Opinion
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How God can bless our life when we trust Him

My colleague was sidewalk counseling, while I was working for two months as the counselor in our Pregnancy Resource Center.  It was early in the morning – one hour before we had office hours, but I quickly went to meet them.  The woman had been on her way to her appointment to have an abortion. She could speak very little German and no English, so I quickly made some calls and arranged for a friend to come and help as translator/interpreter.

Once the person arrived to help interpret, I was able to learn the difficult situation of this woman. She was in a new relationship, with a man she thinks she really loves and wants to marry. And although she lives with her present boyfriend, (as she had nowhere to live when she met him), they had never been intimate.  She is pregnant from a previous relationship!  She fears hurting and losing this wonderful new boyfriend if he finds out she’s pregnant!

Through the interpreter, I informed her about the possible consequences of abortion, about the child’s development and about how abortions are performed.  As soon as she saw a picture of an aborted baby, she said that she could never do that – regardless if it would mean her losing her boyfriend as well as the security of her living situation!

I told the young mother, that if we trust in God, especially in difficult situations, God is faithful in helping us and gives us what we need.  She bravely decided to keep her baby.

I’ve visited her a few times, met her boyfriend and we’ve been in contact by phone. (Her German quickly improved as her boyfriend paid for classes for her.)

Months went by and she called to invite me for another visit – one which I’ll never forget!  She was radiantly happy. She told me that she was so afraid of telling her boyfriend that she just didn’t!  Then, when she was already well into her 4th month, her boyfriend, noticing her growing tummy, asked her if she’s pregnant.

She explained that she had been so afraid to tell his and was so sorry to disappoint him.  But then he surprised her with his own secret, namely that doctors have said he should not be able to children!  He immediately told her he’d like to adopt her child as his own!  His parents likewise accepted this child as their own grandchild and are very loving to her and this child!

In the meantime, they’ve married.  This woman had had Muslim roots. Her new husband was raised Catholic and now has grown more in his faith through his new family!  The baby has been baptized Catholic.

What most touches me is that each time I see her, this young mother looks so lovingly at her daughter and cries – thinking how she almost missed out on all the blessings had she aborted!  She said she is so happy and told me how tenderly her new husband caresses and kisses his little girl. He almost cannot stop kissing his child!  She always thanks me profusely for having been there for her to give her guidance and support!   Praise the Lord His faithfulness!

Couple are encouraged to say yes to a larger family!

We were having a heat-wave and I was the only sidewalk counselor working that day; I was supported by the prayers of two prayer warriors on the street as well as those in our adoration chapel.

One of these prayer warriors on the street motioned to me and let me know that far in the other direction she saw a man, whose wife was in the abortion mill.

When I approached him, he was very open to talking. He shared that his wife is pregnant with their fourth child. In answering my other questions it turned out that his wife comes from a large family and that he, himself is the fourth child in his family!  So thus he came to see that abortion was akin to destroying himself!

When I asked him to call his wife, his wife called him and he handed me the phone to talk to her. After a few minutes the woman indeed came out of the killing center and willingly followed me to our PRC (Lebenszentrum “Life Center”).

Through the good counseling in our PRC, she came gratefully to follow-up appointments.

Perseverance in prayer during the heat wave paid off!

Thank you dear God, that I may participate in this wonderful ministry and that I may experience such beautiful outcomes!

This work is only possible with the generous support of our loyal benefactors! We pray daily for you and your intentions!

Transformation in just one day!

A very beautiful, smartly dressed woman came walking in my direction. Where I do sidewalk counseling there are many tourists constantly walking by and I was almost certain this well-dressed lady wasa tourist, but for some reason I still offered her our information brochure.

She took it and kept walking toward in the direction of the abortion center. She was carefully examining our brochure and suddenly she stopped. I approached her and asked her if she knows someone who is pregnant. She said, “yes”, and then I saw that she was crying!

She said that God had sent me to her because she is in a difficult situation and has no idea what to do. She came with me to our PRC (Pregnancy Resource Center) and received a full counseling there.

A week later, I went, as usual, to our adoration chapel at 3 p.m. to pray at the Divine Mercy prayers. When I came out, this woman came out of one of our counseling rooms. She had just finished her second meeting with our counselor, Tara.  She was so happy to see me, and repeatedly thanked me.

There had been a drastic transformation from the woman I had seen just one day before! Now she was beaming and radiant! She even confirmed this with what she shared with me: she was so grateful because after the counseling she could see hope in what seemed at first to be a hopeless situation! And she felt our loving support, which showed her that she was not alone and that God indeed was with her!
Praise the Lord!

Offer for “Free”, government-paid Abortion rejected by couple!

Across the street from the abortion business, I got into a conversation with a very nice couple. They told me that the wife is pregnant with their third child, but they have financial problems.  The young father was the main one engaged in our conversation, so I appealed to him as the “protector” of his wife and children. He agreed with everything I said.
When I offered our “free help”, the father said that the abortion appointment is for that same day and it is “free”, i.e., paid by a government office (with tax-payers money of course)!  He showed me the paperwork. It had been made clear to them, that it would only be “free” if they went through with the abortion on that same day!  Talk about pressuring for abortion!

