didn't want their baby, so they were going to slaughter him/her. The thing about "Gary" and his wife "Sarah" was that they professed to be Christians. It is a horrifying thing to meet supposed Christians at a place of death who are there to murder their babies. Sadly, I've seen it more times than I can count in my short year-and-a-half of sidewalk counseling. Patte and I pled with him for about half an hour to spare his little baby. We showed him scripture after scripture...

"Thou shalt not kill."~Exodus 20:13

"These six things doth the LORD hate:...the hands that shed innocent blood."~Proverbs 6:16-17

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."~John 14:15

"Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."~Matthew 7:19

"For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no sacrifice for our sins. But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."~Hebrews 10:26-27

But it was to no avail. Thankfully, our LORD promises that His word will not return void. Until their lives end, they will still be able to repent. God's word is the most powerful tool we have when we witness outside the mills. In addition to the scriptures we showed him, we pled with him based on what was going to happen to his baby. When he saw the picture of an aborted child, after I described to him the procedure, he teared up. Clearly, his conscience was pricked. It is so hard to plead with someone (in this case, for me, to the point of tears) and see them go back in; especially someone who claims to love God. What an abomination to Him! "Gary" and "Sarah" ended up killing their child. They left the abortion mill about 1 PM. "Gary" stopped and told us to have a good day. He and his wife attend charismatic mega-church Faith World, with a "health and wealth" 'gospel.' "Gary" didn't say much for his church by being there.

Most of my morning was spent pleading with 'Gary'. After he went back inside, I went to call out in the back of the building. That was when I found out the police had threatened us with arrest, should we decide to preach again. Not only that, but we were not allowed to talk about a conversation tone. ALSO, we are not allowed to use graphic signs. Clearly, our constitutional rights are being violated. Thankfully, Liberty Counsel is going to help us out. If the Lord is willing, our rights will be restored before long!

Tomorrow morning, it's back to the field. Your prayers, as always, are coveted.

-MJ

Ben is so talented!

Here's his newest birdhouse--SO wonderful!

http://www.birdhouse-replica.com/lighthouse.htm

-the girlfriend

Yay!

Just a quick update...

I just took my last Anatomy test, and have thus FINISHED my Human Anatomy course completely! I can't find my notebook with my grades for a bunch of tests, so I wont be able to calculate my grade for the course until I do--But I'm SO thrilled. :) I'm officially down to two courses, and after today, I've got just 4 weeks left of school!!!

Fishing for men at All Women's Health Clinic, Orlando

Here is a report about the goings-on at the abortion mill yesterday.

Mom and I were in the back whole time. The first individual we came in contact with was a young man driving a pretty beat up car with a toddler-aged little girl in the back seat. I offered him a packet, and he said, "I don't need that, thanks," and waved his hand. Mom proceeded to offer him one and he sped off. He came back around later, and again refused our information. It really boggles my mind how people can bring a little, precious child to an abortion mill--I've seen it time and time again, but I never ceased to be shocked.

The next woman we spoke with (or, tried to speak with) appeared to be older, probably in her mid-forties, accompanied by a young man. Mom began to call out to her and she yelled, "No!" and walked off. They returned and sat down and I began calling out to her, offering her help. When she continued to ignore us, I began pronouncing the judgement of Almighty God, reminding her of the personhood of her little baby, and also warning her that there will be a day when she will have to give an account to God for murdering her child. It was at that point that she said angrily, "Look. You're pro-life, I'm pro-choice. I don't want to hear it. You shouldn't be here." After shaking her head she said, "We can't even feed the ones who are already here on Earth." As she turned the corner, I called out to her, trying to prick her conscience with a reminder that once you are pregnant, it is too late to decide whether to bring another child into the world because you already have. We saw her a few more times, but as far as we know, she continued on and murdered her unborn baby.

