Dear Friend of Life:
The day that you receive this, part of our National Team will have just returned from the Washington D.C. March for Life and the Walk for Life West Coast! We cannot even begin to tell you what an immense blessing — not to mention, an incredible pro-life shot-in-the-arm — it was to attend these events with thousands upon thousands of our like-minded brothers and sisters, all over the U.S. and beyond!
If you attended one of these huge events, we pray it inspired you to continue forward in transforming hearts and saving lives through this movement!
But I have a confession to make. As much as I love these events, I hope that one day, we are no longer marching for their lives.
I have a feeling that even when abortion ends in the U.S. (and yes, I believe that day will come), we will still gather to commemorate those lives that were lost to this tragedy. But even so, the tone will be slightly different — it will be in memorial, as well as in great joy and victory that abortion has come to an end. The urgency will die down a bit, and we will focus, instead, on continuing to change hearts and minds through the pregnancy help movement in local communities. (After all, women will continue to find themselves in a crisis or unplanned pregnancy now and then, and we’ll need to be there for them just as much.)
Still, some events will fade to the background, and some of us might have to find other work.
Yes, that’s right — as much as I love this work, I hope that we do such a great job at changing the culture that we literally put ourselves out of business. And any pro-life group that isn’t working for that day doesn’t have their heart in the right place.
So, here’s to continuing to save lives, transform hearts and end abortion through the grace of God — may it come quickly and put us all out of business!
Are you called to become a Sidewalk Advocate?
Applications are open February 1-28!
Applications to bring Sidewalk Advocacy through Sidewalk Advocates for Life to your town or city are open February 1-28!
If your local community would be blessed by Sidewalk Advocacy training, tools and support, we would LOVE to be a blessing to you and help you transform as many hearts and save as many lives as possible through God’s grace!
We provide…
- a small program manual that tells you how to set up and run SAFL in your town/city
- a comprehensive, professional 4-hour training DVD with training workbooks
- tools such as flyer templates, bulletin announcements, literature options, pro-bono legal services (through 3 pro-life legal organizations) …and more!
- full-time staff support
- a place on the Locations tab of our website, so people can find you
- a program that has a national reputation for being peaceful, prayerful & law-abiding
We know you’re busy, so we make it easy for you!
APPLY HERE: www.sidewalkadvocates.org/apply
Questions about the program? Feel free to email us at info@sidewalkadvocates.org!
WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL (JANUARY 25-31, 2015): “DO NOT BE AFRAID”
by Jeff Reedy, Shipping Coordinator & DFW LIFE Runners Co-Leader, Sidewalk Advocates for Life
Verse(s): “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both your soul and body in hell. What is the price of two sparrows – one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.” — Matthew 10:28-31
Reflection: Don’t be afraid.
The Bible says “don’t be afraid” 365 times in its pages. That’s once per day. We humans tend to be afraid all of the time. And that fear leads to other things… none of which are good. We get selfish, because we’re afraid we don’t have enough. We are mean to others, because we’re afraid they’ll hurt us. We gossip, because we’re afraid we’ll look bad or we’re afraid they’re talking about us.
Let’s all stop being afraid. How, though? Well, it comes through love and trust. When we love God, and we trust Him to take care of us (like He promises to do in the Gospels very clearly), our hearts open up. We learn to love others, not because we naively believe they won’t hurt us (hint: they will) but because we know that He’ll heal us each time they do… and we’ll heal stronger and wiser and better than ever.
Loving people means being hurt… make no mistake. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something. But the truth behind that truth is that God is all good… and He is beneath, behind, and under every relationship you’ll ever have. He is waiting to catch you when you fall. He is yearning to heal you when others hurt your heart.
Let’s stop being afraid… and trust Him.
Faith Challenge: This week, let’s be fearless in our prayers and outreach. Let’s pray for an end to abortion. For abortion workers to leave their clinics and work for the pro-life movement. For mothers to choose life in record numbers. Let’s pray fearlessly for our teams out there on the sidewalks, standing in the gap, making a difference.