Sidewalk Counseling: Crying Out for the Lives of the Unborn
By Contributing Writer, Marci Ferrell
Several months ago I shared my abortion story on my blog. The Lord prepared the hearts of my children to hear this painful and ugly part of my past and brought me into a ministry of crying out for the lives of the unborn in my neighborhood.
I want to share with you today what happens outside the doors of your local abortion mills (“The term “clinic” defines a place of health care. More truthfully, however, the term “mill” defines a business that dispenses service in an impersonal or mechanical manner, as in a factory.” ~Sidewalks4Life).
If you are like I was, this is a location that you haven’t spent much time around, and perhaps you have no idea what it is like outside the doors of your local killing place.
Difficulties & Realities
In all honesty I had a quick awakening as to what happens outside of an abortion mill. I envisioned distressed women just looking for help with open hearts to hear the gospel. Reality hit the first day as I discovered the majority (not all) of these women know they are going in to take the life of their unborn child and they don’t care.
Their top reason for not allowing their child to live is that their baby is an inconvenience. These are not women with softened hearts, but rather hardened hearts—not receptive to your presence. These women are not victims.
The importance of prayer before, during, and after the time of ministry cannot be understated. It is a spiritual battle, and those involved will be yelled at, cussed at and discouraged. We meditate on “A soft answer turns away wrath” frequently as we are reminded that God saves the babies—not our eloquence or pleading. We are instruments in His hands.
We are called to minister to the “least of these” and to “love our neighbor as we love ourselves.” These unborn babies are our neighbors, and they have no voice. There are professing Christian woman going in to murder their babies. Mothers abuse the Word of God and reply with statements like “Don’t judge me,” “God forgives,” God’s love is unconditional.”
A favorite quote from Paul Washer comes to mind when we hear statements like this:
“Twist not Scripture, lest ye be like Satan”
At times, we only have seconds to talk to the women heading into the clinic. Replying with Scripture when you can is best, for we know God’s Word does not return void. Reminding them that the Word of God has judged them already, it tells us “Thou Shalt Not Murder.” The hope is they will take a moment to talk with you so you are able to share the gospel with them and plead for their soul and for the life of their unborn child.
It is a battle, and standing outside of an abortion mill puts you on the front line.
It is easy to get complacent sitting at home hearing about the war but not having a full understanding of what is really taking place. Once your eyes have been opened to the reality of the ugliness of what is happening on the front line it is impossible to not want to stay and fight. It truly is a matter of life and death.
I didn’t realize there were employees or volunteers who stand outside and escort the women into the mill to have the abortion. They are called “escorts” but we prefer the nickname “deathscorts.” Their purpose is to not let the sidewalk counselors come near the women to speak to them or hand them a ministry packet.
Let me state that we are not harassing these women but are truly speaking in love with compassion and humility. We are to speak the truth of God’s Word and let the Word speak to their conscience.
Another area of surprise for me was the lack of Bible believing Christians at the mills. We have two abortion mills where I live and hundreds of churches. I assumed the sidewalks would be packed with believers, but that is not the case. There are many times when there is no Christian presence outside the abortion mills.
Many people will help and send money and supplies to our local crisis pregnancy centers, and this is good and needed, but these women at the abortion mills have already set their minds on murdering their babies, and they are not heading to the crisis pregnancy center unless the Lord intervenes on their way into the abortion mill.
Our hope is they will choose life, and we can drive them to the crisis pregnancy center sharing the good news of Jesus Christ on the way over.
What About the Graphic Signs?
My friend Lisa has a great response to this question. I encourage you to read her post on family ministry.
“I want to share my thoughts on it, as a sidewalk counselor who has seen thousands of women choose Life at these abortion mills.
For starters…I cannot even begin to count the number of babies’ lives that I have seen saved right at the last minute…outside of abortion centers…because of these signs.
Just one story that I often share is when a mama chose LIFE at the abortion mill after coming directly from seeing her 12 week old child moving around on ultrasound at the local crisis pregnancy center. She left the pregnancy center planning to drive to the abortion mill to murder her unborn child. As she drove into the parking lot of this business of death, she saw a photo of “Malachi” (an aborted baby) and asked a sidewalk counselor if *that* is what happens to babies who are aborted. The counselor shared the necessary info and she said, “Well, then there is no way I am doing that to my baby!” And she chose LIFE!
There is a great disconnect at these places between what IS and what WILL BE if they decide to abort. That is why we see these signs as being so effective!
See, women are rarely told the truth about abortion. Without the truth, Satan is free to rob, kill, and destroy. It is urgent for these women to know the truth about this hidden evil done in secret. We must lay bare the demonic lie that an unborn baby is not a human life. When we shine the light of truth about this “legal” procedure, it wakes up the sleeper and moves them to action.
Truth can be horrific, just as the photos of the Jewish Holocaust, KKK hangings and other genocidal pictures have been shown to the masses to cause them to recoil in horror so that society will not commit those crimes again. Evil needs to be seen to prevent re-occurrence. These images of abortion will forever change the way people look at abortion, and as stated above, save MANY lives in the process.
If you’ve never been to an abortion center, check out Sidewalks 4 Life to see how to begin!”
Where to Start?