The next encounter with a woman was far better. A purple mini-van was pulling around out back and I offered the lady a packet. She let me know she wasn't here for an abortion, but a pap-smear. Right away, I let her know there was a low cost clinic she could go to that didn't perform an abortion. To my surprise, she was thrilled! She said, "I am a single Mom. I don't approve of abortion at all. You could show me somewhere to go?" I said I'd go get the packet, and she drove down the street (wanting to leave the parking lot), turned around and pulled into Dr. Scarlato's driveway. I handed her the information and she smiled. "I'm so thankful for you all being here. It's really great." She looked at the back of the brochure and was happy to find out that the clinic is right near where she lives. I handed her a Repentance Tract, and she drove away after saying, "God bless!"

After our encouter with her, we went back into the back parking lot of Dr. Scarlato's office. "Tanya", a clinic worker came out. Mom and I introduced ourselves. I told her we were with Sanctuary Ministries and she said, "Oh, that's nice." She got in her car and left, and came back a little later. We later met a clinic worker named "Cindy", who seemed very polite. Later, when I was proclaiming the gospel in the back of the building, she came out a couple of times and stood outside.

At 3:30, when I was introducing myself to Dr. Scarlato (who was, by the way, very nice!), the abortionist pulled in. I quickly got the camera ready. Before he got out of the car, he called inside the mill, apparently startled by the camera, and a clinic worker came out shortly after he got out of the van, wanting to know what I was doing (I let her know I was taking a picture...). Shortly after, one of the "inside guys" from the security service (Admiral Security Services--we have their phone # if you want it), Vincent, came over and wanted to know if I'd stop taking pictures. I said I was finished, but when asked if it was illegal, he continually evaded the question.

Post Abortion Moms started leaving at about 4 o'clock. I tried to approach one and she ran away. Shortly after, Mom and I went back into the back. An officer, who we think was named Officer Hoag came into the back. Apparently the workers had called on account of the pictures. He was very nice. Apparently he comes out there regularly because he said, "I haven't seen you here before." and he asked what my name was. I appreciated his attitude toward us--much different then the average officer.

It's heartbreaking, but it's good to be ministering at a mill again. Part of me missed it...not because I enjoy it (though it is so wonderful when a woman spares her child!!), but because God calls us to rescue the innocent who are carried to the slaughter, and even though Pendergraft's mills in Orlando are closed...babies, made in the image of God, are still being torn limb from limb from the wombs of their mothers in my own back yard, and I have no intentions of stopping until the killing stops or the Lord calls me home.

The scripture that comes to mind when thinking about it is one I read during my devotions today, in Romans.

For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations and their heart was darkened.

~Romans 1:18-21

Clearly, everyone knows--the law of God written on their hearts tells them--abortion is wrong. It's murder. And, perhaps if their consciences aren't yet seared, they even know in the back of their minds that one day they will be judged by the God. But, when they continue on in sin, knowing the truth and suppressing it in their unrighteousness...their hearts are darkened, in their foolishness.

-Mary Jo

Babysitting

I'm babysitting Timmy right now, and he fell asleep...thankfully, I brought my laptop. I'm going to do a quick blog and then work on some school, if he stays asleep. Today has been pretty productive so far. I got up at 5 this morning, after going to bed earlier than usual last night--10! I started the laundry, did my short morning devotion s (I use Tabletalk in the mornings--today it was about the necessity of repentance for salvation--very good!), talked to Ben until 7, while working on school, and then exercised (2.25 miles on the tredmill--30 minutes), made breakfast and left at 8:25. I really enjoy productive days. Timmy's Dad is supposed to be home around 10:30, and they live really close by (literally about 1 minute away). Children are so precious--truly a gift from God. I pray that He'll give me the opportunity to raise children for His glory one day :)

On a serious note, I'd appreciate your prayers. Today, we're ministering at a new (to us) abortion mill for the first time. It's been about 3 months since I've been to a mill around here, because OWC is still closed. I would appreciate any prayers for boldness and for soft hearts. Pre-abortive women are usually either REALLY hard or REALLY soft. I pray that God is already working on their consciences, and that He'll use our little team mightily, and work His will. It is my prayer that He will save babies and save souls. Our Lord is truly awesome, and worthy of our praise--it's all for His glory, though sometimes it is easy to get caught up in just going through the motions. I pray that He'll give me a soft heart for the women and babies.

