Today was pretty rough down here. Samantha brought her friend Sandra down to help. Because of Sandra’s wheelchair, they had to be over in front of Dr. Collins’ office. Well the Lord had Liz pull up right there into the hands of two lovely ladies. They spoke to Liz about the place and what God thinks of this. Liz chose life and went to Choices. She scheduled an appointment to return next week. Please pray for her. Sandra loved this ministry and plans to return.

Had a few other stories that may bless you. Prayer is such a huge portion of what goes on here. Crista sent me a message that last Friday she went to her doctor’s appointment with Dr. Collins. She said that while seeing and hearing the ministry going on next door that she and four other ladies that had never even met each other began to pray inside Dr. Collins’ lobby for what was going on outside the door. I think this is so wonderful. Just wish they would have come over when they were done. 

I went to the Choices banquet last Thursday. I was honored to sit with Coach Lou Holtz of Notre Dame. He blessed me by telling me he follows the ministry and prays for us. Said I was the only Gator he liked and to keep on. Boy he sure is a great speaker and absolutely hilarious.

The last few days have been crazy busy. Warren returned from up north and will be serving here again on Thursdays. So blessed to have RC join us today along with dear Delaney.

Thursday we were able to witness God turn two guys into men and lead their ladies out of this place. It was wonderful. Today we saw God work on four ladies and drive them out of here. The first one was a young girl that stood up to her mother and left. Mom was furious and came driving up the ramp, missing people sitting on the wall by about a foot, while her poor daughter was crying. Beth met a girl that was dropped off and spoke with her for a while, then took her away to the pregnancy center for counseling and an ultrasound.

Then there was a couple that came here and seemed very hard. The guy was mocking God every time he came out. Then the God he was mocking began to turn his lady’s heart. She came out crying and he was right behind her. They got on the side of the building and a war broke out. He wanted the abortion. He seemed to win the battle and they went back inside.

A short while later they came back outside and you could see the sense of relief on her face. I said “thank God you aren’t going to do this”. He went into a rage and started yelling. “No, we aren’t but it had nothing to do with what you did!” We all laughed and said of course not, we don’t have that kind of power. Only God can do this. He looked up the drive and said “well maybe God does work in mysterious ways”.

I can’t remember their names but Melyna and Delaney met them up the drive. They are keeping their baby and headed back to Tampa, saying they were going to go to a crisis pregnancy center there. God is so amazing. To watch these people go from mockers to thankers through the Gospel is truly something to behold. There was one other but I can’t for the life of me remember.

So thankful to have Peter and Lucas join with us after a late night at the Choices Banquet. So thankful to be able to call the the dearest in this world my brothers and sisters. So thankful to be united with Christ and for what all that means.

I must say though it was with a very heavy heart that I had to say goodbye to Robert. Only get to see him once a year or so. What a godly, sweet brother. Wish my heart was half of what his is. Robert and R.C. truly preach with broken hearts. So thankful for Melyna and her heart as well.

Please continue to pray for those that have left. I tell them about you all and how people around this world pray for them everyday.

I have never had such a hard time trying to write a post before. There was such a darkness here today and many blind people stuck in that darkness.

The light of God’s Word was brought to this darkness, but the people loved the darkness rather than light. It never fails to amaze me that people would come here and do this after hearing the record of this place. Today it was even crazier because we had a young lady down here screaming and yelling about the botched abortion Randall had done on her.

As Maria pulled in, Robert spoke with her, telling her he could help her. She said “can you get me a lawyer?” She then went out back in her mini van with her two little kids and her friend. They were out back for hours. Then the strangest things happened. Randall Whitney pulled in and Maria approached him with some records, asking if he would speak with her. He told her to f@$& off and get the f@$& out of here. He went inside and she went ballistic,

Maria was running in circles, screaming and yelling. She was on the phone calling anyone that would listen. Then she came up front screaming and yelling inside with the people sitting in the lobby. Then back outside in the back. Workers were out back trying to calm her down but she would not have any of that. She turned on them and they ran back inside. I know you are probably wondering what could have happened to her. You won’t believe this.

Three months ago Maria came down here. She was four months pregnant but would not listen. She was the last person that day to have an abortion. She wanted sedation. They put her under, she had her abortion, and she went home. Three months later she is feeling funny and goes to her doctor. She comes to find out that she is now seven months pregnant with a healthy baby!

I have no idea how in the world this could be. I have heard countless stories of things that have gone wrong with ladies here but never this. It is too late for her to have an abortion now. I don’t know what could have happened and don’t know how he missed this. The horrible thing is that people from inside even came out and spoke with her about what happened to her but returned to have their abortions. Their hearts were so dark, hard, and blind.

While all this was going on, Robert was out front preaching with tears, calling people to trust God while he shared the love of Jesus. Not one lady chose life,  even in the midst of all this craziness. It was so strange standing by the wall to see the kingdom of light on the sidewalk and the kingdom of darkness with all its pain and misery in the back. You really would have to be here to truly see this. It was horrible.

