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Email: "Miracles Little and Big as Young Pro-Lifers Walk Across Canada for Life"

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Youth walking across Canada for life stop in at LifeSiteNews office BY LifeSiteNews.com Commentary By John-Henry WestenJuly 29, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Young, vibrant, fearlessly faith-filled and ready to offer their lives in service for Christ’s littlest ones - that's how I would describe the six young gentlemen and one lovely lady who turned up by surprise at the Ottawa Valley office of LifeSiteNews (LSN) yesterday afternoon.  The Crossroads team that is walking across Canada in an effort to spread the pro-life message is entering the home stretch of their summer-long trek.  They sat down with LSN to share some of their adventures, with a few of them joining me for a well-earned bottle of Rickard’s Red.They’ve now walked over 3,800km and for the most part their shoes are holding up - although the Franciscan monk, Brother Paul, who is accompanying them has had to change his sandals a few times.They’ve ministered to tens of thousands along the way, not only on the road, but in churches, at pro-life meetings, and at backyard barbeques.  They have been awed by the generous reception they’ve received from pro-life activists, and just as they have inspired many, so too have they been inspired by the quiet and unknown heroes and heroines of the pro-life movement scattered throughout the cities, towns and villages of the great nation we call home.One of the stories that moved the little band of walkers was that of a grandfather who let them know that the simple little pro-life stickers they hand out had saved the life of his grandson.  He had placed one of the pro-life stickers on his car after the 2007 Crossroads team traversed the country.  His daughter later found out she was pregnant and decided to get an abortion, but went by her dad’s place prior to her abortion appointment.  She saw the sticker on his car and that was enough to change her mind.  They named the child Isaac Angel, after the Biblical story of Abraham’s son whose life was spared as the Angel of the Lord called on Abraham not to harm the child.The continual prayers that the walkers offer up as they make their cross-Canada journey have been heard and answered time and time again, as their begged-for provisions have always arrived when needed and seen them through.  One difficulty seemed insurmountable, but was nevertheless solved.Part way through the long trek one of the men, Jonathan Dueling, was due to leave in Thunder Bay in order to join an order of priests.  The rest of the troop prayed intensely for another person to take Jonathan’s place, since walking the walk without three in a day or night team is almost too difficult to carry out.  Sure enough while in Calgary, one week before Jonathan was to depart, the group spoke at a church, touching the heart of a young man who was discerning a vocation with a Trappist monastery only weeks before.  Shawn Fowler took up the call, and after walking with the group for a day decided not to turn back but to continue with the team for the remainder of the journey, giving up the summer job he had recently acquired.  While Frances Platt, the lone and cherished lady among the band of merry men (which coincidentally includes a friar, but not with the girth of Friar Tuck), played with some of my young children, the men shared stories of the unbelievable warmth showed to them by pro-life families and priests in city after city and town after town.  After seeing this troop, and experiencing their love for life and the Author of Life, it is not hard to believe that these apostles for life are showered with kindness by the pro-life faithful.  It was an honor to have them in my home.They are off toward Quebec and will backtrack to Ottawa for the conclusion of their journey on August 15.  This weekend they’ll be speaking at parishes in Hamilton/Guelph, next weekend in Montreal, and the final weekend in Ottawa.Michael Hayden, one of the walkers and a student at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy in Barry’s Bay Ontario, told me that he was determined that a Canada walk should be held every year, rather than every few years as has been the case until now.  He’s ready to sign up for next year, if that’s God’s plan for him he said.For more information visit the Crossroads website here. http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/miracles-little-and-big-as-young-pro-lifers-walk-across-canada-for-life/

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