To find out more about Sanctuary Ministries, the ministry I'm part of, you can visit the blog here.

I'm gonna get going so I can get a little more schoolwork done. We're leaving for the death mill at 12:30 so we can meet up with Patte before ministry time. Since we're going to be on the east side of town during ministry, we're going to just stay over there until women's group...so I won't be home until late tonight!

-MJ

Nevermind!

Well, Dad is going to take the dinner to the family, since he's going over to that side of town anyway. So, we don't get to see the baby, which is a bummer, but that's okay...it's gonna save us money, and I will be able to get more done. Just thought I'd inform you all...in case you care :)

Of High School Graduation, Schedule, and Bible Reading

Okay...so my post isn't exactly about Lasagna OR Jeremy Camp, however there is a lasagna in the oven for a family from our church with a new baby, and I'm listening to the new Jeremy Camp CD, Beyond Measure, which I picked up on October 31, the day it came out. Very good album, I must say. So, anyway, that is why I named this post what I did...I couldn't think of an interesting title, and that's what's happening as I type this!

Where to start...
I didn't finish my journal of the Philly Tour, so I'm afraid Day 1 is all y'all are gonna be able to read about that one, unless I happen to get a chance to finish it.

Life is pretty swell :) I miss Ben a LOT, though (of course). I'm hoping to make a trip up there some time in the next month or two, if time and money allow it. I can't stand being away from him! I'm down to 4 and a half weeks of school, which is really exciting. It's hard to believe I'm going to be DONE with highschool so soon. I'm going to need to re-do my schedule once I'm done. That reminds me...I've successfully kept my schedule for about 2 weeks (except for practicing flute and piano)...isn't that exciting? The reason I'm not "on schedule" today is because we're making dinner for Anne Marie and her family.

My current schedule (on most days) is as follows:
5:45 AM-Get up, get dressed, make bed
6:00 AM-short morning devotion
6:30 AM-Sign on and talk to Ben
8:00 AM-Make breakfast, do chores
9:30 AM-Devotions
11:45 AM-exercise, shower
1:00 PM-Lunch
1:30 PM-Study for tests
2:30 PM-Other schoolwork
4:30 PM-straighten up
4:45 PM-Practice Piano
5:15 PM-Practice Flute
6:00 PM-Make dinner, "free time"
7:00 PM-Serve dinner, clean kitchen
8:00 PM-Family devotions
8:45 PM-Work on stuff for Ben's shop
9:00 PM-Talk to Ben
And, I'm asleep by 10:45 PM

So, there's my schedule.

One thing I've been thinking about lately is how I'm going to go about doing my Bible reading. I'm ready for a "change"--something new. I'm considering a few things, and hope to pick one by the start of next year. One thing I'm considering is reading through the whole Bible in a month. I'llbe done with school, so the extra time wont be a problem. Another option I'm considering (though I may do both) is to read through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, one chapter a day and read Matthew Henry's Commentary with it. I love his commentary, and I'm sure I'd learn a lot. It would take about 3 years...I'd be 20 by the time I finished! So, I suppose we'll see. Do any of you (if I have any readers) have a "reading plan" you're doing?

I should have a post about my dog sometime...he's been dead over a week now. Hard to believe! We'd had him since a week or two after I turned 5, and I'm almost 17. The other two dogs don't seem to notice he's gone! Strange.

Well, I guess I'll get going. I need to finish dinner and get some things done! Mom and I are going out tonight for dinner, since Dad is at men's group.

Hope everyone is well!

