OK, so today it started getting a little harder.  I'm six days into my 40 day ommitment to pray two hours every day at the clinic and the "excitement" is starting to wear off.  It was chilly this morning and a little windy.  Not too much, just enough to make me a bit uncomfortable.  My legs are tired.  They don't like standing or walking on a cement sidewalk for two hours a day!  My boots were uncomfortable.  It takes me 88 steps to walk from one edge of the abortion facility's property line to the other.  One, two, three . . . how many more steps until 8:00?  Quite honestly, I just wanted to go home, sit in my comfy chair and pull out my knitting.  
 
Six days down, 34 to go.  
 
How easily I tire of doing good.  How quickly temptation comes.  "No one is scheduled to be her at 8:00.  If I left a little early, no one would notice."  Anyone want to take a guess at who whispered that thought into my ear?  
 
I wonder if the employees a the Complete Healthcare for Women abortion facility tire of going into work every day?  If they do, they still show up.  They stay until their appointed time to leave.  Of course, they get a paycheck for their time there.  All we get is. . .

  • time to commune with God in prayer and fellowship
  • time to join the communion of saints in intercession for the clients and employees of Complete Healthcare
    for Women
  • time to be a witness to every person who drives past 5888 Cleveland Ave. that people are dying inside
    that building and we want them to stop
  • time to hold our children's hands in prayer and teach them that ministry to the least, the lost and the
    lonely can take place anywhere and should take place everywhere
  • time to. . . (fill in the blank - what does an hour or two of prayer give you time to do?)
  
It takes self-discipline to commit to prayer at the abortion facility and to follow through with that commitment. St. Paul had something to say about that:
 
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.  No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.   (I Cor. 9:24-27)  
 
Let's pray for each other that we make and keep our commitment to pray and stand vigil.  Wow - something else we have time to do when we go!  
  
I'll see you on the sidewalk,

Ready, Set, Go!

40 Days for Life begins in just a few, short hours.  Have you made your commitment to pray at the vigil yet?  We still need people to sign up for prayer times at the vigil.

Check out the Hourly Vigil Calendar online at www.40DaysForLife.com/Columbus  to see when we still need prayer partners.  Of course you can come and pray at any time, but please try to come out at a time that isn't already covered by another prayer partner or group so we cover more hours.  And don't forget to send us an email to let us know when you'll be there so we can update the calendar!

How Often Should I Pray at the Vigil?
Ultimately , that's a question only you can answer, but let me give you a few suggestions:

A few people are coming out one hour every day.  That's a huge commitment, isn't it!  But if you look at this way:  Many people work 40-hours per week.  Praying for an hour every day throughout the campaign is like taking a workweek and stretching it out over nearly 7 weeks.  Looking at it that way, it's pretty doable, don't you think?

Challenge:  two people have committed to pray at least one hour each day.  Can you help us double that so we have at least four people who will pray at the vigil site just one hour a day?  

Some people are praying for a 2  - 3 hour block of time every week.  Perhaps you can come out Thursday mornings 8:00 - 11:00 a.m., or Tuesday evenings 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.  Can you flex your schedule at work so you can take a long lunch break once a week and come in earlier or later on that day?  Weekday hours are always the most difficult to fill. Can you make arrangements for this short, 6-7 week committment to pray for the Pre-born a few hours once a week?  

Challenge - can we have 6 more people who will commit to 2 - 3 hours at the vigil site each week?

A one-hour per week commitment is fairly common. Several small groups and individuals have committed to at least one hour each week.  That's just seven hours of prayer over the entire 40-day campaign. 

Challenge  - are there 12 more people reading this email who will commit to just one hour of prayer each week? 

    

827 East Webster St., Ft. Wayne, IN.  The former site of the Ft. Wayne Women's Health Organization - the abortion facility I worked at in the mid-1980s. 

The building I worked in is now owned by a Christian, pro-life ministry. On my  next trip to Ft. Wayne I hope to visit that ministry to deal with some of the  memories that still haunt me on occasion. 

I can't explain the emotion I feel to learn that the company I worked for is closed.  It's. . . I dont know. I can't come up with a word that encompasses the grief of my past involvement  with abortion, the joy of knowing that NWHO is closed, the heartbreak that  abortions are still taking place in Ft. Wayne at another location but by the  same local organization I worked for, the hope that this closure must certainly indicate that the abortion centers operated by NWHO must be struggling. . on and on. 

I look forward to the day when Ft.Wayne Women's Health is also closed. 

Please pray for Allen County Right to Life as they minister to the Ft. Wayne community and work to bring an end to abortion in Ft. Wayne.  
 
 Lord in Heaven, please heal my home town. 

Ruth Yorston
Executive Director
Greater Columbus Right to Life