As told by John Barros:

Today I was so blessed to have Isaac George come back and bring Alexandra with him. Alexandra loved serving here so much she didn’t want to leave. Isaac is in his final year at RBC and works full-time so it has been very hard for him to get down here. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to preach, but oh did he ever. I thought I was listening to George Whitefield. Bradley Spruill brought the Word awesomely as well.

A young lady named Kaitlin also came to help out and she received the gospel. God turned the hearts of one couple while they heard the Word waiting for the doors to open. Another young lady stood across the street trying to get the courage to go inside. After an hour of walking out into the street and back to the sidewalk over and over again she made a break for it and went inside. After the preaching she came back out and ran across the street, pacing and pacing while talking on her phone. She went halfway down the block. Isaac and Alexandra walked down to speak to her. She just kept pacing and talking on the phone. Finally she took information and left. Please pray she doesn’t return.

Then a young lady came in the afternoon and never made it inside. She says she is a Christian and was so thankful we were there. She took the info and said she was going to Choices.

Then it was wonderful to go to Saint Andrew’s for a study on Ephesians 5. RC brought a powerful message and then it was time for the ice cream social. I ran into Daylan, our newest sidewalk counselor, serving ice cream. I often hear people make fun of the church for having potlucks and ice cream socials. I wish we could have them weekly!

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As told by John Barros:

What an unbelievably blessed day today was! OWC was not doing any abortions today so I got to spend some time with the guys at the 33rd Street jail. God is really moving in that place.

Then Chris Larson, the president and COO of Ligonier Ministries, came by to take me for a burger. I still can’t believe he did that. Ligonier is where I get fed. This ministry opens God’s word and gives you strength so you can fight the good fight. If you aren’t following Ligonier on Facebook, I highly recommend it.

Chris wanted to see OWC for himself and just poured encouragement into me. I was so humbled that he would do that. The Sprouls and Ligonier believe that we in the reformed tradition need to go out and confront the world with the gospel, and want to build us up to do the work of ministry.

Then I got to go around the corner and see Chris, Heather, and dear little Olivia. They are doing so great.

It was a totally amazing day. No babies dying, new life, and leaders of the church building up the saints. It doesn’t get better than this, folks. I may be rambling but you know I do not deserve any of this. Why God called a filthy, vile sinner like me to Himself I will never understand. To have me stand with Him on that sidewalk and jail calling people to come home… I am the most blessed man there is. 2 Corinthians 5:21.

As told by John Barros:

Yesterday after I dropped Heather off from church her water broke. Praise God little Olivia Ann Hopkins was delivered last night at midnight through C-section. She is 5lb 8oz, 18″ long, and all is going extremely well.

Chris and Heather are ecstatic with what God has been doing in their lives. I know many of you all have been helping and praying for this family for months now and Saint Andrew’s has poured out love for them like I have never seen before. Please continue to pray!.

As told by John Barros:

It has been a rough week down here. Ladies coming with their pillows and blankets to kill their late-term babies as well as tons of others coming for their earlier ones. So many mothers and fathers bringing their daughters and one grandmother today brought her granddaughter to kill her great-grandchild. There has been so much cursing and anger against God. The abortionist driving in honks and waves with a smile.

God was gracious and opened the eyes of some. Shari was used by God to lovingly get a young lady to leave and go to Choices. Today there was a turn away, a lady who left to go to Choices, and one of the most powerful moves of God in a couple who chose life that I have ever seen.

Two new folks, Heidi Roberts and Daylan Petterson, came down with hearts filled with the love of Christ. Bradley Spruill, Jessica Shapiro, and some of the RBC kids served along with Tracey Bolin, Beth and Amanda Goble.

All this to say I have been a bit more sensitive and a bit down. There are so many people coming to kill their children. We give the same message. The same wonderful people come to love and help them… yet so few have their eyes opened.

Then I remembered Romans 9:15-16 “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but God who shows mercy…” Our job is to come and bring the gospel. It is up to Him to show mercy on whom He wills. I know this is no news to you or me but sometimes I need to be reminded.

God is good, and God is able. I am just unable to understand the whole picture. I am so very thankful He called me to Himself. I was as blind as all these folks..

As told by John Barros:

Today only eight came down to have abortions. They were all cold and no matter how hard we called and pled they didn’t listen.

It was wonderful to have Jacob Allen, Jesse Stiemann, and of course Bradley Spruill serving here today.

The Lord Jesus had a special surprise for us. He sent Heidi Roberts all the way from Tampa to bless us. She is new to abortion ministry and thought she would like to learn how we do things here. She was quickly pressed into service. What a heart she has. She loves Jesus and people. She has a zeal for the Lord and the lost… these qualities cannot be taught. I don’t know what she could have learned from me (other than how to sing out of a hymnal!) but I sure learned a lot from that precious blast of fresh air. We are all so thankful to have served with her.

If any of you are from the Tampa area you will be blessed to serve with Heidi!.

As told by John Barros:

A dear young lady who is a member of my church has to do a video presentation for her college. She wanted to do it on sidewalk ministry and asked if she could follow me. She was supposed to be here a few days earlier and she would have been able to see some beautiful acts of God changing hearts, but she came in the chaos that was today. This is a trailer for the project. I think the Lord will use this to bring awareness at her school. There is a lot more footage that will be in the final version. Please pray it touches teachers and students.

As told by John Barros:

Thanks to all of you that prayed this morning when I posted on Facebook. The people coming for abortions bonded together even quicker than usual today. They began going crazy screaming, mocking, cursing us and God. A man began yelling, pacing, and said he had a gun in his car and was going to shoot me. He called people on the phone to come and “take care of me” and then called the Orlando Police Department.

