"I left God...and He sent you to me!"

Sanctuary Ministries Update
Orlando Women's Center killing place
Saturday, July 15, 2006

Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!
Revelation 5:13


It was an amazing morning. It has been so difficult the last few weeks. People's hearts have been so hardened. But oh, how we rejoiced and continue to rejoice for one little precious baby saved.

There was a long line of women and their companions lined up at the door of the killing place, waiting for it to open so that they could have their babies dismembered. We did our holy best and put forth Jesus' message of life and hope to everyone who arrived.

When Melissa and her mother Edith came by taxi all of us were shocked to see how very young Melissa looked. She was only 13 years old. Melissa gratefully took our ministry packet, but her mother snatched it out of her hands and demanded; "What is this?" and then "Don't listen to them!" and hurried her to get to the door. It was still early and the clinic doors hadn't been opened yet. We offered Edith and Melissa assistance of various sorts; medical, financial, adoption, etc, promising to do whatever we could to help. We asked ... no, we begged Edith to support her daughter through her pregnancy, saying; "Please, take her home and away from this place!" Edith was angry and acted very beligerent. It was obvious that Melissa didn't have a chance to speak with us, Edith totally dominated her daughter.

Gina took time to speak directly to Edith, saying; "My own daughter became pregnant when she was very young. I have been where you are. It is hard, but you can do this. It isn't the end of the world. I promise. We will help you and what is even more important, God will help you." With that Edith started humming very loudly, to drown out what Gina was saying. She literally leaned over in her daughter's ear and started humming straight into her ear so she couldn't hear us. Marian spoke up and said; "You need to be there to protect your daughter now more than ever," She begged, "Please don't set this horrible precedent for your daughter by killing your grandchild". The missionaris were all thinking ... What a terrible legacy for a family. Edith would have to live with the fact she had taken her young daughter to kill her own little baby. Melissa would share the memory of this awful day of death with her own mother ... forever.

Edith was loud and obnoxious during the entire time she was waiting to go into the killing place. Her daughter would just stare at her mom, and then at us, never saying a word. Poor little Melissa looked so scared -- like a lost little lamb without it's mama, without a shepherd. Dale let Melissa know the truth; "Your mother can't force you to kill this baby. We will help you. Please, come over and speak to us." Edith continued humming and chanting very loudly to drown out our words. Marian spoke to Edith directly; "You may drown out our words and you may be able to hide this abortion from others, but God knows what you are doing. You cannot hide this from Him." The missionaries watched helplessly as mother and daughter walked through death's doors with dozens of other abortion bound neighbors.

We continued to reach out to the forty neighbors who came to the killing place. Two hours passed and we had many chances to engage the lost. Mary Jo was able to give a powerfully thorough gospel appeal to Lucy, who had accompanied her sister who was aborting. We were blessed to serve Jesus in the heat of the morning. We were tired but thankful to have such a precious opportunity to obey the Great Commission while it is still day.

All of the sudden the door to the clinic swung open. It was Edith and Melissa! Edith was yelling at her daughter; "Melissa, if you don’t do this, you will not be able to live at home anymore!” Melissa walked over to us and came to a stop in front of 4-5 counselors missionaries. Edith plopped down in a chair on the porch yelled to her daughter; "Go! Go over to them! Let them help you!"

Of course, we were completely stunned. Melissa walked right over to us. She stood silently facing us, tears rimming her huge eyes. We asked her if she came out because she didn't want to have the abortion. Melissa shook her head "yes". Edith started yelling at us, telling us; "You take her! She can't come home with me! This baby can't live at my house so you had better figure out something for Melissa!"

Every one of the missionaries immediately started making offers to come alongside Melissa. Dale and Marian offered to have her come and live with them. They even offered to adopt her baby if she wanted. And so did Dave and Paula.

Jesse began to gently reason with Edith, asking her to come over and work it out with all of us instead of yelling back and forth from the porch of the killing place. Marian and Dale stepped forward and assured Edith that they had offered Melissa a place to live throughout her entire pregnancy. Their daughter, Mary Jo, turned to Melissa and said, “Yes, Melissa! I am an only child...there is plenty of room for you”.

We asked Evelyn if we could take Melissa home and she stiffly answered; "Yes, fine" and then went silent. As w were making intial preparations to care for Melissa, Edith started talking to us again. She started to shift. She said Melissa could go home with her, adding "You all need to give us all the info we need for adoption."All the while Melissa is just standing there with her eyes down. Still, we saw quite a bit of courage in that little 13 year old girl. Saying no to her dominant mom. We were amazed and impressed by this young lady's determination to save her baby.

