As told by John Barros:

Today was filled with some pretty heavy pain and sadness, but there was joy as well.
It was truly a battle down here all day. We were blessed to have brother Chris, on vacation from Syracuse, join us all day.

There were about fifteen that came, but the Lord opened the eyes of three of them and their babies get to celebrate Christmas. One man, Jorge, was dripping off his wife Carla. He stopped at the driveway on the way out and spoke. God opened his eyes and he texted Carla to come out. They were so unbelievably happy and prayer time was with many, many tears of joy.

Another couple came and were loved on by the counselors. They sat in their truck for what seemed like an eternity but then they left. The final one left five minutes before the abortionist arrived. Thank God.

Those were beautiful but so much of the hard work is with many that don’t choose life. Such was the case today. A guy brought his daughter down here. 17 year old Brittany was in and out all day. Her father wouldn’t stand up for her. The clinic had turned her away two days in a row, and now dad is down here with her. So much prayer. Samantha and Luke spent so much time with her. We all prayed with her, but at the end of the day she went through with it. We all had some broken hearts over this as well as others we had conversations with.

We had some other pretty cool things happen though. Sarah stopped by with her precious children to learn and encourage on their way to Legoland. A man brought his young niece down to show her what goes on here and taught her to support missionaries. They were awesome. Then Dominique stopped in with three of her kids to encourage. She is getting very close now to delivering that precious package.

It was a tough day but the Lord did mighty things. Please pray for tomorrow.

As told by John Barros:

Well, they tried to throw us a curveball down here today, but they are nothing like Sandy Koufax, because he would never let you know when it was coming. We are always ready for what comes down here.

They don’t usually do abortions on Tuesday, but about 8:30 this morning it looked like the Chick-Fil-A line on Friday afternoon. People seem to be getting angrier the closer you get to Christmas.

Halfway through the preaching, dear Donna showed up to help and was able to see Julie and her boyfriend flee this place. Her smiling and saying thank you, him looking totally confused like a deer in the headlights. It was so awesome. Then a little later there was a couple that came out, but he wouldn’t let her talk so we can only say they were a turn away.

It was pretty rough down here with so much wickedness, but it’s so awesome to text people like Callie letting them know what is going on at the moment, knowing an army goes into prayer.

As told by John Barros:

A bit busy today down here with Bradley and Stephen. Pretty hard folks, but there was one turn away and one couple chose life.

Ashley came and wouldn’t listen. During the preaching they came out and the brawl began. They were fighting on the porch, then went down the street and back in front of Dr. Collins’, continuing to fight. They counted out $1600 right in front of us to pay for her 20 week abortion.

She went inside, he left, and she came right back outside. She walked over to the wall and asked what Choices and God could do for her. After a lengthy conversation, she asked for my phone. She called her boyfriend and chose life.

I thought there would be another brawl but he pulled up thanking us. God had been working on him. It really was pretty cool. They asked for a bulletin from St. Andrew’s and want to come. It was so amazing to watch them go from counting out money to tears of joy in about an hour.

Got to spend the evening with some of the dearest people I know. Thank you Vicky and all the Choices team. Y’all are awesome! Received a bit of good news for the Saturday team. This place will be closed.

As told by John Barros:

Well, thankfully it slowed down today. There were still about nine here, and one lady was into her third day of her labor & delivery abortion. It was such a blessing to serve with Bradley, Bill, and Beth. We even had Edwin and Heather, along with Andrea in the afternoon.

There is one couple that Beth met in the drive. She ministered to them for quite some time. Next thing I know, she is driving away with Brad and Gabby behind her. They went over to Choices and are now getting the help they need. Beth may be little, but dynamite comes in small packages. She is so gifted by the Lord..

Another awesome thing happened here as well today. Hank and Brandy, a young couple that were walking down the street, stopped and wanted to say thank you to us for being out here. They told us of how a few years back they had split up. Brandy got hooked up with another guy for a short period of time, then she and Hank got back together again.

Soon afterwards, she found out she was pregnant and the baby was not Hank’s. She set an appointment to have an abortion. Hank did something I have never seen. He begged her not to abort her baby. He told her “this baby is my baby, because she is part of you and you are my wife. I will love my baby”.

That little girl is two years old now, and they have two others. I have to tell you I was blown away, and we were fighting back tears. Here we are surrounded by people killing babies for convenience, and out jumps a hero. Please pray for these simple loving people.

As told by John Barros:

I don’t know what it is about the holidays down here but it is just so dark. The people are so much harder and vile with their threats and actions. I really don’t know what it is but its the same every year.

In spite of all this there were many conversations. Some even left but returned. Some were prayed with, and many tears shed, but no one chose life. The place was packed all day.

The Lord sent us another day of being blessed by Georgie. She came back for a bit, and jumped right in calling for folks to repent and trust God. This lady is really something else. I believe she is eighty some years old, but wants to actively serve God and love her neighbor down here. She said she will be back. I’m sure it will be soon.

As told by John Barros:

All these years and no two days have ever been the same. Today was really rough, but the Lord sent a wonderful blessing.

So many people here today, so many conversations, so many convicted, and so many fights. There was one “Christian” mother/daughter couple that ended up running out of there. They weren’t about to talk to us after the warnings about bringing Jesus in there, so we can only call them a turn away.