Two police officers came out to respond. One went in to talk to the man. After a while he came out and called Bradley over to ask what happened. While this was going on a lady officer accused me of stretching the limits of the law by standing on the sidewalk passing out flyers. I asked why she was so upset about this when someone claiming to be a police officer has threatened to shoot me. She asked “Are you afraid?” I answered “No.” I asked what that had to do with it, and she repeated her question. I said she should be concerned with doing her job. She asked what that was. I said to uphold the law.

The other officer said,”I am the law.” He told Daylan to quit filming. Then the male officer said “Okay I’m done, let’s go.” I said, “Sir, can I speak to you?” He said “You have one minute.” I told him the threats that were leveled against me and he said, “Sorry, that’s hearsay.” I asked, “Even with six witnesses and all of it on video?” He just got in his car and left. He did tell Bradley that the guy doing the threatening was not a police officer but the guy’s brother is.

I really don’t know what to say. There were young college kids down here witnessing police officers acting like this. After they left there was one turn away who said we shouldn’t be so judgmental. We still preached and Andrew Gilhooley did a wonderful job. It sure was great to have him back.

The sad thing is that no one turned away to life. I don’t know what it is with the Orlando Police Department. It was nuts to see one taking a statement from a man with a lady filling out all the papers to kill her baby standing next to him. Down here the police are not our friends; I have had them make threats many times. They say they will not even arrest someone if they shoot or stab me. They say they will use that same law they used in the Trayvon Martin case.

But today was different in that they would not do anything to a man posing as a police officer threatening bodily harm and death. Is this really because the guy’s brother is a police officer?

Well, like the old Presbyterian pastor who tripped over a curb said… “Thank God that one’s behind me!”.

As told by John Barros:

Today was so much better than the rest of this week has been. As the people were waiting for the doors to open, the Word and warnings were told to them. When they finally opened the doors everyone went inside but one lady, Shaniqua, stayed behind. We spoke some more, she got her car, pulled up beside us, and asked for prayer. We prayed, she took a blessing bag, and went to Choices where she had an ultrasound and has made an appointment to go back.

During the preaching God touched a mother and her beautiful young daughter. They came out saying “Thank you and God bless you.”

The battle of the day was going on in a lady named Nicole. She told us she has six children with her husband but is pregnant now with another man’s child. Shari and I spoke with her. She said she chose life, got a blessing bag, and headed to Choices. She came back an hour later and said she had been just down the street crying and she had to have an abortion. Then she went through everyone for hours. Warren, Shari, Alexza, and Bradley all spoke with her. She parked and said she had to go in. She went inside but didn’t last ten minutes. She came out and Shari took her to Choices where she saw her baby on ultrasound and heard the heartbeat. She was counseled by some of the very best.

Shari waited with her but Nicole is still cold about this. She is afraid her husband will kill her. Please pray Nicole does not return and that she continues to trust God. The Lord has been working in her in a different way. She has wanted to have an abortion since 9:00 this morning but she hasn’t. She has had the restraining power of the Holy Spirit upon her all day. Please pray that Jesus opens her eyes and draws her close..

As told by John Barros:

Today would have to be put in the “light, dark, and blind” file. It was all here today. Jesus brought Tom down for his first time. I met him when I spoke at a Choices meeting. He came down to learn. He is such a nice man. While he was there Jesus crushed the cold heart and opened the eyes of a precious young lady named Amy. I don’t have any pictures of her and her mother but they were crying tears of relief and joy and were so thankful. They asked for prayer and I told them you all would. I don’t think Tom will ever be the same again.

Then the craziness began. The normal late-term mocking and vileness. I received a message from my dear friends Jocelyn Acuff letting me know God had prompted her to pray for us today. (There are several who pray daily like Christy, Shari, and I’m sure many others.) Well boy did we need it. The place became very dark.

There was a mother and friend who brought their daughter for a late-term abortion. We had been preaching and pleading when all of a sudden the young lady came out the front door screaming about the abortionist. Her mother was right behind, screaming to the other people there for abortions. She looked at all of them and yelled “The people on the sidewalk have been telling us the truth!”

It turns out Randall began talking to this young lady about sexual things. He is so disgusting. He does this from time to time, and trust me this is nowhere near the first lady to come off the table from such talk. Then Randall had one of his famous meltdowns. He began screaming and cursing with all manner of vileness. All the people inside witnessed all this. The young lady and her mother left. I have no idea if they will choose life or just try and find another late-term provider; they wouldn’t stop to talk to us. They looked to be in deep shock and seemed not to be able to get out of there fast enough.

We used every opportunity to call out to the people, showing what kind of a place this is. Even Chantelle was trying to wake them up, going right up on the lawn to talk. One lady named Brittany cane over and talked to us. She chose life, had us pray for her, and took a blessing bag; then went inside to get her money back. I don’t know what happened inside but she ended up staying in. The blindness is unbelievable.

After all this craziness, believe it or not, the people we were trying to help turned on Bradley and I. When God’s word tells us man’s heart is wicked above all things (Jeremiah 17:9), you’d better believe it. All the rest of the afternoon were people rejecting the grace and kindness of God. People hate God, His Law, and anyone who would get between them and their blind murderous desires.

The Enemy is all here on steroids; the world, the flesh, and the devil. So Jocelyn, Shari, Christy, and anyone else please continue to pray for us down here!.