Jesse gently asked Edith to come to talk with us so we could find common ground and work something out. Then it happened.

Evelyn seemed to soften just a bit. She began lamenting;“What are all my friends going to think of me? I have a 16 you daughter at home, pregnant, too. I am a bad mother! I taught them right, but I can’t watch them all the time! What will they think of me?” Just as we were going to respond, Edith stood up from the chair and looked like she was going to say something aggressive. Then suddenly, she broke down and began weeping. Edith said, “God brought you to me. I left God and He sent you for me!" With that Edith stumbled down the walkway toward us. She kept asking what others would think of her and one of the counselors said, “Ma’am, you will face God one day and He is the One you need to be concerned about.” Edith nodded and said, “Yes, and I will be responsible for this.” She turned to her precious daughter and asked, “Melissa, do you want this baby?” Melissa nodded quickly, a look of tremendous relief on her face. Edith turned back to us and said, “Well, I better figure out how all this is going to work out...I guess there will be two new babies in my house.”

Edith confided that she was so ashamed at what had happened to her 13 year old daughter. A 20 year old man was in jail for having sex with Melissa, who was only 12 years old when she became pregnant. Edith also shared with us her own mother had taken her to a killing place when she was 15 years old to kill her baby. Edith became so soft. She was so broken inside."I've stopped going to church," she said. "But I now know the Lord led me here today." We told her Edith to worry about what others would think but about what our Lord would think. She understood and nodded as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Edith said that she was profoundly affected by our presence and by our words. Although she acted as if she was not paying any attention, Edith heard every word that came out of the missionary's mouths. She said when she first came up the sidewalk she heard Gina saying those things to her about once being a mom with a pregnant daughter. She wept as she admitted that Gina's words REALLY touched her. Edith said that she knew they were words from God and she was trying everything she could to drown them out (the humming). At this point, Edith was like a completely different woman then the one we met just 2 hours earlier. She was compassionate and open. She told us that even though she was saying Melissa had to leave, that she never really meant it. She wanted Melissa to stay at home with her.

What started as a holy battle, ended with sacred unity. A mother and daughter are going to have a precious little baby. They are going to decide whether to keep the baby or give her up for adoption. Mary Jo is going to try to get Melissa and Edith to go to their wonderful church with her and her family.

We all exchanged phone numbers and hugs and sent Edith and Melissa away with money for the taxi and for a nice breakfast together too. The whole missionary team gathered in a huddle, weeping and PRAISING GOD for what we had witnessed!

1 precious little baby saved on July 15, 2006, for which we rejoice ... however ...

20 darling babies, whose names are known only to God, perished on July 15, 2006. They will be disposed of like garbage and tossed into plastic bags and dumped into a box marked "Medical Waste". There will be no grave for them. No place to mark that they had been alive and were murdered in Orlando. Their tiny little human bodies will be incinerated by Stericycle in a mass grave along with dirty pads. Perhaps some day our government will erect a monument in Washington, D.C. in memory of the 46 + million as a tomb of the unknown babies who have been slaughtered for profit in this country. What a legacy for the United States of America. With the blood of our own citizens saturating the soil and the sewers of our nation, we have no high moral ground to stand on. We should be ashamed.

May I ask you a question today? Who do you think is responsible for reaching out and intervening to save the children in Orlando from murder by abortion? Who do you think is responsible for sharing the gospel in our community? Is it not reasonable to expect that the holy work of reaching those who are lost and perishing in thir sins in our city is OUR responsibility? Yours and mine!

Don't expect the churches to be intentional about sharing the gospel outside the four walls. With a few beautiful and blessed exceptions, churches are simply not active in purposeful outreach to evangelize. It is a rare thing to see anything about evangelism listed in church bulletins or on their websites. Don't let that be your excuse. Today matters forever. Make your time and your life count. Don't be fooled into thinking that someone else will be there to try to save the babies. Don't think that someone else will reach the lost in your community. Take the bull by the horns,! Don't wait! Be intentional about sharing your faith today.

JESUS DID NOT DIE JUST FOR YOU ... Did He?

Join us on the streets of Orlando this week, won't you?

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith & Friends
Sanctuary Ministries
http://sanctuaryministries.blogspot.com/

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