Please pray for Maria and her baby. Pray she sees this baby to be a precious gift. There was one girl that came late, said she was a Christian and left. She never said she chose life, so she was just a turn away. Pray that God would work on her heart and she would not return. It was such an honor to serve with Robert, Yolie, and Bradley today. Tough duty.

As told by John Barros: 

“He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.” Psalm 40:2

The battle rages on, and the Lord is so good. Today was pretty darn busy but there were two that were delivered from the pit.

A lady showed up with 8″ long cross ear rings and a cross tattoo on the back of her neck. She was told that the one that died on the cross is on the sidewalk calling her to trust Him. She said she knew Him, and was then asked if she knew that Proverbs 6 tells her that He hates the hands that shed innocent blood. She went in anyway. After the preaching she came out and was asked if she changed her mind. She said yes and went out back.

A lady that was inside when she changed her mind said she was uneasy and said out loud, “I can’t do this $&@%.”, got her money back, and walked out. She pulled up in her car and said thank you. Her name is Shelly, and she asked for prayer. She said she didn’t need anything and left. Please pray for her.

Then the nightmare of all sidewalk counselors happened. Anna, the girl that chose life yesterday, returned with a friend, this time by taxi. They sat out on the curb as far out back as they could. Beth was here in the morning and called out across the parking lot to them. They got up and walked to the front. Anna was covered in a jacket so no one could see her. She wouldn’t listen and they went inside.

She stayed in there through the preaching, then her friend Suliakah came out. She was visibly upset. She walked up and down the sidewalk and took an “In the womb” tract off my van and read it. She looked at the baby picture on the van and cried. She walked over and Bradley began encouraging her to be active in trying to get Anna out. She sat on the wall and spoke with us for quite some time. There was so much prayer going on.

Then Anna called her from inside and told her she was having second thoughts again. Suliakah went back inside to try and get her out. Melyna showed up and we began to pray more. Then Anna came out. She came over, gave me a huge hug, and we all began praising God. It was unbelievable. I tried to get them out of there right away. Anna didn’t want to.

I was getting worried, but then she said she just didn’t want to leave us. We went through the Gospel and had more prayer. We were praising God for “pulling her out of the pit and placing her on solid ground”. We spent about an hour and a half on the wall. It was so awesome to see her actually call out to people coming in to “trust God. He opened my eyes and called me out of here. He can do the same for you!”

Both these precious ladies will be coming to St. Andrews on Sunday so we can all worship together, and it will be awesome! I must tell you this has been a week I will never forget. Exhausting but exhilarating. Nothing like this. Please pray for all those from this week.

As told by John Barros:

Today was crazy. It was very busy down here in the morning, and then a bunch of checkups in the afternoon. We had two turn aways, and then one young lady and her friend came out the front door with a huge smile, clenched her fist, threw it up to the sky, looked at us and yelled, “we have chosen life!” It was so beautiful. They took the info and said they would be going to Choices. Please pray for these ladies.

Bradley and Tracy came down to serve today. The Lord showed us some amazing things. The security guard Kerry began escorting people in but instead of humiliating me like usual he would tell the ladies, “if you begin to have second thoughts or choose life come out and speak with John.” I am not kidding. We couldn’t believe it.

There was one lady live streaming the preaching and conversations from the porch. Three guys in a truck came down and got in a huge argument with Kerry out back. They pulled up the drive saying so many horrible things about Kerry and threatening to do him great bodily harm.

Then one of the workers came out the back door crying very loudly and speaking of all the wrongs that have been done to her at this place. She came up the drive crying and saying how wicked and horrible this place is. She was leaving never to return. She was thankful and begged me to never leave this place. Begged me to shut it down. Told her I couldn’t do that.

In God’s timing a friend of mine had told me he needed someone for a job. She was able to get one interview in today and is going for the second interview tomorrow. Please pray she gets the job and that the Lord would bring her to repentance.

Then the Lord brought a wonderful surprise. I was sitting on the wall after preaching and behind me I heard a lady say “hey John shouldn’t you get off your butt and get to preaching?” I turned around to see Amanda. I couldn’t believe it. Many of you have been praying for her and her baby Chase for a long time.

I haven’t seen her in so long. She wanted to come by to say thank you because she chose life here three years ago. They used to have chairs out on the porch for people to come outside and smoke. She sat out in one of those chairs all day on a Wednesday. She was 26 weeks pregnant. The clinic told her they would just do it saying she was 24 weeks. She cursed me all day long, only stopping to come up and spit on me. The place was packed and it was miserable.

About 4:00 they called her because it was her turn. She went inside, took her clothes off, got on the table and then one of the strangest things I have ever seen happened. She came out the door in tears hugging me, apologizing, and thanking me for putting up with her.

She went on to tell me that once she got on the table, a heavy darkness filled the room. She said she could only see a small hole of light. Inside that light she saw me preaching. She jumped off the table and ran out much to the complaints of Randall Whitney and the nurses.

Amanda has had a tough life since then but God isn’t finished with her yet. Pease pray for her.

The blindness of people here is amazing. So many things going on any given day yet you have people out front stuffing pizza down their faces, waiting to kill their children, screaming don’t you have anything better to do? No one is listening or cares.
Open their eyes, Lord.

