We had the honor of presenting alongside other pro-life advocates for a Muskingum County Right to Life event At St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Zanesville for forty-five people!
For our monthly Torchbearers day, we led a pro-life street evangelization at Columbus State Community College. Despite students trying to cover our display and get it off campus, and one girl even throwing our Bible on the ground, we had multiple people take sacramentals, two people change their minds on abortion, and a couple crowds form around conversations we were having. People are angry over Roe being overturned, but many others are looking for opportunities to discuss America’s most controversial issue and hear both sides.
After several discouraging conversation with mothers and fathers outside Your Choice Healthcare who would not be talked out of killing their children, a woman left telling us, “I’m keeping my kid, so you don’t have to worry about me!” Praise God! Another mother turned away after she had a challenging time finding Your Choice Healthcare. We think the struggle so many people seem to have with finding the facility is one final grace from God to make people stop and reconsider aborting their baby.
We also had two great evangelism opportunities outside the abortion facilities. An 18-year-old who immediately opened up to us about the miscarriage of his baby, a recent overdose, and his struggle with chastity and his faith. Pray he passes us again on the sidewalk so we can pray with him! We also met a woman walking down the sidewalk who left the Catholic Church at nineteen to follow Reverend Moon a false prophet claiming to be divine and sent to earth to bring about the redemption that Christ supposedly failed to do. She took a rosary and initially agreed to pray it every day for one week (a challenge inspired by St. Louis de Montfort’s book The Secret of the Rosary- a necessary read for all Catholics).
At Planned Parenthood, we had the opportunity to speak to an off-duty police officer who was hired by the abortion facility to work security. After speaking to our team for two days, he told us, “You convinced me not to work here. I don’t want to be like the man in the Bible who was almost convinced but then was not!” Praise God! He was also a Seventh Day Adventist and enjoyed asking questions about the Catholic faith and discussing apostolic succession. He even took a book on Catholicism (in exchange for us taking a book from him).
Our second group outreach of the month brought two new people, allowed us to pass out six rosaries to college students, helped another student completely change their mind on abortion, and made it possible for us to try to share Christ’s infinite mercy with a mother who aborted her baby. She was shaking while saying she didn’t regret her abortion, but she also explained how she could not look at a photo of a six-week-old embryo. Many people are hurting because of the sin of abortion but choose to embrace it rather than forgiveness. Please offer up a Divine Mercy Chaplet for her and others like her, such as one couple who laughed about even considering reversing their abortion. On the other side of reactions after abortion, a woman leaving Your Choice Healthcare this same month was so grateful for information on healing and Christ’s forgiveness. Prayer is essential to prepare hearts to receive God’s grace.
Sometimes those who are angry at first do have contrition when they encounter our kindness. This happened to a woman who apologized for pulling our sign out of the ground at Planned Parenthood. A Buddhist named Ray passed us at Your Choice. She explained that she initially wanted to cuss at us but came back to hear our side. At the end of the conversation about abortion and Jesus, she said, “I am glad I turned around and asked you why you are here, because you communicated what you believe beautifully.”