The hardest one was a young man that came with his wife. He came out around 9:00 saying he was a believer. He pulled a Bible out of his pocket and said he tried. He was told that he needed to fight all day. He did.

He got her out so many times and repented of his failures as a husband. He begged her. When she was done he came out and said “I fought every minute. I am from Jamaica and we do not do this”. He also said that he doesn’t think he can ever look her in the face again and that he doesn’t know this wife. It is so sad. Abortion destroys everything.

After the preaching, a young lady showed up with Gatorades for us. She had brought her mother to the doctor across the street. They sat in their car and listened to the preaching. When it was over, Malvin’s mother Georgie told her to go get us something to drink. After Georgie’s appointment she came over to thank us for being there. She could not believe she was witnessing the preaching of the Gospel on the street down here. She is one of those precious deep Christian ladies that have walked with Jesus for many years.

Malvin wrote a book based on Georgie’s life. Georgie had been raped by some white people in a small Georgia town back in the 50’s. When they found out, they wanted her to abort her baby, and she refused. She refused because even though she had been raped, she knew this baby was no accident. She knew this was God’s baby that He had entrusted to her. I can’t believe how refreshing it was to be around these ladies. They are so precious. I wept driving home. The life Georgie has had has drawn her so close to her Saviour. I have so far to go.

Malvin and Georgie wrote such wonderful things in the front of three books for Yolie, Gerry, and I. I haven’t had time to read it yet but just from meeting them you may want to look into it.

As told by John Barros: 

It’s been pretty dark around here lately, but the Lord is always at work in the hearts of those that serve and those that come to this awful place.

So thankful to have Zachary come down and join Bradley, Steve and me. Zach is a student at Reformation Bible College and had a day before returning home for Christmas. These kids love putting into practice what they learn at school.

It was slow this morning, and there were some turn-aways, so they brought the folks from their other clinic over to this one. It became pretty busy. The Lord brought out a precious young lady by the name of Stephanie in the middle of the preaching.

She walked straight out the door, up the walk and gave me a bear hug. We all gathered around and had a time of prayer. God also turned the heart of her boyfriend. He came out front once, but sat in his car until she came out. I wish I could, but I cannot go into everything in her life and decision but could you please pray for God to meet her needs?

As told by John Barros:

Well, Orlando Women’s Center decided to have a Christmas time Sunday special today. About six or seven ladies took them up on their offer. It was supposed to be at EPOC as well but it never happened there.

Michele brought the folks from there to join us and much time was spent singing worship songs to God. It truly was special down there today. There is no way that I could tag everyone but each person was so special. So many came by before heading to church. No one chose life today.

We did find a new abortionist, though. We have no idea who he is. He drove around looking for the place and came in the front door when he arrived. Kerry took him out for lunch afterwards. Please pray he does not return. Last time we had another abortionist here they were open seven days a week. Thanks for all of you that prayed and those of you that came down. Can’t wait to get to church tonight.

As told by John Barros:

We had our share of crazies down here today, and there was the extreme darkness of the late term Moms in their second day of labor, but the Lord moved in a mighty way. The Lord called Bradley, Warren, Donna, Luke, and myself to serve today. We were able to watch Him turn several away. Then there was Lura.

She was dropped off early and wasn’t hard-hearted when she came up, but she went inside and stayed. Later, after all the chaos and preaching, she came out and looked at me with “that face”. It’s a face you only see here when a lady submits to God. I asked if she was ready for lunch. She said “something like that” with that smile.

She came over and prayed. She didn’t only talk about choosing life, but wanted to know if we knew anything about of adoption. Of course Luke jumped right in, sharing about how blessed his family is from their adopted son. He was able to tell her so many things. She took the information to “Life For Kids” and will be going there to check into it. I told her how the ladies in our church want to love on her and her family. Please pray for her. She is such a sweet young lady.

As told by John Barros: 

Today was quite a grind. Just one of those days where every step feels like you have weights on your feet. The Lord shined His light, though, in the heart of one couple.

A young couple came in a souped up Dodge Charger. They looked like they worked out a lot. He would not listen as they went inside. After the preaching, he came out pacing, then left for a while. He came back and began the OWC walk. You could see God working in their hearts as they kept coming out to talk out back. This went on for quite some time.

They went out at last and sat in their car again for another 20 minutes. The car started and they pulled up the drive. He rolled down his window and they had the most beautiful smiles on their faces. They said “thank you. We don’t need your information. We are keeping our baby and will not be back”. It was so awesome.

The Lord worked on others as well, but the hearts were hard. One poor young lady forgot her ID and stood on the front porch for five hours. She was cocky at first, but during the preaching began to come apart. Crystal, who chose life for her baby three years ago, was driving by and stopped to help. She spoke to the young lady and they tried everything to get the lady inside out of here but she refused.

There was another ray of light today as well. Savannah came down this afternoon. She has been coming here since she was 8 years old. She was even bold back then, climbing the trees out back and trying to get people to listen. She has such a huge heart. Her heart went out to a lady that was sitting on the porch with her baby, and she went right up trying to help. It was such a blessing to serve with Bradley today. He is really stepping up these days.