Busy Day

As told by John Barros:

Today was a busy day, filled with angry people and folks telling us God will forgive them for having an abortion.  There was one young lady that came with her Mother.  She came out to speak with us and said her Mother had forced her to have an abortion when she was really young, and she was now pressuring her to have another.10423761_10204344096430898_19635087940028026_n  In the end she decided she wanted to keep her baby and possibly give her baby to another couple.  We gave her the info on where to go for that when her Mother started screaming, “Oh My God” over and over again.  The young lady left but please pray for her as this looks like it could be tough.

After all the guys yesterday it was such a blessing to have so many girls down to help.  These ladies are so precious… so thankful.

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Something Very Special

As told by John Barros:

Today was very slow; only six came. The Lord let Bradley Spruill and I see something very special.

A mother and daughter came to kill their baby. The daughter had such a vile mouth, cursing and telling us to do some crazy things. She was so angry to hear the truth. After an hour or two, they came out weeping as if God had put up a stop sign. It was truly amazing to watch them hugging each other in tears of joy. It seemed like time stopped for a bit. I haven’t ever seen love expressed between a mother and daughter like this before. Bradley and I were actually speechless. It was just beautiful.

Please continue to pray; we are getting back to them having more workers than clients and there are lots of new legal wranglings going on..

What a Crew

As told by John Barros:

A week ago I had the honor of speaking in the morning and evening at Faith Baptist Church in Orlando. Today a mother, Kathleen, and her daughter Ashley Myers came down to serve. Along with Heather Grant and her baby Olivia, Daylan Petterson, Anna, and Bradley Spruill, we got to see God move in a mighty way.

 

He turned the hearts of four young ladies and a couple of men. It went from one young lady who chose life with her boyfriend throwing things, screaming and yelling, and accusing her of driving him to commit suicide, to a precious young girl coming out with “that smile” that only comes when one submits to God.

Two other couples softly chose life as well. Believe me, it was all there today: grandmothers bringing their daughters to kill their grandchildren while being worried about her lapdog, to a guy claiming to be an ex-Army Ranger with his dog tags hanging out telling us to get a life. Cowards come in all shapes and sizes.

 

Everyone worked so hard here in this Florida sun. What a crew today.

If anyone knows a group that ministers in St. Paul, Minnesota please let me know; Ashley lives there and wants to continue in this ministry..

Not All Sin is the Same

As told by John Barros:

We don’t get the “Don’t judge me” talk down here very often because we let them know right away that we are there because we care and are simply warning them. The one we hear more than anything is that “All sin is the same”. It’s amazing to me how that has permeated the world and many who go to church.

 

People actually believe (or try to convince themselves) that killing a baby is the same as stealing a bag of potato chips. All sin is sin, but there are different degrees. We had a few turn-aways today but didn’t get to speak to them.

Then a young lady came during some preaching, stood on the porch, and announced that all sin was the same. When she was confronted with the faulty thinking she burst into tears, walked in the door, then immediately came out sobbing and left. God opened her eyes but so many others remained inside still thinking this. Please pray that she gets the help she needs.

It was wonderful to have Jesse Stiemann and Jennifer Toor here, and the Orlando House of Prayer (OHOP) people who came down to pray.

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Weird Few Days

As told by John Barros:

Things down here have been very weird the last few days. There were only three who came today. There was a late-term mom walking around out back, laughing and carrying on as she was trying to hasten her labor.

An elderly lady came walking up while I was preaching, bowed on her knees and began throwing holy water on the door. The abortionist Randall Whitney pulled in during this and became quite agitated, hollering out his window for her to get off the property.

 

We had another weird thing today: a lady who chose life here in February whom Bradley gave a ride to the CPC, brought a mom with two young girls down here. The girl who was being brought stood up to her mother and left to go to Choices. A lady came down yesterday for an abortion with a massive decal on the back of her car: a “family” motorcycle group. That poor little baby will never get to be part of that group.

 

Then of course the boxes of babies keep coming out to the trucks on Thursdays. I am so thankful to serve with Bradley Spruill, Warren Marquardt, and Phillip Kinkopf. Keep praying, folks..

Bachelor Party

As told by John Barros:

I don’t know how many “firsts” there are left in this world, but I think we may have one here. I have been extremely blessed to have served on the sidewalk here with my dear brother Bryan McDaniel for a long time. He is one faithful servant of God. Bryan is getting married in a week and a half and has blessed this old man by asking me to be his best man.

 

I have wracked my brain trying to figure out what to do for his bachelor party. He wasn’t too thrilled with Bingo, lawn bowling, or anything else I could come up with. What’s a man to do? I asked Bryan what would be the greatest thing he would want to do for a party. He said, “No question about it: I want to preach the gospel with my brothers at OWC next Thursday and then let’s all get a bite to eat.”

This is the kind of man he is. Any of you guys who are friends of Bryan’s come on down next Thursday morning. You may just be a part of history. I don’t think anyone has spent their bachelor party serving their King by ministering at an abortion clinic!.

Orlando’s 33rd Street Jail

As told by John Barros:

No abortions were being done today at OWC, as usual on Tuesdays. I love hearing stories of how God changes hearts and lives. I heard one today that is so beautiful.

I have the awesome pleasure to be a chaplain with Good News Jail and Prison Ministry at Orlando’s 33rd Street Jail. Stephen came into my office in the Christian dorm today, wanting a Reformation Study Bible. He has been exposed to RC Sproul in here. I try to get as many of RC’s books and resources in here as possible because there is an awful lot of garbage in here. I asked him to tell me his story.