As he told me this, I became a bit pessimistic, thinking that the chances were slim that they would not take the offer of a free abortion! Nonetheless, I urged him to cancel the appointment. The couple thanked me and then went into the abortion mill!

The next day I met this couple again. The father said with a beaming smile that he came especially to find me and tell me what had happened…. The previous day they had indeed cancelled their abortion appointment and came to our center and received a full counseling session!  (I had taken a break just when they left the abortion mill the previous day.)

Since then, each time I see them, they thank me profusely!

Witness:

Counsellor reports in the PCC in Salzburg:

Recently I received a call from an acquaintance in the evening and he informed me that his girlfriend (or wife?) would accompany one of her friends to an abortion. He did not agree with his girlfriend in any case, he said, a child is a child; the child should live and not be killed. I asked him if his girlfriend was present. He said yes and handed the phone on to his girlfriend. I spoke then some time with her trying to explain to her the importance of the decision for the abortion, I also confronted her with their complicity, if you accompany your own girlfriend to have an abortion  – true friendship would be, to offer real, humane help. The friend of my friend finally agreed to come with her girlfriend to the Life centre  in order to receive a detailed consultation. We made an appointment.

Mother in need reports:

I was pregnant, at about the 10th Week. I did not know  what to do. There were just a lot of questions that came to my mind, but I had no answers. My situation was even more difficult because I am a foreigner. I was afraid of what I would expect in the future, what were my rights – and there was still my child? The child’s father was desperate, we didn’t know each other very long, just two and a half months – it was hard to get anyone to talk about this whole thing. So we decided to have an abortion. I cannot describe this feeling in its entirety, but I knew I had to remove that child. Why me? It was terrible!

I asked my girlfriend to help. She then found this counselling in the centre and went with me there.  In a quiet and peaceful atmosphere, I explained my situation and my fears. The advice was clear: No Abortion! This man offered me all the help, but then I thought if I have the child will there be more problems, how will my parents react to the child, how it will go on with my relationship: a thousand questions raced through my head …

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But something had changed after the consultation, as if I had suddenly a deeper relationship with my child – to permit the idea that I let my child live was of course difficult, but the idea was better, from day to day it became more wonderful. Of course I knew everything was not that easy … and when I showed up at the second consultation with my Partner, we really could the talk first time about the Baby, we could also talk about our worries and fears and it was a great relief for us both. Even after that, our discussions were much better – we are closer.  Now I am already in the 19th Week and I feel mentally and physically very well. I feel a little that I have a little man that lives in my tummy. The fact that everything went well with the Gynaecologist and the mother-child card examination showed me that I’m on the right track. My parents in a far away country were positively surprised; again a grandchild? – Since they know the phone rings regularly – and also I get from them SMS.

We are happy that with the help of the counselling, we have chosen the child’s life. Perhaps a new Family has come into being –we hope so…

Conquering Evil with Good

Several times when sidewalk counseling, I had had people rip up our brochure and defiantly throw it all over the ground. Each time I was at a loss for words; I simply didn’t know how to respond.  So I took this scenario to our Lord in our Adoration Chapel.  Quickly I received a “response” from the Holy Spirit!  He seemed to indicate to me, that I could use what was meant for evil and turn it to “good”, i.e., to my advantage! (Rom. 12:21 + Rom. 8:28)

In this particular scenario, I should respond by enthusiastically blurting out: “Yes! That is exactly what they do with the tiny babies!”

Soon after this guidance I received in our chapel, a young couple approached the abortion mill. The young man took our brochure away from his girlfriend and, with a prideful grimace, proceeded to tear it up and throw it all over the ground.

Then, I blurted out my God-inspired response and immediately the young woman burst out crying!  My statement had succeeded in creating a picture in her imagination so that she was not able to even enter the front door of the abortion building.  The young man was quite obviously furious with me! But I didn’t mind! This child’s life was saved!

When sidewalk counseling, it helps to be observant!

I noticed a young couple that kept driving around looking for a parking spot.  I was sure that they were headed for the abortion mill. One time, as the car slowed down at a pedestrian crossing, I showed the anxious young woman in the passenger seat that I wanted to give her our brochure. She lowered her window and took it. The next time they drove around she looked at me with big eyes and smiled!

Soon after, I noticed the young man going into the abortion mill – alone!  So I figured he had parked the car and the girl was still in it. I went to the parking area about two blocks away – and there was the young woman – crying in the car!  I asked her if she was OK and if her boyfriend was trying to force her to have an abortion. She said “yes”, but that she wouldn’t let him. (I told her to be careful as I had witnessed similar situations where the guy succeeds in coercing the woman to abort.)

I offered her to come for counseling, but she said she had just called her mother and has arranged to move out of her now ex-boyfriend’s apartment and back with her parents. She was grateful for the brochure I had previously given her, because it made her feel she was not alone and it gave her support in arguing against abortion.

We exchanged phone numbers. She gratefully accepted additional information, an embryo model, a rosary, etc. The young man arrived and then they drove off. I never saw them back at the abortion mill and we kept in touch through text messages.

Thank you, Jesus!

Reprinted with permission from Robert Colquhoun.