The best way to start ministering at your local killing place is to just go. Go down and watch and learn from the Christians that are already there ministering. Observe, pray, and don’t worry about what to say or not say. As you spend time in prayer and have opportunity to speak to the mothers and fathers heading into the killing place the Holy Spirit will give you the words you need.
If you are comfortable, take your children with you to minister. Seeing a family ministering together is an impacting visual for an aborting mother. Again, I encourage you to read Lisa’s post on Families Ministering Together here. Spend some time on the Sidewalks 4 Life website and Facebook page.
There is so much more than what I have shared here today but my hope was to give a little insight into what happens on the sidewalks outside an abortion mill. Please feel free to contact me at my blog or message me on my Facebook page directly for more information or with any questions.
Open your mouth for the mute,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.Proverbs 31:8-9
If we were made to watch a doctor pull off the little baby’s legs and arms one by one and place them on the table like a dentist removing cotton from your mouth – if all Americans were made to see what it really is, the pro-life goal of abortion being unthinkable (not just illegal) would be much nearer.
John Piper
Tags: abortion, ministry, sidewalk counseling
I am a little surprised to be reading this at 8 PM and see that there are no other comments yet! This was a moving post, and I so appreciate you sharing such a real perspective on sidewalk counseling. I think in some ways it made me feel uncomfortable because I know I am one of those people that can preach it from my living room or in the comfort of my small group Bible study, but I get antsy thinking about going out to the mill and fighting on the front lines. It’s so easy to speak strongly against abortion as Christians, but as you sadly point out there are very few that actually put their words to action to save lives. God is using you in big ways through both your abortion story and your efforts at the abortion mills! Thank you for sharing!
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Wow. That takes a lot of courage to do what you are doing. So far, my little kids are unaware of things like this that go on in the “real world”. It makes me cry just to think of having to tell them some day. I’m so happy that God is using you to reach out to these women. I pray that I will be as courageous as you.
If “god forgives” is double-speak, as you say, are you admitting to being a hypocrite? Because we all know about how you murdered your fetus. And you were an adult and you had a choice and you knew it. But you still chose to murder your fetus. Further explanation to possibly convert a total nonbeliever? Why did god make a special exemption to save you when he wont save these other women?
Bea, God saves the repentant. Marci repented (turned away from her sin) and was saved. The Holy Spirit invaded her spirit and gave her life in Him. She now lives for His glory and honor – and not her own. Because Christ, God’s sinless Son, took her punishment on Himself, she is justified before the Creator of life. God set this up because He loves human beings and wants to show His glory and power through saving them.
God will save any woman who has come to the end of herself and is reaching out to Him for help and salvation. If you are truly seeking, I would encourage you to get a Bible and read two books: the gospel of John and the book of Romans. Before you read, ask God to speak to you, personally. If you are sincere, He will do exactly that.
If you want to talk in person, please contact me through my contact page and leave your phone number. I will be praying for you.
So the only way a Christian can have an abortion and be forgiven is if she aborts before she repents and not after. If you did not repent yet you can have as many abortions as you want and will be forgiven in heaven as long as you do all the baby killing before repentance.
It’s amazing how many socalled led Christians don’t know this!!!
Sarah, I’m not sure what angle you are coming from here. Are you being sarcastic or are you being serious? I’d love to respond to you, but you’ll need to clarify what you are saying and why you are saying it. Thanks.
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Sarah the hope is that a Christian (or any other woman) would not have an abortion and realize that life starts at the moment of conception. When a woman has an abortion she is committing murder – there is no way to say it or put it nicely but to call it what it is.
Sarah, when I had an abortion I murdered my baby. I am not looking to make excuses. I wasn’t a follower of Christ and my only concern was myself and how this baby would affect my life. A true follower of Christ will not continue in sin (1 John 2:3-6) and will not abuse God’s grace as an excuse to have more abortions. A true Christian, one who has been born again and given new life through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ will not desire to life a life that is in clear rebellion against God’s Word. The Bible tells us in Exodus 20:13 – You shall not murder. The Bible makes it clear in Exodus 21:22-25 that unborn babies are to be protected.
True believers will be broken by their sin against a holy God. As believers we still sin and there is no sin that is too big for God’s forgiveness – even the sin of abortion. I know there are many Christian women who have had abortions after they came to know the Lord. Some may still be harboring guilt putting it on themselves that they knew better. But the reality is there is nothing we can do to earn salvation so harboring guilt doesn’t help us to gain favor with God. As Christians God has paid the full price for our sin, we are to humbly confess those sins to the Lord and turn from it, leave it.
I have been set free as a born again believer to now live a life that pleases God. I don’t live with the guilt and shame anymore but can now boast in the One who has forgiven all my sins and share His love with others so they too can find grace and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
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Sounds like traci is addicted to abortions like a drug addict is to drugs. Although he doesn’t want to do it, he keeps coming back. One of the ways to avoid falling into sin is to flee from temptation. I wonder if she stopped having sex she would have a need for abortions??!!! I wonder if she realized how deep her need is and that only Jesus can fulfill it would the sex and abortions stop.
I think one of the greatest sin that leads to abortions is PRIDE. We are so focused on trying to preserve face that we kill an innocent being without a second thought to the killing. All our thoughts are consumed with ourselves. I know. I have been there.
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