As told by John Barros:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed. – Luke 4:18

The Lord did all these wonderful things down here today. It was just plain awesome. His timing was perfect and He reached down and pulled three precious ladies out of the pit.
Bradley and I were blessed to have Beth and Melyna serve with us. These two ladies are incredible. They start early here on Fridays and it is the busiest day.

At 7:30, Bryce was dropped off by taxi. She was invited to sit on the wall to wait the half hour before the doors opened. We spoke and went through all the things we have to say. She looked through the “In The Womb” tracts and prayed with us, but when the crowd came she got swept in with them. The people were stampeding the door and would not listen.

After they were settled in the preaching began. Joshua and Mary came during the preaching. She wanted to hurry him in. He stopped and talked, taking the tract and brochure. He went in slowly and after a few minutes all hell broke loose. They went out by the side of the building and did their best effort at “rock em sock em robots”. They eventually calmed down and left.

Into the preaching a while longer, Olga came out. I said “come here, young lady”, and she came out to the walk. She spoke of how God’s Word had driven her out of there. She had been raised in the church and found herself in trouble. She wanted prayer, so Beth and I prayed. I have to tell you this young lady is precious. Beth reached out and had Olga follow her to the CPC. They have been talking today. Olga is 13 weeks pregnant and is so thankful and happy that God followed her all the way there. Olga and Beth are the perfect fit.

Then after preaching the second time, out walks Bryce on the phone to a friend coming over to us, not even remotely looking like the same girl from 7:30 this morning. She was explaining very loudly to her friend how angry the nurse got when she said no and changed her mind. She was peeking at us while she was saying these things with a smile on her face. It was so awesome. We jumped up and were thanking God. Melyna had joined us by then and they hit it off great. Melyna gave her a ride home and they exchanged contact info. She will be going to a CPC on Monday.

Once again the Lord sent the perfect person to be a blessing to her neighbor. It was so beautiful. Today the Lord gave sight to the blind, healed the broken hearted, had the Gospel preached to the poor, and gave liberty to the captives. His Word comes alive down here. God is so good. Please pray for these ladies.

As told by John Barros:

What can put smiles like this on ladies’ faces? How about watching the Lord turn half of the clients away? Alright, alright. Although I say this a little tongue in cheek, the Lord did an amazing thing today.

Even though it was late term day, only two clients came and one couple chose life. We were praying so hard for the one that went through with it. She did come out and sit in her car out back but the security guard went out and talked her back in.

It was one of the strangest days I have ever seen. Wednesdays are usually packed with late term moms, first trimester moms, and check ups. People would drive up and point like they were going to pull in but just drove away. Randall Whitney even arrived early but only had one.

Workers were coming out and looking at us. More than half of them had to be let go at noon. One worker came out, raised her arms in a shrug and said “you were very effective today, John”. We all chuckled but it was so awesome. The security guard was extremely upset.

We are praying so hard for this place to go down. Maybe the Lord was encouraging us to hang in there and watch Him work.

So thankful for Bradley, Bonnie, Yolie, Daylan, and Nicole. They are dear servants with hearts that pour out the love of Christ. Please continue to pray.

As told by John Barros:

The blindness of man and the light of God was on display here today. So blessed to serve with Samantha, Bradley, Philip, and Doug.

The people that came today were all shown the latest vileness of the owner of this place and like always, nobody cared. It is so amazing that people would come to a place where they were found guilty of destroying a lady and fined significant amounts of money. Where the main abortionist is an 83 year old man that has been drug out the door twice in handcuffs and arrested for battery on a client, being sued in multiple malpractice suits, etc. Then find out the owner was just arrested for dealing drugs and doing back alley abortions in South Carolina. That is the blindness that happens here.

Fifteen ladies came today, but we got to see the Lord turn the hearts of two and a half couples. And as always it was God’s Word, prayer and the love of Jesus shown through His servants on the sidewalk. The first couple were set on this but the Lord softened them both at the same time. They chose life and went to Choices.

The second couple was a little older. Samantha spent some time with them. They thought they needed to have an abortion because they had toddler twins and didn’t see how they could take care of another. They were encouraged to ponder what the Bible means when it says “God hates the hands that shed innocent blood”. The Lord brought them out with those big smiles. They thanked us and said they were keeping their baby. It was beautiful to see them walk away arm in arm.

The third couple came out in the middle of the preaching. He came charging up to me, screaming and yelling. So close I could see his cavities. He wanted to make sure I knew she changed her mind and it wasn’t me. I said of course not, sir, it is never me. He was fuming. He thought he was getting rid of his responsibility.

I was speaking with a couple of the workers today and asked them if they were proud of their boss and liked his mugshot. They said “don’t be stupid, John. Just because someone owns a building doesn’t mean they own the business.”

Then I remembered a few years ago when someone tried to deliver a legal paper to them. The server was told that on Thursday a different company was in business at the location. They had a different company for every day. I don’t know how Pendergraft’s arrest will change things here, because I don’t even know if he owns the business.

Until it goes down the Gospel will go forth and the Lord will be Glorified. Thanks for praying.