-MJ

Philadelphia Pro-Life Evangelism Tour, Day 1

We left for the Philly tour at about 4:30 AM Monday (October 23, 2006), planning to only make it to the second stop of the day, at Princeton. After a 7-hour drive, we arrived and caught up with the group. It was incredibly cold and not a lot was happening at first. I did lit for a while and held a sign for a while, as well as watched little baby Jonathan Storms and took 3-year-old Julia Storms to the bathroom. On the way back from the bathroom, a woman stopped me, “Miss, miss!” I looked at her and she informed me that there were “some extremists down there” with really graphic signs. I let her know I was with them, and she got a look on her face and said, “Oh, well, I didn’t know if you wanted your daughter to see the signs.” I informed her that Julia was not my daughter, and again reminded her I was with the group. She drove away. Upon returning, I noticed a group had gathered around Jason Storms and they were debating. It was an interesting conversation, and I think the students were left with much to think about. About the time that conversation ended, it was time to go, so we packed up and went out for dinner. Mostly everyone went to Friendly’s, but we decided to go to Wendy’s instead, and pay less for a burger, so we did. After dinner, we headed to the church (Chapel of the Good Shepherd) where would spend every night of the tour. After getting settled in, we sang some hymns and had a class about modern policing and its affects on public evangelism, taught by a man named Steve who is a police officer and was part of our group for the first half of the week.

An Update On Life

Well, this week was alright. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent mostly resting and catching up on e-mails and stuff. I was tired from my trip, so it was a welcomed rest. Thursday and Friday, I worked on school work. I got behind during the Philly tour because there wasn't really any time in the evenings, and when there was, there was no where quiet enough, and there wasn't a lot of travel time like on the Virginia tour. I didn't get behind at all that week. I'm all caught up, though, except for tests. I'll need to take 4 Anatomy tests this week, and 2 history tests, so that might be a challenge, but that's okay. This coming week is my last week of Anatomy. Yaay! I'm so relieved to be coming towards the end of high school. I'm so thankful the Lord answered my prayers and changed my parents' hearts about home schooling. If He hadn't, I would be finishing for another year and a half. I should be married by then, if the Lord is willing! God is so good to His children :) After this coming week, I've only got 3 weeks left of Government. After that is 2 weeks more of History and I'll be done! I need to take a GED so I can get my diploma, so I'll need to schedule that and study for it, though I think it will be quite easy.

In addition to doing school yesterday, I started practicing piano again. Ben and I both think it will be good if I know how to play. I also plan on working on flute again, after about a year without a lesson. I don't think I'll get lessons, but I can still work on it on my own. I worked through the first set of piano books in a couple of hours, and I'm about half way through the second set ("Level 1"). When I quit a while back, I was in level 3...so I've lost a lot. It shouldn't take me too long to get back to where I was.

Today was a sad day. :( We had to put my dog, Schuster, to sleep. I'm going to do a post about him, so I'll talk about him there, but what happened was that he got paralyzed in his back two legs. We aren't sure what was wrong, but it was either cancer or a herneated disk, both of which would have cost $2000 or more to correct. We simply cannot afford that kind of medical bill for a dog. So, alas...we've got 2 dogs, now. I was really sad, but I don't think I'll cry about it any more or anything. I'm thankful for the 11 years I had him as my dog.

How is everyone? I haven't talked to a lot of people in a long time. I'd love some updates!

-MJ

Virginia Face the Truth Tour, Day 5

This is a pretty short entry...but here you have it. The last day of the Virginia Face the Truth Tour. :) I hope you enjoyed reading about it. I'll start next week with posts about the Philadelphia Tour.

After a refreshing 9 hours of sleep, Friday morning at 9:30 we were picked up and taken to the place the guys had spent the night. We piled into the vans and headed for Howard University, a black college in Washington, D.C. The stop, at least where Ben and I were, was fairly uneventful. Most everyone took tracts, and a couple folks thanked us for being there, and everyone who passed saw the signs, so it was good. The final stop of the tour was an incredibly busy intersection in Silver Springs, MD. I was on a median between multiple lanes of moving traffic doing literature, which was a little bit scary at times. Many people took the literature. Still, many were uninterested. One lady stopped to thank us for being there and gave me $10 to use for our ministry, so that was a blessing. After the stop ended, we headed home for the weekend.

I'm Gonna Brag Some, and Advertise

This is a beeeeautiful replica Ben made and has for sale on his website. It's constructed of Southern Yellow Pine with some Red Oak for the window frames, doors, etc. If you're interested in purchasing it, e-mail me or send an e-mail to information@birdhouse-replica.com. More information on this replica birdhouse can be found here.