He said he had a shameful childhood and was a drug addict from the ages of 11-31. In the middle of all that he did a seven-year prison sentence. In 2007 he had an “encounter” with Jesus but turned back to the world. By January of 2014 his father had died, every relationship he’d ever had was destroyed, and he was planning to end his life. February 18th this year everything changed. He could not go on. He had tried to no avail to get into a rehab program and thought there was no longer any hope.

A friend gave him a Bible to read. The Word through the Holy Spirit completely tore him apart and crushed him. He said everything came to the surface. Laid out before him was his wickedness, guilt, shame, lust, greed, denial, etc. He was exposed in the light of a holy God. In the midst of his loneliness and misery he cried out to God for forgiveness and help. Sobbed for hours praying for deliverance and guidance. He turned to the man who gave him the Bible. He was presented with the gospel and committed his life to Christ.

Stephen says the Lord told him to come clean with everyone. He was living in Oklahoma and there were several charges he had been running from in several states. He walked down the street to a police station and said, “I am a fugitive from God and I want to turn myself in. Do you have a place I can crash for the night?” Once he was behind bars he knew he was FREE for the first time in his life.

Stephen has been devouring God’s word since his conversion and devours Christian literature. He says he is thankful for his time in jail. He speaks of desiring to continue being transformed. He is so excited to have his new study Bible. Pray God answers his prayers and he is transformed by the renewing of his mind. If any men would like to write him, or if you are local and would like to visit him, please message me and I’ll get you the info.

I cannot encourage people enough to volunteer at your local jail. Great things happen there..

Prayers

As told by John Barros:

I logged into Facebook to post what happened today and saw a friend who had written a post about praying for the ministry down here. It truly brought tears to my eyes. That is how things get done down here. I love preaching and telling the folks inside that people from all over the world are praying for them. It’s a mystery how prayer, the Word, and the Holy Spirit work together down here but that is what happens.

Today was awesome. Brian Buckles lives in Dallas, took a wrong turn, and ended up here to serve today. (Really he is visiting his parents here and wanted to come serve.) What a blessing he was. Waleska came for a while, and Daylan was here all day. We really got to see God move on the hearts of people in different ways.

 

There were two ladies who chose life and stood up against the guys who brought them and were fighting to keep them there. Then Vivian showed up thinking she might be five months pregnant. She couldn’t see any hope but in a short period of time decided to leave. Daylan took her to Choices and she made an appointment to go back.

Then the cutest little lady Haden came. She thought that being early that her baby wasn’t a baby yet and an abortion by pill wasn’t really an abortion. When she realized her thinking was flawed, she asked for information about where to get help, thanked us, and left. There was also a turn-away who left very angry but wouldn’t talk.

 

Brian was blessed and was such a blessing to serve with. Any of you who serve in the Dallas area, please message me your number so I can get it to him. He would be a huge asset. I can’t say enough about Daylan. What a beautiful and godly young lady she is. Fearless, mature in the faith, with a servant’s heart. What a blessing she is. God is so good..

We hold these truths…

As told by John Barros:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are LIFE, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…

When these men signed this document they thought they were signing their death sentences. They were willing to die for these principles, the first of which was the fact that God granted us the right to LIFE. I wondered today, while hanging my flag upside-down in front of a building that was preparing to take the life of defenseless babies, what the signers of this document would have done if they were on the sidewalk with us. They all knew the depravity of man but could they ever have imagined our country protecting and sponsoring this massive slaughter?

 

The signers of the Declaration of Independence were worried about principles and character, knowing they would lose everything to fight their fight for America. Today very few people will even fight for the first right.

People came today to kill their children. Thankfully some real patriots came down to minister. Pastor RC Sproul, Jr. from Ascension Presbyterian Church in Apopka came and preached a powerful message. I am so thankful for this dear friend and mentor. Beth Goble, Dirk Petterson, and his sister Daylan also served. Dirk did an awesome job of bringing the gospel. I couldn’t believe it was his first time. Daylan has been coming for a few weeks and you would think she’s been doing this forever. I am so blessed to be surrounded by these folks. The Lord is building an army and the battle belongs to Him!.

God’s Amazing Grace

As told by John Barros:

I truly don’t even know where to begin to tell of God’s amazing grace here today. God turned the hearts of three ladies today. Two couples came out looking terrified but the one I love is Esmeralda. She came and listened to everything that could be said. We had a time of prayer. She began crying but said she had to go inside. She sat through a lot of preaching and then she came out and asked if I wanted to see her baby. She held the ultrasound of her six-week-old baby. She told us, “I am keeping MY baby.” OWC tried to have her come back in a few weeks but she said she is going to go to Choices. It was awesome. We were doing some celebrating there today.

 

There were so many conversations. Warren Marquardt shared the gospel with a young lady who came to be support for someone. She was cocky at first but ended up giving us chocolates, decided not to be part of this, and left. Bryan McDaniel was able to come back after being away so long; he preached with power and prayed like crazy.

 

One of the most amazing things I have seen happened today. Philip Kinkopf, a mild-mannered young man who runs the sound board at Saint Andrew’s, came for his first time. I told him he needed to preach so it would break the ice for future times. I couldn’t believe how well he did. I thought he would last about five minutes but he preached boldly and with passion like I have never seen from a first-timer. He was horrified at what was going on in there and the cavalier attitude of those inside. There was so much more. It’s hard to explain these things online. You have to be there to really get this..