I parked outside of Planned Parenthood at 7:45am one morning to find only one staff member in the parking lot. She was clapping to worship music, “crying, and saying thank you Lord” over and over. I approached her later when she was exiting her vehicle and said, “I heard you praying and singing. Why are you here?” She told me she has to make money, but I shared with here that there is a ministry (AbortionWorker.com) to help her get a new job ran by other people who have left the abortion industry. I made it clear that she does not have to keep being part of the death that happens there. She asked me the website a second time and said she would think about it. She even shared that her name was Brittany so we could pray for her. This was the first time I ever had a conversation with a facility staff member. When she was leaving work that evening, we gave her a card for that ministry and a blessed image of Christ, telling her that “Jesus is setting you free!” Please pray and fast that she turns to His grace and mercy!

In the passing weeks, Brittany has remained there, but we keep praying and witness other fruit. After one father dropped off his wife who was pregnant with their fourth child for an abortion, I started asking everyone to pray for this little child, but it seemed God used our prayers to rescue another one. The next car that pulled up had a mother who went right into Planned Parenthood, but her partner came down to talk to me. After learning about the pregnancy resource center across the street, he went in and got her out! I was able to give the mother my card before she went into the Women’s Care Center. As they left their ultrasound, they were smiling at us and waving! Praise God! Then a few days later, Rachael tried to talk to a mom and daughter who went into Planned Parenthood only to come back out to their car where the daughter cried for about half-an-hour. They eventually turned-away as well and went to the pregnancy center! Thank you, Lord!

Apart from counseling, we had thirteen people attend our first Torchbearers event of the year. We did a training on the deadly evils of birth control, in-vitro fertilization, and embryonic stem-cell research. After Mass and confession, we led a street evangelization at the statehouse with hot cocoa again. We had two people change their minds on abortion, encountered two women who thought they were pregnant and did not know what to do, and handed out rosaries and other sacramentals. Planned Parenthood was closed that day, so we went to Your Choice Healthcare, the only other abortion facility in central Ohio to counsel.

In 2022, I will continue to dedicate at least 16 hours per week to Catholics for Life, while working 24 hours per week at Created Equal. Our family’s annual income from our apostolate is staying at $19,000.

This year, we are setting goals to: not only make sure two days a week at Planned Parenthood are covered, but to recruit volunteers to fill every hour both facilities are open; continue to conduct street outreaches about every other week and hopefully organize some evening or weekend events for more to participate in; reach out to several groups and parishes to hopefully speak and inspire more people to work to protect the babies; and have a Eucharistic procession to Planned Parenthood. We will see what else the Lord uses us for as well! AMDG!