Virginia Share the Truth Tour, Day 4

Thursday morning, I got up at 4:15. After waking up Lauren and Jessica, I took a shower. The first stop of the day was an intersection in northern Virginia, so we needed to leave early. We left about 10 minutes late, at 5:10 and got on the road. At about 6 AM, we stopped for breakfast at McDonald’s and then got back on the road and proceeded to the intersection. The response there was pretty good, in truth. A man who is in charge of some Crisis Pregnancy Centers in the area stopped to thank us, as well as a couple other men. One woman came over distraught. She asked where we were from and I told her, “All over the place.” She said, “Oh, great. All over the place. Are you with a church or what?” I told her we were there with Life and Liberty Ministries, and she informed me she was going to call the police. The ‘problem’ was that we were on public property. Thank the Lord for our freedom of speech. After we finished up the stop, we dropped by a Wawa Market (it’s a gas station type thing they have in Virginia, for you Floridians) for some drinks. We then headed to George Washington University in Washington, D.C. For a while, it was just an average campus stop; some people were glad to see us and others were indifferent, and still some were incredibly angry. Where we were standing, Jesse was preaching (he is quite the preacher, might I add), some were holding signs, and Ben and I and a few others were passing out literature. After a while, Ben and I left to go elsewhere and pass out tracts, because things were really quiet. We had a couple of conversations. One was with a hefty black man who worked at one of the little snack places along the sidewalk (they are booths where snacks and gum and such are sold). He professed Christianity but didn’t know what he’d say to God if He asked Him why He should let Him into Heaven. So, we talked to him a little while and then Ben walked over to someone else, and I went up to this guy who had made a comment (not a bad one) while we were speaking to the black guy. I found out quickly that the guy was a Catholic and he ran the pro-life group on campus. Shortly, Ben walked up and we began trying to share the gospel with him. At first, he was giving salvation by works answers to our questions. When I started to hammer him on that, he backed down a bit and started giving more solid answers; I wasn’t sure what to make of the whole thing. After we talked to him for 5 or 10 minutes, a girl walked up (who he was apparently going on a date with) and told us how much she appreciated us being there because they never “have this kind of diversity on campus” and while she was “completely Christian” and didn’t necessary agree with us, she was glad we were there. So, that was pretty weird. They walked away, and this other, really strange guy came up to us. He claimed to have the “real word of God.” We talked back and forth with him for a while, and he came off and quite sensitive and easily offended and left. It was not the last time we spoke with him. We returned to where we had been originally. Not long after we returned, a guy showed up and was passing out Planned Parenthood stickers and a girl showed up and was holding Planned Parenthood signs up in front of the dead baby pictures. A group of students began gathering across the street. There was some yelling from their end, and some preaching from ours. During this time, there were some conversations worth mentioning. The best one was with a guy named Carlo. I noticed Ben talking to him, so I walked over. Apparently before I got there, Ben had gone through the law with him, after a discussion of abortion, the signs, etc, and he was very humble, admitting he had broken all of God’s laws. When Ben began talking to him about the solution to his sin, they began discussing the reliability of scripture, which was about the time I walked up. The paper I wrote in my apologetics course comes last semester comes in handy a lot on campus tours, since I remember a number of the things I wrote. Carlo asked some good questions, and thankfully, Ben and I were able to answer them. He asked how we knew the New Testament was reliable, why the gospel accounts varied, etc. He thanked us at the end of the conversation and left. He came back over to say something else, and he and Ben exchanged e-mail addresses. In the chaos that would ensue shortly, this conversation was a blessing, and I pray that God will grow the seed that was planted, if it’s His will. Not too long after, the group across the street had grown to at least a couple hundred students (and that’s a conservative estimate). They were chanting all kinds of things (“Off our campus!” “We’re here, we’re signs, we won’t change anyone’s minds!” etc). For a while we all just kind of looked at each other and wondered what to do, and then Mike Marcavage stood up on the stool with the truth horn and open aired. It’s safe to say, people love their sin and hate the Lord. The students did not like the preaching, but he preached for quite some time. After a while, everyone wanted a woman to speak (they were chanting, “Let a woman speak! Let a woman speak!”) so Stephanie, a girl from Wisconsin spoke for a while, and then Hannah did. Hannah is a 15 year old who is the sister of one of the full-time students at the School of Evangelism. She was conceived when her mother was raped. No one listened to the girls when they preached, which was sort of ironic, since they were the ones who wanted them to preach in the first place. From then for another hour or so, it was crazy. There were some more good conversations, though. I spoke to a group of a few high school girls who were on their lunch break and was able to explain the issue of abortion and go through the gospel. They thanked me, but had to leave for class. Another girl I spoke to while Mike was preaching. She was yelling about Christ not preaching a message of hate, so I went up to her in hopes of getting her to stop yelling. We talked for about 20 minutes, and while she was staunch in her views and even after reasoning from scripture, wouldn’t admit she was wrong, she calmed down and left once we finished talking. We ended up leaving after 6 hours of being there. We all met up at Wendy’s for dinner and then headed to a home where we spent the night.

