40 Days for Life: Saving Lives One Baby at a Time
The pro-life campaign has seen God's hand in their efforts — 166 lives have been saved so far.
40 Days for Life is reporting that through prayer and fasting, community outreach and peaceful vigil pro-life campaigns, 166 lives have been saved since September 28. The current campaign continues through November 6, 2016.
40 Days for Life began in 2004 in Bryan/College Station, Texas as a one-time event local Christians organized to renew interest in the pro-life movement. The event caught on, and by 2007, the first nationwide 40 Days for Life was launched.
The campaign is a time for people to unite in prayer and fasting to end abortion. People may commit to a 40-day prayer vigil outside an abortion center or Planned Parenthood facility. The goal of the vigil is to exhibit a peaceful, merciful demonstration against abortion, which 40 Days for Life calls “peaceful activism, with the purpose of repentance, to seek God’s favor to turn hearts and minds from a culture of death to a culture of life, thus bringing an end to abortion.”
Although volunteers strive to demonstrate peacefully, sometimes the response isn’t so peaceful. According to LifeNews, as a counselor in St. Louis was trying to talk to a woman who was going in for an abortion, a Planned Parenthood employee rushed up to them and began yelling, “Don’t listen to anything she says!” The young woman was understandably frightened, but when the counselor explained that free resources were available across the street at a pregnancy center, the young woman decided to see what they had to offer. She ended up having an ultrasound and ultimately changed her mind about having an abortion.
Other volunteers have endured insults and harassment because of their commitment to life. As Shawn Carney wrote, volunteers have heard it all from “Loser! Go get a job!” to “God is dead — nobody is listening!” Perhaps the worst of all, though, was “Children are too much work! More abortion!” Carney reminds us of Jesus’ words about persecution for His sake: “Blessed are you when they insult and hate you all because of me. Rejoice and be glad; the kingdom of heaven is yours” (Luke 6:22)
To join the 40 Days for Life campaign and find a vigil location near you, click here.
Reminder: On Wednesday, at 8 a.m. CT, The Stream launches #100forLife, 100 hours of programing and prayer commemorating Sunday’s 100th anniversary of Planned Parenthood. For more info click here.
