As told by John Barros:
Yesterday was the last day abortions would be happening at OWC for 2013. It has been a crazy year down here but this video kind of sums up this year. Mia has become a brand new Believer down here and has seen God transform her heart and every other area of her life.
She was overcome yesterday by the number of people coming for abortions and the hardness of their hearts. She asked if she could read one of the 180 tracts and then she was overcome with pain and began begging them to not do what she had done years earlier. So much pain and sorrow began pouring out of her heart.
A lady who was walking by saw Mia’s pain and tried to console her but had to leave in tears. Mia attends Saint Andrew’s Chapel now, and will be going to the post-abortion Bible study group to get help with her pain.
We were able to go through 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” and 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
This is a capsule, if you will, of the ministry down here. There is so much pain, sorrow, and death, “But God who is rich in Mercy…” (Ephesians 2:4-10). God continues to show mercy and grace to so many down here. I am so glad 2013 is over. Close to 100 of these hell holes have shut down around the country this year, praise God!
Please pray that this one will close permanently in 2014. Please pray for Mia and the others the Lord has brought through here.
I saw this video and was proud of the fact that Mia only shared her experiences and pain that she went through with her abortion. She didn’t attack anyone, which is commendable. However, the guy holding the camera had no right to call a guy walking out of the clinic “a coward”. Whether or not you knew this person is irrelevant. This isn’t how you win souls to Christ. In addition, I do not support your ministry of standing out in front of abortion clinics yelling into their front door. If you want to help stop abortions, then offer the women alternative services like adoption and financial assistance that are available to them and help them fill out the forms to get whatever aid they need. And if you really want to stop abortions, put your money where your mouth is and offer to financially support these young women throughout their pregnancy if they agree to give the baby up for adoption. If it’s true that there are plenty of parents who want to adopt, then it shouldn’t be a problem for you to connect those waiting parents with a newborn child. It comes down to being practical and helping these young women in the way they need it most.
Thanks for bringing this up, Wil – what you describe is actually what John does every day.
He offers the women and their companions information for local crisis pregnancy centers, churches, adoption resources, and other things like food banks and shelters – and usually connects them directly with someone he knows personally at one of these places. He’s helped support parents directly and often engaged local families and churches in supporting moms by helping them financially, finding them a job or a place to live, and in countless other ways…. like baby clothes, food, diapers, and other supplies.
When I’ve been down there myself I’ve heard fellow sidewalk counselors offer to personally adopt babies or to help with financial hardship, a need for immediate shelter, and other things. While what everyone needs MOST is the gospel, there are many, many physical needs we help with as much as we can. We’d love to get you involved in our “network” of Christians who help with all these things, if you’d be willing. Let us know!