Virginia Show the Truth Tour, Day 3 (October 18, 2006)

Wednesday morning, I woke up long before my alarm was set to go off—5 AM. I laid there for a while trying to go back to sleep, but finding myself unable to, I went ahead and took a shower. I was one of three girls planning to shower in the morning, so I figured it would be good to get it out of the way. Once I got cleaned up, I peaked around the house to see if anyone else was awake, but they were not. I decided to do some reading, so I read Luke 1 using the light from my cell phone. Pressing a button every 10 seconds or so wasn’t so bad, and I had a little “snack” before starting my day. When I finished reading, I was pretty drowsy, so I decided to sleep for another half hour or so and set my alarm for 6:20, and fell asleep in my clothes. We had planned to leave the house at 7, get to Good News Free Will Baptist Church at 7:10, and leave at 7:30, but we left at 7:10, and it took 20 minutes to get to the church, so we missed free breakfast. The first stop was an abortion mill (Richmond Women’s Medical Center). Two women went in to kill, and neither turned away. But, may God bless our efforts, and draw them to repentance, if He is willing. After the mill, we headed for VCU after a quick stop at Hardee’s for lunch. VCU wasn’t as crazy this year as it was last year. The students were incredibly hard, though. I talked to a number of people. Many of them wouldn’t listen because I’m a virgin and I “couldn’t say anything” about abortion. One brief conversation that sticks out in my mind was with one of the students who came up to me. She said, “I had an abortion when I was 16. Am I going to hell?” I explained to her that unless she repented she would go to hell, but also reminded her that all sin, not just murder, makes us worthy of nothing but hell. She listened and didn’t say much. I don’t know if she was asking just to see what I would say, or if she really was concerned and convicted by the images she saw. The Lord knows. She took a Repentance Tract, and said she’d read it, and walked away. Another guy Ben and I spoke with was asking questions about the reliability of the Bible. He didn’t listen very intently and interjected a lot, but he heard the truth, at least. Aside from those and conversations others had with different individuals, there were many seemingly fruitless conversations that were mere “arguments” and the students were obviously arguing for the sake of arguing. I tried to steer away from those—that left me with no one to talk to. So, Ben and I walked a ways away to a place with no signs and just handed out Repentance Tracts and tried going through the law with some folks. No one really wanted to talk, but a lot of them took tracts. Hopefully, they will read them and be convicted and repent and follow our LORD! One thing that was really encouraging was we saw the Pastor of GNFWBC there evangelizing. It thrills my heart when Pastors evangelize; so few go out an intentionally approach the lost. He might be an Arminian, but he’s cool anyway. We stayed at VCU for quite some time, and then most of us packed up. A few others were still in conversations and stuck around. After we left VCU, we did an intersection stop not too incredibly far from campus. Most of the response from passers-by was negative--a lot of “fingers” and cursing. One guy came over with 2 notebooks he was using as makeshift signs. The first one said, “Pro-Choice! Women have rights” and the other said, “You are F---ing disgusting.” He ended up sitting down next to where Mike Marcavage was sitting. Caleb talked to him a while before he went away. We stayed there a little while and then went out for a bite to eat, and headed back to the empty house. We went to sleep around 9:40.

For Day 1, click here.
For Day 2, click here.